A South Australian link has been revealed after tragic Sydney Hobart race death

Police have confirmed a South Australian man aboard a boat owned by an experienced Adelaide barrister is one of two sailors killed in the famed race.

A South Australian man has been confirmed dead after two separate fatal incidents in the famed Sydney to Hobart race overnight.

NSW Police confirmed in a press conference on Friday morning that a 65-year-old man had died aboard the Bowline.

Police did not release the man’s name, but said he was a “crew member” and his family have been notified.

“A crew member had ... suffered a head injury caused by the moving boom from the sailing vessel,” he said.

“That vessel was requesting urgent assistance.”

A NSW Police boat was within short range and deployed immediately to the location.

“The crew did a pretty substantial job of doing CPR, trying to keep that crew member alive, but their efforts were unfortunately met with the death of that person in the early hours of this morning,” Supt McNulty said.

A second member of Bowline crew was left with a shoulder injury and was taken in the police boat to an ambulance waiting at Batemans Bay.

The incident occurred a short time after similar circumstances resulted in the death of a 55-year-old man from Western Australia, who had been sailing aboard Flying Fish Arctos.

Supt McNulty said crime scene investigators and detectives were still examining the vessels – but at this stage it is believed that both were changing sails at the time of the accidents.

“They weren’t actually sailing with the wind,” he said.

“That creates a different set of circumstances. The hull moves, the sails are moving, the booms are moving. It’s a technical change of sail at sea so that may have contributed to the deaths of those people.”

Supt McNulty said a yacht’s boom holds the bottom of the sail and moves with the wind.

He acknowledged it is a “dangerous part of the vessel” but said all crew members know how to maneuver around a moving boom at sea.

All crew members from both yachts are being interviewed, and the boats have been seized by police as evidence.

He said the crew members were “doing it pretty tough at the moment”.

“They are shaken up from what they’ve seen and what they’ve had to do,” he said.

He said the crews provided CPR and “didn’t give up”.

“They kept going until it was obvious that those two men had lost their lives,” he said.

Supt McNulty said there were strong winds and a heavy swell overnight - but such conditions are often considered favourable for mariners trying to sail as quickly as possible.

“They weren’t dangerous conditions, they were safe for the race to proceed and we were confident with that,” he said.

Bowline owner and experienced South Australian barrister Ian Roberts. Picture: ianroberts.com.au

The yacht was purchased and renamed the Bowline in March of 2021 by owner Ian Roberts an Adelaide barrister experienced in estates and family law.

In the same year, he entered the yacht into its first Sydney Hobart race and finished in 33rd place. In 2022, his crew placed 79th overall.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Roberts.

Bowline passes between North and South Head at the start of the 2024 Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

He is the immediate past Commodore of the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, which operates from an Outer Harbor marina that exits onto the Port River.

On his website, Mr Roberts says he grew up on Kangaroo Island and has 40 years’ experience in litigation, with extensive work in the Federal Circuit and Family Courts.

He has operated his own chambers – also called Bowline – since 2019.

The Advertiser understands Mr Roberts’ tenure as Commodore of the Squadron lasted for several years, and that his successor took office in the middle of 2024.

A social media video, shared on the Squadron’s Facebook page, shows a crew preparing Bowline to depart from Port Adelaide for Sydney.

Recorded by Banjo Greaves, it asks viewers to “wish us luck” ahead of the race.

The video is a collaboration with Salt Water Veterans, a Sydney-based community organisation that aids veterans and their families through aquatic pastimes.

There was no answer at Mr Roberts’ chambers, on Little Gilbert St in Adelaide, on Friday.

The next-door neighbour said he had been told Mr Roberts was interstate and “won’t be back for a couple of weeks”.

The neighbour said he understood Mr Roberts “was on the boat” for the race.

Originally published as A South Australian link has been revealed after tragic Sydney Hobart race death