A 72-foot-long, high-tech catamaran sailboat capsized Thursday in San Francisco Bay while practicing for the America's Cup races this summer, killing an Olympic gold medalist from England and injuring another sailor, authorities told The Associated Press. Artemis Racing said Andrew "Bart" Simpson died after the capsized boat's platform trapped him underwater for about 10 minutes shortly after 1 p.m.
Olympic medalist Craig Monk, of New Zealand, suffered a neck injury in the accident, according to Monk's sailing colleagues. Monk is currently in a hospital in San Francisco but his injuries are not life threatening.
Artemis and two other yacht teams, each outfitted with multimillion-dollar racing boats than can reach up to 45 mph speeds, are challenging defending champions Oracle Racing for the America's cup, sailing's most prestigious trophy.
Simpson, 36, served as the strategist for the Swedish team. Monk was working on Artemis as a grinder - one of the crewmen who grinds winches to move the giant catamaran's winged sail.
"The entire Artemis team is devastated by what happened," CEO Paul Cayard said in a statement on the team's website. "Our heartfelt condolences are with Andrew's wife and family."
Cayard didn't take any questions during the brief news conference Thursday evening and didn't return telephone calls. British newspapers reported that Simpson is survived by his wife and an infant.
Artemis Racing said doctors "afloat" with the team and on shore were unable to revive the former Olympian after he was freed from the wreckage. Aside from Monk, the rest of the crew of about a dozen people was accounted for and taken back to their dock in Alameda.
Officials told the AP that winds were blowing between 15 and 20 knots (17 to 23 mph) when the boat capsized. The National Weather Service later issued a small-craft advisory, warning inexperienced mariners to stay off the bay and indicating winds of between 21 knots and 33 knots (up to 28 mph).
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