‘Just devastating’: 2 dead after being struck by sail booms during Sydney to Hobart race
Race organisers say both crew members were hit by the horizontal pole that holds down the sails and swings depending on the wind’s direction
Two experienced sailors were killed in similar but 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 website that both crew members died after they were hit by the sail boom, a horizontal pole that holds down the sails and swings depending on the direction of the wind.
New South Wales state police said they were told 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.
The sailor was identified by police as Nick Smith, 65, from South Australia. A crew member on the Bowline, Smith was competing in the race for the fifth time.
A couple of hours later, a crew member on the Flying Fish Arctos was also struck by a sail boom and died. He was identified as Roy Quaden, 55, a sailor from Western Australia with two decades of experience.
“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,” said David Jacobs, vice-commodore at Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
