The British sailing community is mourning the death of Olympic champion Andrew Simpson after the 36-year-old drowned after his vessel capsized in San Francisco Bay during training for the America’s Cup yesterday.
The Beijing Olympics 2008 gold medallist in the star cross class died when he was trapped under the 72-foot (22-metre) catamaran the Artemis overturned.
Simpson, nicknamed ‘Bart’ after the cartoon character, also won silver medal at the London Olympics last year, again in the Star class, and was a close friend of four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie.
A statement from Ainslie’s Oracle team, which was also testing its AC72 on San Francisco Bay read: “Today is a sad day for all of us in the sailing community.
“Andrew Simpson was a great person, a terrific sailor, and a good friend to all of our team.
“Our thoughts are with his family and the entire Artemis team. He will be dearly missed.”
Simpson’s twin-hulled boat was performing a so-called “bear-away” manoeuvre, turning away from the wind, when one bow dropped under the water’s surface, and the vessel flipped over.
Simpson, who was working as the team’s tactician, ended up trapped beneath the boat in the water for around 10 minutes and had to be pulled out by rescue divers, who tried and failed to revive him.
The incident was believed to be the first fatality in connection with the America’s Cup since the early 1990s, when a crew member from a Spanish team died in a training accident off the coast of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.