Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, organisers and local authorities said on Friday, the first loss of life in the prestigious ocean race since 1998.
Race organisers said in a statement on their websitethat both crew members died after they were hit by the sail boom, a horizontal pole which holds down the sails and swings depending on the direction of the wind.
New South Wales police said they were informed just before midnight that a crew member of one Sydney to Hobart entry was struck by a sail boom.
Fellow crew members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but the sailor could not be revived.
A couple of hours later a crew member on another vessel was reported to have also been struck by a sail boom and died.
Race organisers identified Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline as the boats where the incidents occurred.
