Two killed in treacherous Sydney-Hobart yacht race

SYDNEY – Two sailors were killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney to Hobart yacht race, officials said on Dec 27, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas.

One of the crew members, 55-year-old Roy Quaden on Flying Fish Arctos, was hit on the head by a boom – a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the mainsail – as the fleet raced down the New South Wales coast, race organisers said.

The other man, 65-year-old Nick Smith, was struck by the main sheet aboard Bowline and thrown across the boat, said David Jacobs, vice-commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Smith was described as “an experienced crew member” who was on his fifth Sydney-Hobart race.

“Unfortunately, he hit his head on the winch, and that’s what killed him,” Jacobs said, revising earlier official reports that both sailors had been hit by booms.

“The sailing community is a very close community, and there’s about a thousand sailors on the water in this race and to lose two in this fashion is just devastating.”

Other crew members tried to revive the two Australians but were unsuccessful.

They were the first fatalities in the 628-nautical mile blue-water classic since 1998.

Weather conditions played a part in the deaths, Jacobs told reporters, with one of the boats facing 30-to-38-knot winds and seas of up to 3m.

“They’re challenging conditions. You only need to be hit broadside by a wave and it will knock you across,” Jacobs said, adding however that the weather was not “extreme” for ocean racers.

In a night of drama, one man was also swept overboard from the yacht Porco Rosso and carried far out before being rescued by his crew, Jacobs said.

He promised an investigation by the yacht club to help improve safety in the event but said the race would go on.

“We always want to improve safety wherever we can. So we will do an investigation and if there’s something that boats can do to try and prevent this happening, we will implement it,” he said.

Crew on the two yachts that lost men have been affected, said New South Wales marine area command superintendent Joseph McNulty.

“Both those crew are doing it pretty tough at the moment. They are shaken up by what they’ve seen and what they’ve had to do,” he told reporters.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, meanwhile, said that it was “heartbreaking that two lives have been lost at what should have been a time of joy”.

At press time, 28 yachts – including race record holder Comanche – have pulled out from the fleet of 104 that left Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day bound for the Tasmanian capital, organisers said.

Many were dismasted or suffered damage to mainsails and other equipment.

Weather is a critical factor in the race, first held in 1945, with wind and sea conditions often changing rapidly as yachts head south and travel on to tackle the notorious Bass Strait.

The fatalities were the first in the race since 1998 when six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued after extreme weather conditions.

Comanche’s retirement with a damaged mainsail overnight allowed supermaxi rival LawConnect to win line honours for the second straight year on Dec 27.

Comanche, who recorded the fastest-ever finish in 2017, was leading when she pulled out.

LawConnect capitalised a day later, crossing with a winning time of one day, 13 hours, 35 minutes and 13 seconds, according to the official race tracker. Fans on the dock cheered her arrival, a livestream showed.

The crew of Celestial, a 70-footer with hopes of winning the Tattersall Cup, which takes into account boat size and other factors, was sailing about 20 nautical miles behind in second place.

Wild Thing was further back in third. AFP, REUTERS