A sailor on an around-the-world race died after a wave swept her into the Pacific Ocean, organizers said, becoming the second person to die in this running of the event — and, indeed, the second crew member of the same boat, the IchorCoal.
Sarah Young, 40 was taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which takes participants through various continents on 70-foot yachts.
She was in the cockpit of the IchorCoal boat Friday, on day 12 of the ninth race in the event, when strong waves hit amid high winds, according to the race organizer.
“She fell back toward the guard wire and was swept under it by another wave,” organizers said in a statement. “She was not tethered onto the yacht at this time and was swept away in strong winds.”
Rough conditions and poor visibility hampered the crew’s efforts to find her. She was recovered about an hour later, and attempts to resuscitate her failed.
Young was the owner of what organizers called a personal lifestyle company geared toward the wealthy. She said, according to organizers, that celebrating her 40th birthday just before setting sail from London had been the perfect way to start her adventure.
An earlier accident on the same boat
Organizers said her death was the second fatality in the nearly 20 years the race has been run. The first happened last year on the same boat shortly after the teams set off last summer.
In early September, a British paramedic named Andrew Ashman was knocked unconscious by the mainsheet. He never regained consciousness despite immediate medical attention, the organizers said in a statement at the time. Ashman was 49 years old.
The IchorCoal was on the first leg of the race — from Britain to Brazil — and about 120 miles (193 kilometers) off Portugal when Ashman was killed. It was also during the ninth race — out of a total of 14 — that Young died.
Ocean sailing carries inherent risks. Double Olympic medalist Andrew “Bart” Simpson was killed in San Francisco Bay in 2013 as he was training for the America’s Cup. He was 36 years old.