Organizers said Friday that two Sydney-to-Hobart sailors died at sea amid wild weather that forced many retirements, including the favorite to finish first, Master Lock Comanche.

Ron Epstein was a casual sailor until he decided he wanted to race. Now his boat is the only U.S. entry at the event.

The sight of dozens of yachts zigzagging around Sydney Harbour's blue water on Boxing Day has competed with the cricket for TV audience eyeballs for a while now - so why all the fuss?

The annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which starts on Thursday, takes sailors on a 628-nautical mile race that exits Sydney Harbor and plunges south along the New South Wales coastline before crossing Bass Strait, rounding Tasman Island, crossing Tasmania’s Storm Bay and pushing up the River Derwent to Hobart.

There have been plenty of “firsts” in the history of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race which was first held in 1945. An all-Filipino crew of 15 sailors will make it another when the annual ocean classic begins in Sydney on Thursday.