KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - Three badly injured sailors were airlifted from the deck of New Zealand maxi yacht Maximus on Wednesday, while another crew were forced into life rafts as their boat sank, Sydney-Hobart race officials said.
Maximus and Dutch entry ABN Amro were both dismasted in rough seas overnight,
while the crew of Australian entry Koomooloo reported the 38-year-old timber boat was rapidly taking on water.
"She is sinking, she put out a mayday call about half an hour ago," race spokeswoman Anna Wallin said.
Wallin said two helicopters and police launches had been sent to the stricken yacht, whose eight crew members were preparing life rafts.
All were reported safe and there was no indication of why Koomooloo, which won the race in 1968, was sinking.
Six crew members were hurt on board Maximus when its US$500,000 ($723,170) carbon-fibre mast snapped.
ABN Amro, skippered by New Zealander Mike Sanderson, was leading the 78-strong fleet when it was dismasted but no one on that boat was hurt.
Seven yachts have retired from the race less than 24 hours after the start.
The Maximus crew members were hurt when the boat's mast snapped and brought tangled rigging down onto the deck in darkness amid headwinds of up to 30 knots and swells of about three metres.
"There was a hell of a crack ... it smashed all the deck and knocked guys down," Maximus co-owner Bill Buckley told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Race officials and a rescue helicopter spokeswoman said one crew member had suffered chest injuries, another had a suspected broken pelvis and the third had a back injury. They were being flown by helicopter to a Canberra hospital.
Strict new safety rules were put in place after six sailors died and dozens were plucked from the sea in a terrifying storm during the 1998 race.
Minor injuries, however, are still common during the gruelling 628 nautical mile race.
The other three Maximus crew members had cuts and bruises and two were being transferred onto a police launch.
"Without any doubt, when the boats are pounding over waves it puts an enormous amount of pressure on the rigs and the boats and it will always find a weak point if there is one there," Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Geoff Lavis said.
Maximus had sailed past last year's winner Wild Oats overnight after overcoming rigging damage suffered shortly after the race started in Sydney Harbour on Tuesday.
"I think we were leading when it broke, we were leading the race, so it's been a hell of a devastation," Buckley said, adding sails worth US$300,000 had also been lost.
Sophisticated 70-footer ABN Amro, winner of thie year's Volvo ocean race was sailing well out to sea and had just taken the lead when its mast toppled over.
Australian maxis Wild Oats and Skandia were leading the fleet, but rough weather meant Wild Oats was unlikely to better the race record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds it set last year.
- REUTERS
