STORY: :: Two sailors die in Australian yacht race accidents, both struck by sail booms :: December 27, 2024 :: Sydney, Australia 9570 (0:26) :: David Jacobs, Vice commodore, Cruising Yacht Club Australia "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. As I'm sure you all know, there are two separate boats and in both cases we believe that the member of crew was hit by a boom. I have no other information as to how that came about and what the circumstances were, so I'm afraid I can't elaborate on that today.
" 9570 (1:29) "The forecast was with strong winds to gale-force winds. These fleets can handle those winds easily. They're ocean racers, they're used to those winds, it was not extreme conditions.
" :: Organizers identified boats involved as Flying Fish Actos and Bowline Race organizers said in a statement on their website that 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 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 organizers identified Flying Fish Arctos and.
