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Sam Whiting of The SF Chronicle just released this pieced together article on what occurred on Artemis Racing's Big Red back on May 9th:
Full Article
Before 11 a.m., Simpson and other members of the Artemis team made their way to the dock and boarded their AC72, nicknamed Big Red. Compared with teammates who had been there from the start, Simpson was less familiar with the dynamic of the wing-sail catamarans. Word is that this was his third trip out on the boat. Because the sailors must be free to scamper across the trampoline of the catamaran, none of them was harnessed in or clipped on to the rigging, which is comparable to not wearing a seat belt.
Late in the morning, the two mighty 72-foot catamarans of Artemis and Oracle, each flanked by four support craft called chase boats, made their rendezvous in San Francisco Bay. The sky was clear; the wind was up, 18 or 20 knots; and the water was choppy.
The morning head-to-head test passed without incident. As morning became afternoon, the 131-foot-high wing-sail of Big Red could be seen upright, off the northern tip of Treasure Island, preparing to have another run at Oracle.
At this point, a confidential Artemis report says, the boat was steering into position to put the wind at its back - "bearing away" in yachting parlance. It's a tricky maneuver, a 180-degree turn known as "the zone of death," because the boats may accelerate out of control, while shifting from upwind to downwind.
As the Artemis AC72 attempted its downwind turn, downward pressure was put onto the front of the twin hulls, pushing them into the water. As the front of the boat dug in, the Artemis report says, the back of the boat lifted up, a situation called pitchpoling. The boat flipped, and the front beam connecting the two hulls broke, causing the portside hull to tear away from the boat. The starboard hull, along with the wing-sail, collapsed into the water.
"In my opinion, the boat was in the process of capsizing when the boat broke," Percy said in an interview with The Chronicle. "It definitely stuffed the bow" into the water.
Artemis chase boats were on the scene of the accident, and began transferring crew members, one by one, off Big Red to the chase boat.
But the head count came up one short.
"It became apparent that someone was lost in the water," Oracle's Ainslie wrote in the Telegraph of London. "When it became clear that it was Bart who was missing, well, the whole world caved in."
The prevailing theory is that Simpson became trapped in the wreckage and drowned. "It appears Bart was trapped under some of the solid sections of the yacht - out of view, out of sight," said Regatta Director Iain Murray.
Tony Outteridge, father of Artemis helmsman Nathan Outteridge, told Australia's Newcastle Herald that as the boat rose and fell into the bay, a loud crack was heard, and it folded in on itself "like a taco shell." One might surmise that Simpson was inside the taco, trapped in the netting of the trampoline as the two hulls pinched together.
Newcastle Herald writer Sam Rigney wrote: "His crew members could see (Simpson) fighting for his life and dived beneath the water to try and set him free. They handed the man they called 'Bart' emergency oxygen bottles - which hold about 10 breaths each - in a bid to keep him alive in the hope rescue crews would arrive in time."
But soon after the May 10 article, Nathan Outteridge said the account did not reflect the facts. The film footage also gives no indication of a frantic struggle by teammates to save Simpson, though it's quite possible that the helicopters arrived after that happened.
Another theory in sailing circles is that Simpson was dead or unconscious before he hit the water, killed by a blow to the head. Rumors have surfaced about significant dents in the dead sailor's helmet, or that it was broken into pieces by the boat's rigging.
Late in the morning, the two mighty 72-foot catamarans of Artemis and Oracle, each flanked by four support craft called chase boats, made their rendezvous in San Francisco Bay. The sky was clear; the wind was up, 18 or 20 knots; and the water was choppy.
The morning head-to-head test passed without incident. As morning became afternoon, the 131-foot-high wing-sail of Big Red could be seen upright, off the northern tip of Treasure Island, preparing to have another run at Oracle.
At this point, a confidential Artemis report says, the boat was steering into position to put the wind at its back - "bearing away" in yachting parlance. It's a tricky maneuver, a 180-degree turn known as "the zone of death," because the boats may accelerate out of control, while shifting from upwind to downwind.
As the Artemis AC72 attempted its downwind turn, downward pressure was put onto the front of the twin hulls, pushing them into the water. As the front of the boat dug in, the Artemis report says, the back of the boat lifted up, a situation called pitchpoling. The boat flipped, and the front beam connecting the two hulls broke, causing the portside hull to tear away from the boat. The starboard hull, along with the wing-sail, collapsed into the water.
"In my opinion, the boat was in the process of capsizing when the boat broke," Percy said in an interview with The Chronicle. "It definitely stuffed the bow" into the water.
Artemis chase boats were on the scene of the accident, and began transferring crew members, one by one, off Big Red to the chase boat.
But the head count came up one short.
"It became apparent that someone was lost in the water," Oracle's Ainslie wrote in the Telegraph of London. "When it became clear that it was Bart who was missing, well, the whole world caved in."
The prevailing theory is that Simpson became trapped in the wreckage and drowned. "It appears Bart was trapped under some of the solid sections of the yacht - out of view, out of sight," said Regatta Director Iain Murray.
Tony Outteridge, father of Artemis helmsman Nathan Outteridge, told Australia's Newcastle Herald that as the boat rose and fell into the bay, a loud crack was heard, and it folded in on itself "like a taco shell." One might surmise that Simpson was inside the taco, trapped in the netting of the trampoline as the two hulls pinched together.
Newcastle Herald writer Sam Rigney wrote: "His crew members could see (Simpson) fighting for his life and dived beneath the water to try and set him free. They handed the man they called 'Bart' emergency oxygen bottles - which hold about 10 breaths each - in a bid to keep him alive in the hope rescue crews would arrive in time."
But soon after the May 10 article, Nathan Outteridge said the account did not reflect the facts. The film footage also gives no indication of a frantic struggle by teammates to save Simpson, though it's quite possible that the helicopters arrived after that happened.
Another theory in sailing circles is that Simpson was dead or unconscious before he hit the water, killed by a blow to the head. Rumors have surfaced about significant dents in the dead sailor's helmet, or that it was broken into pieces by the boat's rigging.
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