AAP News
A fatal boat collision occurred shortly before the start of the Cabbage Tree Island Race. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
A man has died after suffering a severe chest injury when two yachts collided on Sydney Harbour.
Emergency services were called to New Beach Road in Darling Point, where boats are moored at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, about 6.30pm on Friday.
A man, believed to be in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene but had not been formally identified.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
The crash occurred shortly before the start of the Cabbage Tree Island Race, the last off-shore race contested by entrants in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race that begins on Boxing Day.
Super maxi yacht Maritimo 100 withdrew shortly before the race, a round trip from Sydney Harbour to an island off Port Stephens that will stretch into the weekend.
Alive, the overall winner of the Sydney to Hobart last year, also retired from the race before the starting gun was fired.
But when contacted by AAP, NSW Police could not confirm whether the yachts in question had been involved in the race either as entrants or as part of its spectator fleet.
Both boats involved in the collision have been seized by police for mechanical examination, with both skippers subject to mandatory testing.
