Catamaran Artemis Shattered in pieces

The Swedish catamaran Artemis nose dived and broke into pieces during a tricky maneuvre, say America Cup officials.  Two crew were trapped under the hull.  Only one survived.

Olympic Gold medal winner, Andrew 'Bart' Simpson was trapped under water for 10 minutes and efforts to revived him failed.  He was the Swedish team's strategist. The death has cast a pall over the America's Cup and questions are being asked whether the design of the boats has gone too far.

"It's a shocking experience to go through ... and we have a lot to deal with in the next few days in terms of assuring everybody's well-being," said Paul Cayard, the chief executive of Swedish syndicate Artemis.

"The boat itself is under control but it's certainly not the first of our concerns. We are focussed on the people."

Team New Zealand, Artemis and Italy's Luna Rossa are due to start the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series in San Francisco on July 4. The winner of that meets Oracle for the America's Cup in a first to nine-wins series, starting on September 7.

---