British gold medal sailor Simpson dies in training accident ahead of America's Cup

Olympic gold medalist Andrew Simpson has been killed after his America’s Cup yacht capsized in San Francisco last night.



The 36-year-old, who won gold in the Star class in Beijing alongside Iain Percy, was training with the Swedish team Artemis ahead of this summer’s America’s Cup.



His team explained that the 72-foot catamaran tipped over and Simpson was trapped underneath. It is understood that he was under the boat for 10 minutes and CPR was performed unsuccessfully.



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Tragedy: Andrew Simpson (right) died in a training accident in America

Accident: The capsized Artemis catamaran, a 72-foot America's Cup entry from Sweden, is towed past Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay

Rescue attempt: Coastguards attend to the scene of where the Artemis Racing AC72 catamaran capsized

A statement released by his team read: ‘It is with immense sadness that Artemis Racing confirms the tragic death of crewmember Andrew 'Bart' Simpson today in San Francisco.

‘Simpson, a British Olympic gold medalist, was one of the 11-man crew aboard Artemis Racing’s AC72 catamaran which capsized during training on San Francisco Bay ahead of this summer’s America’s Cup. All other crewmembers are accounted for.

‘Simpson, however, was trapped underneath the boat and despite attempts to revive him by doctors afloat and subsequently ashore, his life was lost.'



The team’s CEO Paul Cayard added: ‘The entire Artemis Racing team is devastated by what happened. Our heartfelt condolences are with Andrew’s wife and family.

Cayard held a short press conference, but did not elaborate on the cause of the tragedy.

He said: 'We had a tragic day today on the bay. Our thoughts are with Andrew Simpson’s wife and kids and also with the rest of the team. This is a shocking experience to go through.



Tragic boat: The Artemis Racing catamaran, pictured here in a file photo, carrying a Swedish flag capsized just after 1pm near Treasure Island, the former naval station located in the bay

'We have a lot to deal with in the next few days. The boat is under control but it is not the first of our concerns. We are focused on the people. We will give more information when we are able to.'



San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge confirmed that Simpson was taken to St Francis Yacht Club on the shore where paramedics performed CPR, but was pronounced dead.

She said another sailor suffered minor injuries.

Before last summer's Olympics, Simpson admitted that winning the America's Cup 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 close friend Percy. Percy was onboard at the time of the capsize.

America's Cup bosses have promised a full investigation into the accident.

Gold rush: Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson celebrate winning at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008

Sticking together: Percy and Simpson were team-mates in Beijing and London

Stephen Barclay, the chief executive officer of the America's Cup Event Authority, told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'One of the things about accidents such as these is that there is lots of speculation about various aspects of what happened.



'What we do know is that he was trapped underneath and it was for a few minutes, we're not sure if it was one, two, three or 10.



'I imagine that'll be in the evidence when we review what actually happened.



'These boats are very fast and if these sorts of things happen then there are procedures and those sorts of things that we follow.



'We have boats follow these vessels, there's divers and doctors in case such things like this happen and those procedures were followed.'



It is not the first time one of the speedy America's Cup catamarans has capsized, with Team Oracle's AC72 last year also going over.

Out on the water: Prime Minister David Cameron talks with Finn class gold medallist Ben Ainslie and Simpson during the London Games

Celebrating: Simpson with his wife Leah and after receiving his OBE in 2009 at Buckingham Palace



'Oracle Team USA have a similar boat in terms of length and that also capsized in San Francisco Bay,' Barclay said. 'Thankfully no one was injured in that instance.

'As with high-performance sports, where athletes are pushing themselves in their craft to their limits, sometimes things go wrong, that's the nature of what they do.'



When then asked if any changes would be made to the specifications of the America's Cup in light of Simpson's death, Barclay was keen to avoid making any rash remarks.



'Right now, we, the America's Cup, are trying to establish what happened,' he added. 'Artemis Racing, Andrew and his team were out there practising.



'They weren't in event mode or anything like that so what we'll be doing is reviewing the circumstances and try to understand exactly what happened and remove all the speculation to find out the facts.



Dream team: Percy and Simpson won medals at two Olympic Games

Sailing to sucess: Percy and Simpson with Gold medal winner Ben Ainslie

'Then we'll review what we've found and if there is a need to make changes, we'll make them.



'But we won't make a judgement now about what might happen in the future.'



Tributes have already begun pouring in for the popular two-time Olympic medallist.

Olympic silver medallist windsurfer Nick Dempsey said via his Twitter account '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.'

The British Sonar team, comprising John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas, also took to the social network, posting: 'Devastated by the news from Artemis racing... Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bart's family and team, a true sailing legend...'

Fan fare: Luke Patience, Simpson with son Freddie and Ainslie on an open top bus tour of Weymouth and Portland

Sir Clive Woodward, British Olympic Association director of sport at London 2012, was another to pay tribute: 'Totally shocked to hear Olympic star Andrew 'Bart' Simpson died after Swedish America's cup catamaran capsizes - thoughts with his family.'

Simpson was a proud Tottenham supporter, and the club today tweeted, saying: 'The Club was saddened to hear of the passing of Olympic gold medallist and Spurs fan Andrew Simpson. Our thoughts with family and friends.'

The Royal Yachting Association released a statement after receiving the tragic news regarding Simpson.

'We're devastated by the news from San Francisco today,' RYA performance director John Derbyshire said.

Competitor: Simpson was looking forward to participating in the America's Cup, expressing his enthusiasm to fans via Twitter back in March

'Andrew is someone I've worked closely with since the age of 16 - 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 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.'

Stephen Park, the RYA's Olympic manager, echoed those sentiments, adding: 'Andrew was 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.'