The Australian yachting community is in mourning after the deaths of two highly regarded sailors who died when the super yacht they were racing crashed into a rocky reef in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Skipper Andrew Short, 48, and navigator Sally Gordon, 47, were killed and 16 crew members – including Mr Short’s two sons - had to be saved when the 80ft maxi-yacht PriceWaterhouseCoopers hit rocks and capsized off the eastern coast of Australia.

The yacht, which was previously known as Shockwave V, ran aground off Flinders Islet, near Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales, about 3am on Saturday while competing in a 92 nautical mile night race.

Mr Short and Ms Gordon, who were both extremely experienced sailors with decades of experience competing in Australian and international races, were thrown overboard during the tragic accident, which occurred when a series of powerful waves smashed into the boat.

Other yachts raced to rescue the pair, and tried to resuscitate them on board as they rushed to land, however neither Mr Short nor Ms Gordon could be revived.

In a final act of fatherly love, Mr Short threw a torch to his 19-year-old son Nicholas, who was also washed overboard, before he died. The beam from the torch in the waves enabled a police rescue boat to find Nicholas and pull him to safety.

Mr Short’s other son Mitch, 14, was among the surviving crew members who abandoned the yacht as it began to sink and made it onto the small rocky outcrop. They were later winched to safety by rescue helicopters during a three-hour operation and taken to hospital where they were treated for shock and hypothermia.

Mr Short’s grieving wife Kylie said her husband died doing what he truly loved.

"If Andrew could pick a way to go, that was the way Andrew would have wanted to go, so I'm comfortable with that," she said earlier today.

Mr Short’s brother Matthew said the yachtsman was popular in the international sailing community.

"He's going to be leaving a very, very large dint in the world,” he told the Seven network in Australia

"I've had phone calls from England, America, Hawaii, all round Australia. It's a shock loss. He's extremely successful.

"He's got five children who all love him and are extremely dependent on him. He's very, very successful and he's going to be badly missed."

Ms Gordon was remembered as a good role model for young female sailors.

“She was a good mind and sport and doing what she loved,” her sister Anne Gordon said. “And for her there was no tomorrow.”

Matt Allen, the Commodore from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, said he had spoken to some of the crew members from Shockwave V and believed there was nothing wrong with the yacht, that it was just a “freakish accident”, which is currently being investigated by police.

“You’ve got the wind coming from one direction and the current coming from another direction, and the collision happened just after 3am,” Mr Allen told The Times.

“It is a puzzle will be put back together again in due course.”

Mr Allen, who was close friends with Mr Short and had previously raced with the yachtsman on board Shockwave V, said the Australian yachting community was in shock over the deaths.

“Everyone is still in shock and trying to understand what happened,” he said. “We’ve had messages of condolences from all over the world, they were both incredibly popular and experienced yachts people.”

The fatal accident is the worst ocean-racing disaster to occur in Australia since the tragic Sydney to Hobart race in 1998, in which five boats sank and six crew members died when the fleet was hit by horrific weather. Mr Short and Ms Gordon had both competed safely in that race.