A sailor on the first Chinese yacht to enter the gruelling Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been swept overboard as the vessel made its way to Australia, his club said.

Sai Jun, 23, was lost at sea late Sunday off the coast of Vietnam, the Noahs Sailing Club said in a statement on its Facebook page.

He was still missing Wednesday, reported China's Haixi Morning Post newspaper.

In a milestone for Chinese sailing the club's 52-foot Ark323 entered the race across the Bass Strait, which is notorious for its demanding conditions, this coming December.

The missing bowman and navigator is from the Chinese region of Ningxia, thousands of kilometres inland, but discovered sailing at university, the Shanghai-based club said.

"There’s danger in everyday life, even when we cross the road," it cited him as saying after a South China Sea typhoon killed one sailor and left another four missing earlier this month.

"I want to be a sailor because I want to see the world. We need to take some risks sometimes."

The Ark323 had left the Vietnamese port of Nha Trang on the day of the accident, bound for Bali en route to Australia, the club said.

Searchers had not been able to find him, nor had a private helicopter hired by the club, it added. Sai was wearing a lifejacket with a personal locator beacon, but no active signal could be traced.
Source: AFP