A man has died after two yachts collided in Sydney Harbour.
Emergency services were called to New Beach Road in Darling Point at about 6.30pm on Friday evening, after reports that two boats had collided, NSW police said in a statement.
When officers arrived, they found a man believed to be in his 50s with a severe chest injury. He died at the scene.
As of later on Friday evening, the man had not yet 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.
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.
Officers from Eastern Suburbs police area command and the marine area command initially responded to the incident.
Both skippers were to be subjected to mandatory testing as a result of the collision, the police statement said, and both vessels were seized for mechanical examination.
A report was being prepared for the coroner.
Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press.
