Two Sailors Die on Opening Night of Historically Perilous Australian Yacht Race

They're the 12th and 13th fatalities in the competition's history.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start in 1998. / NIck Wilson/Getty Images

Two sailors have died on the opening night of Australia's traditional Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, officials said Friday via the AP's Dennis Passa.

According to officials from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia—the body that administers the race—a 55-year-old Western Australia man and a 65-year-old South Australia man lost their lives in separate boom accidents. A boom is a horizontal pole located at the bottom of a sail, and in both cases the pole struck and killed the sailors.

The deaths of the sailors, who have not been identified by the authorities, are the 12th and 13th in the history of one of the world's most dangerous races. Competitors must sail over 600 nautical miles from Australia's largest city to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, through unpredictable conditions in the Tasman Sea and Bass Strait.

LawConnect, skippered by Christian Beck, won amid celebrations Passa described as "muted."

"Our thoughts this morning are with the two sailors that tragically lost their lives in the Sydney to Hobart race overnight," Anthony Albanese, Australia's prime minister, said on social media. "The Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition, and it is heartbreaking that two lives have been lost at what should be a time of joy."

Our thoughts this morning are with the two sailors that tragically lost their lives in the Sydney to Hobart race overnight.

The Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition, and it is heartbreaking that two lives have been lost at what should be a time of joy.

We send our love…

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 26, 2024

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