Bart was a devoted husband and father and a fiercely competitive sportsman who still had time to inspire everyone around him.

Reflecting on all that has been achieved by the ASF so far, we are proud to say that Bart’s legacy has, and will always, continue to sail on. Join us in celebrating Bart and the many great things that have been done in his name.

A lifelong passion for sailing

Andrew, better known as ‘Bart’ to many in the sailing world, was a fine, accomplished sailor, a loving family man and an inspiration to many. Sailing was his passion as well as his profession. He started sailing when he was just four years old, on a Seafly dinghy with his father.

He was soon sailing in the RYA youth squad. Chief coach, Jim Saltonstall, took pleasure in watching how Andrew “enjoyed learning to sail better all the time”. He continued sailing while at Hall Grove School and then at Pangbourne College and at Queen Mary College, University of London, where he studied Economics.

After university Bart shifted to the Laser dinghy, achieving considerable success. He was a key member of the new wave of British talent that arrived on the Olympic scene in the late 1990s. His career really took off when he switched to the heavyweight Finn class. And he successfully campaigned alongside his lifelong friends Iain Percy and Ben Ainslie.

Olympic successes

When Percy won Gold in 2000 he said that the medal was “half Andrew’s”.

Bart’s own Olympic sailing success came in the Star class keelboat. Sailing with Iain Percy they dominated for over five years from 2007 until 2012, winning Olympic gold in 2008 and other countless titles including World and European championships to add to their Olympic Gold (Beijing) and Silver (London) medals. In 2009, Bart was appointed an MBE for services to sailing. Off the water, Bart was a family man. He adored his wife Leah and young sons, Freddie and Hamish.

Throughout his career Bart always managed to get the balance just right; a fiercely competitive sportsman but at the same time an exceptionally loving husband and father. After the Olympics in 2012, Bart joined the Swedish America’s Cup team, Artemis, where he was known as a real team player and was immediately a crystallising force, bringing people together and extracting their very best.

His legacy lives on

At the time of the accident, Bart was enjoying the 34th America’s Cup campaign and had relocated his family to San Francisco. Bart is greatly missed by all that knew him, and many who were inspired by him. His memory lives on in the work of the Andrew Simpson Foundation, in the charity named after him and working in his honour, and in his wife Leah, and two beautiful sons, Freddie and Hamish – both of whom share his wonderful smile.