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 event’s organisers said the incidents happened on the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.

The first boats are expected to arrive in the city of Hobart, in Tasmania, later on Friday or early on Saturday. Several have already retired due to bad weather.

New South Wales (NSW) police said the first incident was reported to officers just before midnight on Thursday local time (12:50 GMT) by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the country’s capital, Canberra.

Just over two hours later, at 02:15 on Friday, NSW police were told that crew aboard the second boat were giving CPR to the second person, which also had not worked.

Flying Fish Arctos had been sailing approximately 30 nautical miles east/south-east of the NSW town of Ulladulla, the organisers said.

Bowline, meanwhile, was approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of the town of Batemans Bay, also in NSW.”Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” the organisers said in a statement.

“The Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition, and it is heart-breaking that two lives have been lost at what should be a time of joy,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The race, which began on Thursday, has continued.

It is not the first time there have been fatalities during the race, which was first held in 1945.

Six people, including British Olympic yachtsman Glyn Charles, died in 1998 after raging storms hit competitors.