America's Cup Leaders: Race Will Go On

The race will go on, according to America's Cup officials

The America's Cup will go on as planned after the death of a sailor during a training run last week on San Francisco Bay. America's Cup officials made the announcement at a news conference in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon.

The officials also said they expected all four entrants to compete, including Artemis Racing.

One of Artemis' two boats was badly damaged when it capsized and broke into pieces Thursday.

Strategist Andrew 'Bart" Simpson was trapped under the wreckage for more than 10 minutes and was pronounced dead shortly after the accident.

America's Cup officials held closed door meetings with members of all four teams that are competing in the race — Oracle Team USA, Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge prior to the announcement.

None of the teams have indicated they  plan to drop out of the regatta, Tom Ehman,  vice commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Regatta director Iain Murray said if one of the teams does drop out, the races would  still go on but that the format would probably have to be changed for the  preliminary races prior to the America's Cup Finals starting Sept. 7.

Andrew "Bart" Simpson, 36, a member of Sweden-based Artemis Racing, died following a capsizing of the team's 72-foot boat in the San Francisco Bay at about 1 p.m. Thursday. Simpson got trapped under the vessel and could not be revived after he was pulled from the water.

Sports Connection

Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.

New foods for Texas Rangers fans

Chiefs signing European rugby star as offensive weapon, reports say

Murray said he will chair the six-person  panel, which plans to review the safety measures in place for the America's  Cup sailors and will recommend changes, if necessary, for the practices and  races.

Murray said although racing starts on July 5, there was no  estimate yet for when the panel would return with its recommendation.

 "I don't want to put a deadline on when we're going to have  something, but it's going to be shorter rather than longer," he said.The panel was agreed upon by all four teams participating in the  races

Murray said all of the sailors in the various races are "obviously  very subdued" following the death but will return to practicing on Thursday  after a weeklong break in honor of Simpson.

Bay City News contributed to this report.
   
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us