Tuesday 1 October 2013

34th America's Cup, Iain Percy and Ben Ainslie reflect on the tragic loss of Andrew "Bart" Simpson and the future

 From the following article on sportsvibe.co.uk

http://www.sportsvibe.co.uk/articles/sailing-and-on-water/exclusive-for-ainslie-and-me-bart-s-death-is-bigger-than-an-amazing-america-s-cup-says-iain-percy-28361/

Iain Percy has revealed that while Team Oracle USA celebrated their historic America’s Cup win on Wednesday night in San Francisco the man who played such a huge part in turning near certain defeat into victory only had thoughts for the late Andrew “Bart” Simpson, his great friend and fellow British Olympic sailor.

Sir Ben Ainslie could have enjoyed the moment he had dreamt of all his life, being a major player in a successful America’s Cup project, but while the drinks were flying and backs understandably slapped after “Team Oracle USA” had come back from a supposedly unassailable 8-1 down to beat “Emirates New Zealand” 9-8, Ainslie sat with Percy to honour their lost friend.

Simpson lost his life when Percy’s “Artemis” boat capsized in San Francisco Bay during training on May 9th, a freak accident that left both Percy and Ainslie considering their futures in sport. Both continued, with Percy now team Manager of Artemis as they look ahead to the next America’s Cup, and Ainslie the hero of the sailing world, but Simpson is clearly never far from their thoughts.

read more here

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