Two sailors killed on first night of Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Two sailors in Australia's annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race died on the first night of the competition as wild weather conditions forced mass retirements.

- Emily Wind Elias Visontay

The two men were fatally struck by a boom and mainsheet on their respective boats, the Flying Fish Arctos and the Bowline. The incident aboard Flying Fish Arctos occurred about 35 miles off the New South Wales coast, with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority receiving a mayday call just before midnight on Thursday local time.

Roy Quaden, a 55-year-old crew member on Flying Fish Arctos from Western Australia, was struck in the back of the head by the boom. "It was moving violently through the night with challenging sea conditions, and a crew member suffered a significant head injury," New South Wales police Supt Joseph McNulty told reporters.

Water police were deployed to assist the vessel and escorted it back into Jervis Bay, but despite CPR efforts Quaden died.