Death of fisherman mars Ocean Volvo Race fourth leg finish

One man has died and nine were left injured following a collision between a fishing boat and the American-Danish Vestas 11th Hour Racing team during the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

A historic victory for the Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag team as the city hosted the race for the first time was marred as news came through about the fatality.

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag triumphed despite some significant setbacks in the gruelling 5,800 nautical mile stage from Melbourne, Australia, closely followed by China's Dongfeng Race Team in second place.

But in a statement, race organisers confirmed the death and said the incident happened approximately 30 miles from the finish, outside of Hong Kong waters at around 1:23am local time on Saturday.

"The Volvo Ocean Race is deeply saddened to inform that the collision between Vestas 11th Hour Racing, a team competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, and a fishing vessel has resulted in a fatality of a crew member of the fishing vessel," it read.

"We offer our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the deceased... All involved organisations are co-operating with the authorities and are fully supporting the ongoing investigation."

All Vestas crew members were safe but the boat was damaged according to an earlier statement, with the incident forcing the team to officially retire from the fourth leg.

The Dongfeng team's website said the Vestas was in second place and being chased by Dongfeng when the accident occurred.