Round the World Yacht Race Claims Another Victim

A 60-year-old with more than four decades of experience as a sailor was killed during the UK's Clipper Round the World yacht race Saturday. 

Simon Speirs, a crew member on the Great Britain yacht since the race began on Aug. 20, was helping to change its sails amid gale-force winds when he was swept overboard. The yacht, which was in sixth place at the time, was in the Southern Ocean between South Africa and Australia on day 18 of the third race in the 13-stage competition, the Guardian reports. 

Speirs was wearing a life jacket and was clipped on with a safety tether but somehow became separated. He was pulled back on board 36 minutes later and given CPR but was pronounced dead. His death is the third in the race's 21-year history, the BBCreports. Just days before Speirs' death, he wrote in a blog that he "never had any doubts" about his safety, the Telegraph reports.

Read the full story on Newser.com

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