Two sailors on different boats perished in boom accidents two hours apart on the storm-ravaged opening night of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, adding to the event's lengthy list of maritime casualties.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, which runs the yacht race, announced Friday that one sailor from each of the entries, Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline, was killed after being struck by the boom, a huge horizontal rod at the bottom of the sail.
According to New South Wales Police Superintendent Joe McNulty, the two sailors who died were a 55-year-old man from Western Australia (on Flying Fish Arctos) and a 65-year-old man from South Australia (on Bowline).
He stated that the sailors of both boats, which had been taken by authorities for evidence, are "doing it pretty tough at the moment."
“We’ve got police getting talking to them, doctors and counselling. They’re assisting with our inquiries. They are shaken up by what they’ve seen … and they didn’t give up.”
Officials subsequently stated that a sailor was washed overboard on another boat but was retrieved. The crew man was from the Hobart yacht Porco Rosso, and he drifted a kilometer before being rescued.
The event activated the crew member's emergency position-indicating radio beacon, a safety equipment that all sailors in the race must wear.
“That is one of the most terrifying experiences that you can have,” said David Jacobs, vice-commodore of the CYCA. “(And) it was at night, which makes it tenfold more scary.”
The fatalities occur 26 years after six sailors were killed in storms during the 1998 race, prompting a state coroner's investigation and widespread revisions to the competition's safety regulations, including a radio beacon for all sailors. There have been 13 fatalities in the race's 79-year history, with four of them caused by sailor heart attacks.
The flotilla was making its way to Constitution Dock in Hobart, Tasmania, with the first vessels scheduled to arrive early Saturday morning. The race is 628 nautical miles long.
Jacobs reaffirmed that the race will "absolutely" resume.
“The conditions are challenging, but they’re not excessive,” he said. “So we’ve got sort of winds at about 25 knots coming from the north seas around about two meters or thereabouts, so the conditions that most of the sailors would normally easily handle.”
“The sailing community is a very close community. There’s about a thousand sailors on the water in this race, and to lose two in this fashion is just devastating.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the sailors who died.
“We have sadly awoken to tragedy in the Sydney to Hobart with the awful news two sailors have lost their lives,” he said. “Our thoughts are with the crews, their families and loved ones at this deeply sad time.”
The incident onboard Flying Fish Arctos happened around 30 nautical miles east-southeast of Ulladulla on New South Wales' south coast. Crew members performed CPR but were unable to rescue their comrade.
The crew member onboard Bowline was struck around 30 nautical miles east/northeast of Batemans Bay and became unconscious, with CPR also failing.
“As these incidents are being dealt with by the Water Police and all family members are yet to be contacted, we cannot provide further details at this stage,” the CYCA said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased.”
The first all-Filipino crew of 15 sailors competed in the 2024 race, but were among those who retired due to the weather. Centennial 7, led by experienced sailor Ernesto Echauz, was one of six foreign participants, including sailors from the Philippines' national team and navy.
Last year, LawConnect claimed the line honors after defeating incumbent champion Comanche by less than a minute in a dramatic finale between the super maxis. LawConnect, the runner-up in the previous three rounds, finished in 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes, and 58 seconds. Comanche finished in 1 day, 19 hours, 4 minutes, and 49 seconds, a margin of only 51 seconds.
Comanche, one of the retirements in this year's race, owns the race record of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes, and 24 seconds, achieved when it won in 2017.
Nearly 30 hours into the race, 82 boats were still sailing, while 22 had retired at sea or in port.
LawConnect, which led out of Sydney Harbour on Thursday, was ahead of the race but still had around 100 nautical miles to go before reaching Hobart. It will result in an overnight finish for the top yachts early Saturday. Celestial V70 was in second position, some 20 nautical miles behind LawConnect.
