Two people participating in Australia’s annual Sydney-Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, police said.
Both crew members died in separate accidents after hitting the boom (a large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of the sail).
Event organizers said the incidents occurred at Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.
The first boat is expected to arrive in the Tasmanian city of Hobart late Friday or early Saturday morning. Some people have already retired due to bad weather.
New South Wales (NSW) police said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the capital Canberra reported the first incident to police just before midnight (12:50 GMT) on Thursday.
Just over two hours later, at 2.15am on Friday, NSW Police were informed that crew members on board the second boat were performing CPR on the second person, but this was also ineffective.
Flying Fish Arctos was sailing about 30 nautical miles east/southeast of the NSW town of Ulladulla, organizers said.
Meanwhile, Bowline was about 30 nautical miles east/northeast of the town of Batemans Bay, also in NSW.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased,” organizers said in a statement.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “The journey from Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition. It is heartbreaking that two lives have been lost at a time when we should be rejoicing.”
The race, which started Thursday, continued.
(This is not the first time a death occurred in the race, which was first held in 1945.
Six people, including British Olympic yachtsman Glyn Charles, died after a violent storm struck the competitors in 1998.
