Friends and colleagues pay tribute to Olympic gold medal winning sailor Andrew Simpson, who died when his boat capsized during training for the Americas Cup.


Simpson, 36, was sailing with the Swedish Artemis Racing team in San Francisco Bay when the yacht turned over and trapped him underneath, his team said on Thursday night.

The sailor, known as 'Bart', was in a crew of 11 when the 72ft vessel overturned at 12:30pm local time (8:30pm GMT). The cause of the accident is so far unclear.

Simpson was trapped underwater for about 10 minutes, Artemis said, and doctors both in the water and on the shore could not revive him after he was freed from the wreckage.

Paul Cayard, Artemis' chief executive, said the entire team was 'devastated' by what had happened. He said: 'We obviously had a tragic day today on the bay and our thoughts and prayers are with Bart Simpson's - Andrew Simpson's - family, his wife and kids, and also with the rest of the team-mates.
'It is a shocking experience to go through and we have a lot to deal with in the next few days in terms of assuring everybody's well-being.

'The boat itself is under control, but it is certainly not the first of our concerns. We are focused on the people. That is what we are working with and on and we will give you more information when we are able to.'

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