Nicknamed "Hell on high water", the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race is one of the most treacherous competitions in the sailing world, but until yesterday had claimed only two lives in its 54-year history.
The 630-mile race down Australia's eastern coast has attracted top sailors since it began in 1944, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
Even the first race was beset by high drama: Captain John Illingworth won the competition despite being lost at sea for more than two days.
Despite several years when high winds and massive waves have destroyed boats and swept men overboard, the race has never been called off. Even this year's disaster did not stop the event, as 48 yachts continued to race towards Hobart Harbour.
It is the top race in the Southern Cross Cup - an international teams event based on Britain's Admiral's Cup.
Sailors who have completed the gruelling course say the most treacherous stage of the race comes as yachts enter the Bass Strait between the mainland and Tasmania.
The former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath, who won the race in 1969 on his yacht Morning Cloud, commented: "It is certainly one of the three most prestigious yacht races in the world.
"It is not so much the problems of navigation as the weather. You are basically going south but the problem comes when you enter the Bass Strait between Tasmania and the mainland.
"You have to decide whether to keep near to the coast and lose the winds or sail further out but risk bad conditions."
Sir Edward said the 1969 race was also marred by treacherous weather. "We decided to sail further out and got caught in some terrible weather," he said.
"We were hit by winds from the Antarctic and we were really buffeted but came through it to win the race in the end."
He added: "It was an absolutely terrific experience but it is a very hard race. As you near Hobart there are very high cliffs and again you have to make a decision to sail very close to the shore or way out. At one point we thought we were going to lose the wind completely as we neared the finishing line.
"It is a very demanding race."
On several occasions the weather has damaged yachts and swept crewmen overboard but until this year conditions have not claimed a life during the duration of the race.
The 1993 race was beset by galeforce headwinds, which forced 68 of the 105 starters to abandon their bids.
In 1973 a 20-year-old New Zealander sailor collapsed and died of heart failure on the first day of the race. And in 1984 an Australian crewman was swept overboard during bad weather as his yacht made the return journey from Hobart.
This year's race will probably go down as the worst in history, with two dead and four more presumed drowned.