America’s Cup death ‘accident waiting to happen’

Published: 6:05PM Friday May 10, 2013 Source: ONE Sport

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The tragic death of Artemis Racing’s Andrew “Bart” Simpson was an accident waiting to happen, according to America’s Cup expert Peter Lester

British Olympic gold medallist Simpson was on board the Swedish AC72 boat when it capsized in San Francisco Harbour today and Lester believes that his death could be just the tip of the iceberg.

“We’ve been saying this now since the 72s were announced that the extreme design, the speed, it’s a disaster waiting to happen that unfortunately has now happened,” sailing commentator Lester told ONE News.

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“We’re not even racing at the moment and you know that when the Louis Vuitton Cup starts and the boats go boat-on-boat the crews will push harder, regardless of the accident that’s happened today because you’re in race mode.

“The boats were only out there training. So I think the risks are going to get even more when you get into the Louis Vuitton Cup because it’s in racing mode.”

The Louis Vuitton Cup, which will involve Team New Zealand, begins in July and there will be a reluctance to change any of the rules, according to Team Korea boat designer Brett Bakewell-White.

“They are able to [change the rules] if they all agree but it’s going to be a problem for them because it doesn’t give them much time to change anything,” Bakewell-White told ONE News.

“The problem is that all the boats have been designed on the premise that this is the configuration and they are going to sail up to 30 knots of breeze so the teams have developed their boats around that.

“So I think there will be a reluctance from the likes of Team New Zealand and Oracle to change anything.”

Commercial pressures

The current wind threshold for racing is 28 knots for the Louis Vuitton Cup and 33 knots for the America’s Cup but that won’t change because of commercial pressures says Bakewell-White.

“As a designer for Team Korea I sat in a lot of the early meetings and the some of the challengers were asking for the wind limit to be reduced because they thought it would be dangerous and Oracle were very much against it purely because the whole thing was being driven by television schedules,” he said.

The scary thing is that the wind was only blowing a mild 20 knots today and in faster conditions, the catamarans could be exposed to more carnage.

“I think it highlights the fact that again getting around the course is important and it is conceivable that you could end up with no boats,” Bakewell-White warned.

“And not actually having an America’s Cup because everyone’s run out of equipment. It’s not likely but it’s possible.”

But the biggest concern for the oldest trophy in sport is that the safety of the competitors is paramount says Lester

“Obviously losing a life is such a huge deal and the reaction to that will be ‘do we need to change the rules to make these boats safer for the crew?”

“And maybe they do, maybe they don’t – I don’t know. Then I think over time the reaction will be the concept of the boats. And the solution the designers have gone to make these boats sailable in San Francisco. Are the boats too big and too powerful?” 

Race organizers said Simpson was assigned as the crew’s tactician but also would have been involved in operating winches and performing other tasks necessary to sail the twin-hulled boat. 

The crew of Oracle was on the bay for training at the time the Artemis capsized, America’s Cup officials said. 

Oracle Team USA’s boat flipped over in a practice run in October, damaging the windsail. But no one was injured, and the vessel was relaunched in January. 

The wreck of the Artemis was at least the fourth major accident in just over a year off the California coast or involving California vessels. 

In March a crew member was killed when a 30-foot (9-metre) sailboat broke apart in rough seas during a race near San Clemente Island. 

In April 2012 four crewmen in a race from Southern California to Mexico died after their yacht ran aground. Two weeks earlier, five sailors died in a racing accident near the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco. 

The Farallon incident prompted the Coast Guard to temporarily suspend racing in the Pacific Ocean off northern California. 

Cayard spoke briefly to reporters outside the team’s offices in the town of Alameda across from San Francisco. 

“We obviously had a tragic day today on the bay. It’s a shocking experience to go through. We have a lot to deal with for the next few days in terms of ensuring everybody’s well-being,” he said.