Sad day in sailing - AC boat crashes on the Bay, 1 sailor lost

[tadink]

Sailor dies when Swedish Cup entry capsizes - SFGate

4 time olympic medalist Andrew Simpson was trapped under the boat after it pitchpoled....CPR did not revive him. A sad day for all sailors - prayers are with his friends and family....

td

[Buckterrier]

A sad day indeed.

RIP Mr. Simpson

[widgeon13]

is there no video of the actual accident? Sad situation.

[widgeon13]

This was back in 2011 I think. (Different boat) These things are touchy and fast.

[tadink]

That video is of the 45 footer - the AC72's are even more so.

There will be some video of the event - the chase boats and spy boats are all taking video of everything that goes on when any of the boats are on the water.

The talk is they just pitch-poled (tripped over forwards). Happens all the time on high performance catamarans like these - anyone who has ever sailed a Hobie16 has pitchpoled at least once!

When that happens, you go from VERY fast to stopped in less than a meter, and the forces are extreme. Bart was at the back of the boat, and likely fell 70-ish feet into the water....so may have sustained some injuries on the way into the water, and then the whole thing settled over the top of him. If he was unconscious, he would not have been able to get out from under the wreckage.....

He was a helluva sailor - so likely injured when he went into the water or he would have been able to claw his way out from under.....and he would have known to do so.

Very sad indeed.....the video will tell the tale I expect.....

td

[widgeon13]

Pitchpoling in a Hobie is one thing. I wouldn't want to do it in one of those, it's like a slingshot.

[Hard-Deck]

I am a sailor by lifestyle. I feel very sad for this accident. Prayers for sailors...

[notfarnow]

A couple years ago, I pitchpoled a hobie 16 with my dad out on the trapeze. He got flung into the mast and t was a pretty bad scene. I can't imagine being flung from a 70 ft cat... it'd be like being flung from a trebuchet. Scary, and sad.

[Bill Douglas]

I thought this would happen one day. Sadly I was right.

[Rikao4]

brings back memories..
a rental cat & a few beers ..
and of course we know how to sail..
like Jakes Dad I was flung into the mast or some ropes..
when I surfaced I had a red stripe across my chest..
Jurgen almost got neutered..
he couldn't decide between paddling or holding his nuts..
life-jackets are of course tied to something other than us. ..
some Spanish fishermen found us boobing of the coast..

Rika

[arcsine]

The boat did not pitchpole evidently. The hull structure failed.
What Went Wrong in the Deadly America's Cup Crash | Autopia | Wired.com

[nostatic]

Those boats are crazy fast. The video of the Oracle boat pitchpoling was insane. I'll stick with the RS vision and staying sheeted out.

god speed. Racing anything can be dangerous.

[vash]

his nickname was "bart"..which is a cool nickname.

RIP BART.

[T77911S]

wow! i did that in my 18ft cat. it was a SOL CAT.
the problem with my boat is the leaward hull would go under water on slight down wind runs. with the wind partially behind me and very hi, the hull went under and the wind just kept pushing. went over slow but nothing you can do but go for the ride.

[72doug2,2S]

Sad day...

Dorset's Andrew Simpson dies in US sailing accident (From Dorset Echo)

11:39am

Residents in Simpson's home town paid tribute to him today.
The Olympian lived in a terraced house close to the centre of historic Sherborne with his wife, Leah, and their two young children.
The family had temporarily moved to San Francisco so he could focus on training for the America's Cup.
A statement with the title ''Sad News'' was posted on a neighbourhood noticeboard close to their home today.
The tribute, from Fosters Field Residents' Association, read: ''It is with great sadness that we learned of the news of the death of Andrew Simpson in San Francisco yesterday.
''He was working as coach to the Swedish America's Cup Challenge Artemis and the boat capsized.
''He was trapped underneath and revival was impossible when they finally rescued him.
''Many of us will remember him from the celebrations of his Olympic gold medal from Beijing and his silver medal from Weymouth last year and also just walking round Fosters Field with Leah and their two little boys.
''Our sympathy and heartfelt condolences go to his family.''

9:09am

Andrew Simpson caught the sailing bug when he was a young boy, despite being born in 1976 in the landlocked town of Chertsey in Surrey.
While visiting his grandparents in Christchurch, Dorset, he took to the waves with his parents when he was just four or five in their Sea Flyer boat, according to the Royal Yachting Association (RYA).
Even at such tender years he raced through the surf faster than his father, and it was not long before he had a boat of his own in which to hone his craft.
Simpson, known affectionately as ''Bart'' after the television character, grew up racing two boys who would become Olympic legends in their own right - Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, the latter being his childhood Lego-building friend, sailing partner and best man at his wedding.
Last year Simpson told the RYA and the British Sailing Team: ''They are both fantastic sailors. Sometimes you thought you were lucky to be sailing against those guys because they're such good sailors and sometimes I'd beat them although more often than not they would beat me.
''They're that little bit better for reasons I learned later in life; that they worked harder at it not necessarily because they're much more talented.''
At the start of his career Simpson sailed in the Laser class, plugged away for many years behind Percy and Ainslie in the Finn class, before moving to sail Finns himself.
In 2001, having missed out to Percy for Olympic selection the previous year, he took silver at the 2001 Finn European Championships, following it up with bronze at the World Championships in 2003.
He missed out to Ainslie for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and the following year joined the America's Cup challenger +39 Challenge as helmsman.
With Ainslie so dominant, Simpson teamed up with Percy in 2007 in the Star class, TeamGB said. The partnership flourished immediately, and the pair won World Championship bronze.
A year later was perhaps their finest triumph as a team, when they won gold in the Star class at the Beijing Olympics. He was later made an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list.
Speaking of how he felt at the time, Simpson told the RYA: ''You win a gold medal with your best friend and you're on the podium and the national anthem is played and you've just had a really tough regatta, it's not like we won it easy, it was a real war.
''Iain looked like he was going to cry so I put my arm around his back and said, 'Nice work mate'.
''He was just exhausted or about to cry, I'm not sure which, but he is quite a tough lad so he kept it in.''
Simpson and Percy went on to take Star gold in the 2009 European Championships and the 2010 World Championships.
But they could not quite manage gold at last year's home Olympics, taking silver behind the Swedish pair despite heading into the medal race with an eight-point lead.
Simpson leaves behind a wife, Leah, and a young son, Freddie.

[widgeon13]

A lot of money goes into those boats.