Two people competing in Australia's annual Sydney-Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, police say.
Both crew members died in separate incidents after being struck by a boom – the large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of a sail.
Event organizers said the incidents occurred on the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.
The first boats are expected to arrive in the Tasmanian town of Hobart later Friday or early Saturday. Many have already abandoned due to bad weather.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said the first incident was reported to officers shortly before midnight local time (12:50 GMT) on Thursday by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the country's capital, Canberra.
Just over two hours later, at 2:15 a.m. on Friday, NSW Police were notified that the crew on board the second boat were performing second-person CPR, which also did not work .
Flying Fish Arctos was sailing about 30 nautical miles east/southeast of the town of Ulladulla in New South Wales, organizers said.
Bowline, meanwhile, was approximately 30 nautical miles east/northeast of the town of Batemans Bay, also in New South Wales.
“Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” organizers said in a statement.
The race, which started on Thursday, continued.
This is not the first time that there have been deaths during this race, which first took place in 1945.
Six people, including British Olympic sailor Glyn Charles, died in 1998 after severe storms hit competitors.
