Artemis pledge 'thorough review'

Andrew Simpson, pictured, was described as a 'true inspiration' by fellow Olympian Luke Patience
10 May 2013

Artemis Racing has pledged to conduct a thorough review of the accident which claimed the life of sailor Andrew Simpson.

The 36-year-old sailed alongside Iain Percy at two successive Olympics, winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Games before taking silver on the home waters of Weymouth and Portland last year. Simpson, known affectionately as Bart, recently turned his hand to this year's America's Cup - a trophy he admitted before London 2012 was his biggest goal.

He had hoped that dream would come true as strategist for challenger Artemis Racing, whose sailing team director and tactician is Percy. However, those hopes ended in tragedy when the Swedish team's AC72 catamaran capsized, leading to Simpson's death.

The team has pledged to "conduct a thorough analysis and review of this accident" and to look at how risks can be limited.

"Our thoughts are with Andrew's family, who suffered a tragic loss yesterday - of a son, a father, and a husband," Artemis Racing chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist told their official website.

"As our friend and team-mate, Andrew 'Bart' Simpson was central to Artemis Racing, both in the course of racing and our lives. His presence and personality was a binding force and he will be missed.

"Right now, the primary focus of Artemis Racing is on the well-being of our team members and their families, and the America's Cup competition will remain second to that."

Simpson was a hugely popular member of the sailing fraternity and his death has sent shockwaves through the sport. Stevie Morrison, who represented Team GB in the 49er class at London 2012, took to Twitter to describe Simpson as "a gent, a true professional and the captain of the team last summer".

British windsurfer Nick Dempsey simply posted "Going to miss you Bart", while Luke Patience, who took silver in the men's 470 class at London 2012, said: "Devastated. Bart, you are a true inspiration."

As well as the many, many individuals to pay their respects to Simpson, so too did bodies like the British Olympic Association and Royal Yachting Association. Barclays Premier League side Tottenham also expressed their sadness at the passing of a man who was a big supporter of the north London outfit.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in