The bodies of two sailors killed in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race have been returned to shore, as the race continues in wild conditions.
A sailor aboard Flying Fish Arctos and one on Bowline were fatally struck by their respective boat’s boom, a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the sail.
Both yachts have since retired from the race – two of the 17 pulled out by 8.45am on Friday after a west-southwesterly change brought strong winds to the southern NSW Coast and Bass Strait.
The deaths are the first in the race since 1998, when six sailors died in storms, triggering reforms to safety protocols.
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia vice commodore David Jacobs said the deaths would be investigated but many of the circumstances were still unknown.“We always want to improve safety wherever we can, so we will do an investigation,” he said.
If there’s something that boats can do to try and prevent this happening, we will implement it.”
The identities of the two sailors have not been made public, but Jacobs said several members of one boat were relatively new to the sport.
“But when you say they’re an amateur crew, there are very specific safety requirements,” he said.
Jacobs stressed the race would continue and the conditions were not extreme.
The fatality aboard Flying Fish Arctos occurred about 30nm east-southeast of Ulladulla on the NSW south coast late on Thursday night