Organizers said Friday that two Sydney to Hobart sailors have died at sea amid wild weather conditions that forced line honors favorite Master Lock Comanche to withdraw among mass retirements.

Two sailors died after being struck by sail booms in separate incidents during the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race as crews grappled with treacherous conditions across the notorious Bass Strait.

Tragedy has hit the Sydney-Hobart yacht race with two sailors dying in separate incidents over the past 24 hours.

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race has suffered a double tragedy after two sailors died in separate incidents. New South Wales Police say a crew member of one Sydney to Hobart entry

Two sailors taking part in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race have died at sea amid wild weather conditions. The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) in Sydney, which administers the race, said that a sailor on Flying Fish Arctos and another on Bowline were killed after being struck by the boom,

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.

Two sailors on separate boats have been killed in boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, adding to the event’s long history of deaths at sea.

Two sailors have died in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney to Hobart bluewater classic, race organizers in Australia said on Friday. Both crew members were hit by booms as the yachts were making their way south along the New South Wales coast after setting off from Sydney Harbor in the race that traditionally gets underway on Boxing Day every year.