Sailor who died in San Francisco Bay is praised as 'huge inspiration to others in British sailing and across the nation'
The sailing community has paid tribute to the British Olympic gold medallist Andrew Simpson, who died on Thursday after his team's yacht capsized in the San Francisco Bay and trapped him underwater during training for the America's Cup.
The 72-foot Artemis catamaran tipped over at 1.15pm local time, plunging its 13-strong crew into the water and trapping Simpson under the vessel's platform for about 10 minutes.
Rescuers pulled Simpson, 36, into a support boat and an officer from the San Francisco police department's marine unit tried to resuscitate him. He was declared dead about 20 minutes later, said the San Francisco fire chief, Joanne Hayes-White.
Simpson won a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a crew member in the Star class and took silver last year at the London Games. He also won a Star gold at the 2010 World Championships. Simpson is survived by a wife and an infant child.
"The entire team is devastated by what happened," said the Artemis chief executive, Paul Cayard, a sailing world champion and America's Cup veteran. "Our heartfelt condolences are with Andrew's wife and family."
The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Olympic manager, Stephen Park, described Simpson as "a fantastic sailor who got the best out of everyone he sailed with. He was much loved and will be sorely missed by everyone in our close-knit team. Our thoughts today are with Andrew's family."
The RYA performance director, John Derbyshire, who has worked closely with Simpson since the age of 16, said: "He was a great talent, and a key figure in our world-class programme over many years culminating in his well-deserved Olympic success," he said. "He was a huge inspiration to others, both within the British sailing team and across the nation and our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this terrible time."
Ben Ainslie's Oracle team said it was "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 racing team. He will be dearly missed."
The New Zealand Olympic medallist Craig Monk suffered a neck injury in the accident. He is in hospital in San Francisco but his injuries are not life-threatening. The rest of the crew escaped unharmed and was taken to its nearby base at Alameda, where members were said to be in tears.
The coastguard said winds were a little above normal when the boat capsized half a mile north of Treasure Island. It was flying under a Swedish flag in preparation for the 34th America's Cup, sailing's most prestigious prize.
Simpson, nicknamed Bart, was born in Surrey, and lived in Dorset. He had temporarily moved to San Francisco for the training. "Moving the family to San Fran for 6 months is pretty hectic!!! The cup should be fun though!!" he tweeted in March.
He was recruited to the Artemis team, named after the Greek hunting goddess, as a strategist.
The crew reported glitches with the boat, which can reach speeds of 45mph, after it launched last November, according to a posting on the America's Cup website, and it needed to be modified earlier this year. It was not the first America's Cup boat to capsize in the San Francisco Bay. Oracle's boat capsized in 25-knot winds in October and strong tides swept it four miles (6km) past the Golden Gate Bridge. No one was injured but the rough waters destroyed the wing sail and the boat was sidelined until February.
Coast Guard Lt Jeannie Crump said the cause of Thursday's accident was unclear. Stephen Barclay, chief executive of the America's Cup event authority, said officials were investigating but it was too soon to answer questions about the safety of the high-tech boats on the San Francisco Bay.
"Obviously a catamaran is more prone to capsizing than a mono-hull," he said. "Whether boats are safe or unsafe, we're not going to speculate on those things." The catamarans are much faster than the traditional sloops that historically competed for the trophy but have proved hard to handle.
The America's Cup race is scheduled to run from July through to September. The Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers starts on 4 July, with the final in September.
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