SAN FRANCISCO—Following last week’s fatal accident of Olympic medalist Andrew Simpon, an expert committee was appointed to review the safety of America’s Cup. Canceling the event itself, scheduled to begin in seven weeks, is out of question, organizers said Tuesday
“We are more than 100 percent confident we’ll go ahead,” said Iain Murray, regatta director and America’s Cup Race Management CEO, at a press conference at America’s Cup headquarters on Pier 27 in San Francisco.
Olympic medalist Andrew Simpson, crewman of the Artemis Racing team, died May 9 during a training session when the boat capsized and trapped him underwater for more than 10 minutes in the San Francisco Bay near Treasure Island.
The fatal crash, preceded by an accident in October last year for Oracle Team USA in which no one was hurt, has raised questions about the safety of the boats employed in the race, the high-speed AC72 wing-sail catamarans, and speculations about canceling the event altogether.
All four teams competing in the race came together Tuesday morning in a “collegial meeting of the America’s cup family, [where] all are trying to pull together to get through this tragic fatality,” said Tom Ehman, vice commodore of Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC). GGYC is the current holder of the America’s Cup, won in 2010 by the Oracle team, and the official host of the 34th America’s Cup.
There was no discussion of calling off the cup or of pulling out of the race, Ehman said Tuesday. Instead they focused on how to learn from the accident, and expressed support for GGYC’s appointment of a review committee.
The six-member panel is tasked with reviewing the circumstances that led to the accident, and it will provide recommendations to ensure the safety of the crew members, Murray said. The committee, manned by sailing professionals and headed by Murray, will be working in parallel with a police investigation, he added.
While there is no deadline to come up with recommendations for safety changes to the boats or the course, “time is of the essence here,” Murray said. The event is scheduled to begin July 5, with the finals beginning in September.
Murray said since the design and structure of each boat is different, one cannot draw conclusions about other boats. “The rewards and risks are on the teams. … It’s a very complex situation, these are very complex boats,” he said.
Both said it was still too early to discuss what caused the accident.
The U.S. Coast Guard has endorsed the review committee. Independent of the accident, they will need to issue a permit for the cup, as for any large marine event. Their own review needs to determine that any “extra or unusual hazards have been adequately mitigated,” said Captain Matt Bliven on Tuesday.
After waiting a week in honor of Simpson, the teams will resume their training Thursday, Murray said.
America’s Cup officials also downplayed the announcement Monday that a German organization was pulling its sponsorship of a racing team in the America’s Cup youth regatta, which is scheduled for the first week of September. Five teams of sailors between the ages of 19 and 24 are scheduled to race 45-foot catamarans.
Sailing Team Germany/Norddeutscher Regatta said the death of Simpson prompted it to pull out of the youth regatta.
Cup spokesman Peter Rusch said the sailors sponsored by the Germans still want to race. Rusch said if they can’t find another sponsor, another team on a “wait list” will be added to the event in their place. The youth America’s Cup and the German decision to pull out have no effect on the main event.
The Artemis boat was attempting to turn downwind when it capsized. Though difficult, the maneuver was considered normal.
One hull snapped. Investigators will have to determine whether a structural problem caused the catamaran to flip, or if the capsize broke the boat.
The Oracle team won the last America’s Cup in 2010 in Spain, and its owner, billionaire Larry Ellison, picked the San Francisco Bay to defend the cup. Three teams have signed up to challenge and are scheduled to begin racing one another in July to determine who will take on Oracle.
America’s Cup is the one of oldest and best-known international sailing yacht competitions. The San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development expects the event to generate more than 8,800 jobs and $1.4 billion in economic activity for San Francisco.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
