List of fatal accidents in sailboat racing explained

Oceanic yacht racing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world.^[1] It was particularly dangerous in the early days when oceanic racing was more like early mountain climbing in terms of sense of adventure and achievement. Modern safety and communication equipment has improved safety however like any sport in natural environment risk is always present. In many races, participants have changed from explorer to professional athlete.

Deaths during crewed round the world races and record attempts

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race		Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking	Southern Ocean	Tauranga, 33 Export, Great Britain II (respectively)	Each swept overboard (Hosking twice)^[2] ^[3]
Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race		Tony Phillips	Southern Ocean	Creighton Naturally	Swept overboard and recovered too late
Volvo Ocean Race			Off Land's End	ABN Amro Volvo 70	Washed overboard and recovered
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race		^[4]		IchorCoal / Clipper 70	Head Injury Boom/Mainsheet
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race		^[5]		IchorCoal / Clipper 70	Swept overboard
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race		^[6]		Great Britain / Clipper 70	Swept overboard
Volvo Ocean Race		^[7]	Southern Ocean	Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag Volvo Ocean 65	Swept overboard

Deaths during solo round the worlds races and record attempts

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
BOC Challenge			Southern Ocean	Skoiern IV
Vendée Globe			Atlantic Ocean	Nigel Burgess Yachts
Vendée Globe			Atlantic Ocean	Coyote	Lost at sea prior to departure
Vendée Globe			Southern Ocean	Groupe LG 2

Deaths during offshore racing

Race Name	Host Club	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description	Ref.
			Mike Flanagan (USA)		GALLOPING GAEL	38 ft Monohull Sailor and Boat Lost at Sea	^[8]
			Mike McMullen		Three Cheers
		16 November 1978,		Azores	Manureva	Unknown
	Royal Ocean Racing Club		15 Sailors
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race	Cruising Yacht Club of Australia		Phillip Charles Skeggs Bruce Raymond Guy		Business Post Naiad	drowned heart attack
			John Dean, James Lawler and Michael Bannister		Winston Churchill	all drowned
					Sword of Orion
Doublehanded Farallones Race			, 51, of Berkeley, California		White Lightning, J/29	,^[9] ^[10]
Transat Jacques Vabre			, 42, Le Harve		ORMA 60	Boat Capsized Paul was ondeck and lost other crew member was below deck	^[11]
Doublehanded Lightship Race	Island Yacht Club of Alameda		, 68, Mill Valley, California , 72, Larkspur, California		Daisy, Cheoy Lee Offshore 31		^[12]
Cowes-Cherbourg Race	Royal Ocean Racing Club		, 46		Lion, Reflex 38		^[13]
Chicago-Mackinac Race	Chicago Yacht Club		, 51 , 410		Wingnuts, Kiwi 35	head injuries and drowning during capsize^[14]
Farallones Race	San Francisco Yacht Club		of Larkspur of Kentfield of Tiburon		Low Speed Chase, Sydney 38		^[15] ^[16]
Calif. to Ensenada, Mexico yacht race.			, 53, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., , 57, of Torrance, Calif., , 64, Bradenton, Fla.		Aegean, Hunter 376		^[17] ^[18]
Islands Race	Newport Harbor and San Diego Yacht Club		, 36, California		Uncontrollable Urge, Columbia 32 Carbon		^[19] ^[20]
Chicago-Mackinac Race	Chicago Yacht Club	July 2018	, 53		Imedi, TP52	overboard resulting from wave strike	^[21]

Deaths during yacht races

Race Name	Host Club	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description	Ref.
Big Boat Series	St. Francis Yacht Club		, 42, San Diego	San Francisco	Twin Flyer, 38 foot sloop	^[22]
		2007	, 71		J/29	Boom head injury
America's Cup Testing	Golden Gate Yacht Club			San Francisco	Artemis Racing, AC72, Boat 1	Entrapped after the boat broke apart and capsized.
Antigua Superyacht			, 38		102 ft S/Y Farfalla	Training Incident with rigging failure causing a head Injury	^[23] ^[24]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Yachting: No sport for the faint-hearted - CNN.com . 2022-07-21 . edition.cnn.com.
2. "Volvo Ocean Race 1973-1974"
   (Note that this source has a typo which misspells Bernie Hosking's name as "Hocking" in the Leg3 tab. Spelled properly in the Leg1 tab.)
3. https://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/assets/content_v2/media/files/m43150_race-1a.pdf Race 1 Summary
4. Web site: Andrew Ashman: Fatal Injury Official Statement. 30 November 2016.
5. Web site: Fatality Statement - Sarah Young. 30 November 2016.
6. Web site: Clipper Race fatality: Great Britain crewmember washed overboard. 18 November 2017.
7. Web site: An Update on John Fisher. Volvo Ocean Race. 27 March 2018.
8. Web site: The Royal Western Yacht Club of England | OSTAR 1976.
9. Web site: Sailor Struggles With 'What-Ifs' of Boat Race / His friend died after being swept overboard. SFGate. 30 March 1999. 20 December 2014.
10. Web site: Scuttlebutt: Sailing news with a North American focus. 30 November 2016.
11. Web site: Transat Jacques Vabre - Paul Vatine Missing .
12. Web site: Experts mystified by loss of sailboat and 2 aboard. SFGate. 18 March 2008. 20 December 2014.
13. Web site: Sail World - The Worlds largest sailing news network: Sail and sailing, cruising, boating news. Sail-World.com. 20 December 2014.
14. Web site: Report: Boat in deadly accident unfit for Mackinac race. 26 March 2017.
15. Web site: Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude. 20 December 2014.
16. Web site: US Sailing Releases Full Report on Farallones Race Tragedy . 2013-08-08 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131005150231/http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2012/USS_Farallones_Report.htm . 2013-10-05 .
17. Web site: Sailors Saddened by Recent Yacht Race Deaths - weather.com . 2012-10-08 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121008124811/http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/aegean-woman-confirms-husband-fatality_2012-04-30 . 2012-10-08 .
18. Web site: Panel: Newport-Ensenada yacht ran aground. The Orange County Register. 12 June 2012. 20 December 2014.
19. Web site: 1 dead, 5 rescued in Calif. sailboat race accident. Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press. USA Today. 9 March 2013. 20 December 2014.
20. Web site: Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude. 20 December 2014.
21. Web site: Chicago Yacht Club Statement on Recovery of Jon Santarelli. 2021-11-12. www.cycracetomackinac.com.
22. Web site: Routine Race Ends Tragically : Sailing: Perch collapses and ends life of Larry Klein, one of America's brightest hopes, during event in the Bay Area.. Los Angeles Times. 23 September 1994 . 20 December 2014.
23. Web site: Sam Richmond passes away .
24. Web site: Home . yachtfarfalla.com.