Swedish Racing Boat Capsizes During America's Cup Training
One person is confirmed dead after a tragic capsizing of a 72-foot Artemis Racing boat during a training run for the America's Cup in San Francisco.
UPDATE: Thursday, May 9 at 6:35 p.m. ET by Eric Ball
"It is with immense sadness that Artemis Racing confirms the tragic death of crewmember Andrew “Bart” Simpson today in San Francisco.
— America's Cup (@americascup) May 9, 2013"
---End of update---
NBC Bay Area reporter Stephanie Chuang was one of the first to break the story, as two were initially confirmed injured during the incident:
Support boats rushed on the scene to assist, getting the two men to paramedics, as noted by the America's Cup Twitter feed:
"Artemis Racing capsize AC72 during training. Support boats on scene to assist in recovery. Updates to come. twitter.com/americascup/st…
— America's Cup (@americascup) May 9, 2013"
According to the Mercury News' Julia Prodis Sulek, all 11 members of the crew were found, though their statuses have not been publicly released.
The unnamed crew member was submerged for "quite some time" in the water before rescue workers could arrive. In a video on CBS' local news website, you can see the unfortunate scene unfold.
Chuang later reported that paramedics had stopped performing CPR on one victim, who was taken to the St. Francis Yacht Club for further assistance.
One of the first responders on the scene was from the Oracle Racing Team, which was also training for the America's Cup.
The Artemis Racing team, based in Sweden, arrived earlier this month for its first training run for the impending America's Cup races. They are one of four teams entering the storied event this year, which will begin on July 4. This particular vessel was a member of the AC72 crew, which relates to the yacht's waterline length.
Artemis Racing has not officially released a statement at this time.
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