The skipper and another sailor aboard his maxi yacht died after an accident during a race south of Sydney.
Andrew Short, the 48-year-old owner and skipper of the yacht PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and 47-year-old Sally Darling could not be revived after being pulled from the sea early yesterday morning.
The 24m yacht ran aground on Flinders Islet, 82km south of Sydney, seven hours into the race, which started in Sydney Harbour at 8pm on Friday.
The 16 other crew who made it safely to Flinders Islet were airlifted to Wollongong Hospital suffering from a range of minor injuries, including hypothermia and shock. Another man was rescued from the sea.
New South Wales state police were investigating the accident.
Water Police commander Mark Hutchings told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that it was unclear why the yacht ran aground, as the sea and weather conditions were not considered extreme.
“It was cold ... the swell is up, but certainly not for the sort of yachts that were involved in that race ... it certainly wasn’t out of their capabilities,” he said.
The yacht was built in Sydney in 2000, Australian Associated Press said, and Short reportedly purchased it in the US last year.
Short was an experienced sailor who has participated in the Sydney to Hobart annual blue water classic and was a member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), which was conducting the race.
The remaining boats in the fleet continued the race.
CYCA issued a statement saying the PriceWaterhouseCoopers crew activated a series of red flares after running aground, which were noticed by other competitors.
Ragamuffin and Quest went to help the crew, CYCA said in a statement.
Sydney yacht Yendys also detoured to help.
Navigator Will Oxley said the crew of Yendys saw three flares as they were approaching the island.
“We saw torchlight in the water too and people on [Flinders] Islet. We knew something was wrong, so we tacked toward them to see if we could give assistance,” he said in a statement.
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