America's Cup- Artemis Racing seek a cessation in media speculation

by Sail-world.com on 12 May 2013 The Swedish America´s Cup team Artemis Racing has issued the following statement after the accident in which Andrew Bart Simpson was killed this week in a training accident on San Francisco Bay.

´'Artemis Racing is in the process of conducting a thorough review and analysis of this week's accident. As a part of this review, Artemis Racing is sharing and exchanging data and information with concurrent work being performed by America's Cup and the San Francisco Police Department.

'Until this process is complete, any conclusions being made about the events that led to the boat's capsizing and its tragic outcome are pure speculation.

'Out of respect for Bart's memory and his family, we ask that the broader sailing community and others reserve judgment until all the facts are known, and not persist in unnecessary rumor.

'We again thank everyone for their continued support and thoughts during this difficult time. '

America's Cup Event Management have also issued the following statement:

Tasked with running a review into the circumstances surrounding the capsize of the Artemis Racing AC72 on Thursday, Regatta Director Iain Murray says consultation with stakeholders is already underway.

On Tuesday, Murray has scheduled a formal meeting when all four teams competing in the Summer of Racing - Oracle Team USA, Artemis Racing (SWE), Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) – will be in San Francisco.

'The meeting with the teams is a crucial next step,' Murray said. 'We need to establish an open flow of information to ensure this review meets its goals of fact-finding and putting us in a position to recommend changes, if necessary.'

One aspect of the review will involve study of all data that was captured at the time of the incident.

'Once we have the information, the basic facts, all the data, then we will be able to re-build the entire chain of events and start to assess why this incident resulted in a tragic loss of life,' he said.