Sailor's Death Clouds America's Cup Future

The future of the America's Cup has been plunged into fresh uncertainty after the owner of the Luna Rossa syndicate said he was considering pulling his team out following the death of British sailor Andrew Simpson.

Artemis Racing member Simpson, nicknamed "Bart," died when the Swedish team's AC72 catamaran capsized during a training run on San Francisco Bay on Thursday, casting a cloud over the most prestigious event in international sailing.

Patrizio Bertelli, chief executive of the Prada fashion house and sponsor of Luna Rossa, said his team would take the weekend to reflect on their position.

Bertelli spoke to Italian magazine Yacht Capital, in an article posted on the website yachtonline on Friday night.

He said he wouldn't impose a decision on his crew, but he said that in his opinion the adoption of the 72-foot catamarans for this edition of the race had turned the America's Cup into an extreme sport.

"The way it is now, it's not OK," he said. "Those responsible must take note. Not everybody has understood that we're now in an extreme America's Cup, whereas it was romantic before.

"We're now like Formula One or rally," he said.

The excitement of those high-tech, high-speed motor-sports was just what software billionaire Larry Ellison was going for when he pushed for the new parameters for the America's Cup craft.

Ellison's Oracle is the defending champion, defeating Switzerland's Alinghi in the 33rd edition of the event in 2010 in a competition marred by legal wrangling over the rules that began after Alinghi won the 32nd renewal in Valencia in 2007.

America's Cup chief executive Stephen Barclay said Friday that in the wake of Simpson's death "nothing is off the table" as organizers consider their options going forward.

But he voiced confidence that "the event in San Francisco will be a fantastic event."

No decisions will be made until after an investigation by Cup officials, as well as the San Francisco police and coast guard, into why the Artemis boat "nose-dived" and broke apart while performing a bear-away -- a downwind turn away from the breeze.

Simpson, an Olympic champion sailor, was apparently trapped under a solid piece of the boat, and by the time he was found and pulled out of the water he could not be revived.

"I think it's safe to say what happened yesterday was not on the radar for any of us," said Iain Murray, the Cup's regatta executive who will spearhead the probe.

Artemis chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist also promised a thorough analysis and review, and on Saturday the team urged the sailing community to refrain from "unnecessary rumor" until the facts are known.

"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," the team said in a statement on its website.

"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."

Prior to the tragedy, the 2013 America's Cup had already faced a number of legal challenges as well as questions about funding, environmental impact and participation.

Originally envisioned to include more than a dozen challengers battling for the right to take on Oracle in the final in September, the July 13-September 1 challenger series called the Louis Vuitton Cup is now down to three -- the stricken Artemis, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand.

Host Oracle had agreed to keep its AC72 off the water until Monday as the probe spearheaded by Murray gathered steam.

Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, having arrived in San Francisco later than the others, were not yet ready to put their boats in the water.