Australian yacht Celestial V70 won the overall trophy for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sunday after a blustery race overshadowed by the deaths of two sailors. Thirty yachts have so far pulled out,

Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney to Hobart yacht race, officials said on Friday, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas.

Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney to Hobart line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital.

Two people taking part in Australia's annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, according to police. Both crew members died in separate incidents after being hit by a boom - the large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of a sail.

The annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which starts on Thursday, takes sailors on a 628-nautical mile race that exits Sydney Harbor and plunges south along the New South Wales coastline before crossing Bass Strait, rounding Tasman Island, crossing Tasmania’s Storm Bay and pushing up the River Derwent to Hobart.

There have been plenty of “firsts” in the history of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race which was first held in 1945.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney said Friday that one sailor each on entrants Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline were killed after being struck by the boom, a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the sail.

Ron Epstein was a casual sailor until he decided he wanted to race. Now his boat is the only U.S. entry at the event.

Two sailors died in separate boom accidents during the first night of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race, marking the event's first fatalities in 26 years.

Sydney to Hobart organisers are hoping to hold tributes to the two sailors who died at sea on the opening day of the 2024 yacht race.