Training was canceled on Friday and Team Artemis was in mourning after Olympic sailor from their crew died when an America's Cup sailboat capsized during a training run in the San Francisco Bay.
A news conference is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. where the team is expected to release more details about what happened just before the death of British-born Andrew "Bart" Simpson, someone the team is "immensely" sad about losing.
The 36-year-old Olympic gold medalist was the team's strategist. He had won gold in China in 2008 and silver in 2012.
"He was the heart and soul of the team," said Tim Jeffery, Oracle Team USA spokesman said Thursday. "He was perpetually happy. It was like he had a little box inside that gave him a sunny outlook on life."
Simpson joined the team in February, providing his crew with weather and tactics support, according to the America's Cup website. Jeffery said Simpson's worth to the team was his ability was to "spot the breeze, read the breeze."
Magnus Auguston, a crew member, said Simpson was was of the "finest guys I ever met," and a wonderful sailor, as well as husband and father.
And the British Olympic Association described him as a "treasured and accomplished member" of its teams.
On Friday, the same website showed dark gray clouds hovering over the Golden Gate Bridge, near where Simpson died on Thursday, with a quote from the Swedish team's CEO, Paul Cayard, simply stating, "Our prayers are with Andrew Simpson's family."
Crews performed CPR on Simpson for about 20 minutes, after the 1 p.m. accident in the San Francisco Bay just north of Treasure Island, according to San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White. But an hour later., fire paramedics stopped life-saving efforts. He had been in the water for about 10 minutes, probably trapped under the AC 72 vessel, Hayes-White said.
It's unknown why the boat capsized. And San Francisco police will lead the investigation into what happened. This is the same major accident investigations team that investigated an accident during a yacht race off the Farrallon Islands last April that killed several people. In that race, unrelated to the America's Cup, the crews were racing a 37-foot Aegean off the coast of California and Mexico,when it collided with a larger vessel.
Winds at the time show the average gusts to have been between 25 mph and 35 mph, waves between four to six feet high, and water temperatures about 55 degrees -- nothing out of the ordinary.
"Andrew was an immensely popular and respected member of the sailing community, and his two Olympic medals were testament to his talent," according to the Artemis Team's statement. "His easy-going personality made him loved by many; always friendly, always smiling and always supportive of others."
Eleven other sailors were aboard the 72-foot long craft, and the other 10 were taken to a support boat operated by Oracle Racing, which is defending the America's Cup title from 2010 in San Francisco this summer. One of those 10 sailors was treated for some lacerations. Artemis Racing is the "challenger of record" for the 24th America's Cup.
Sailing in the San Francisco Bay is both exhilerating and dangerous — mostly because of the winds.
"It has ideal winds," said Rich Jepsen, of OCSC Sailing in Berkeley. "But at that speed, there is no room for error." Seventy-two-foot catamarans like the Artemis can travel between 40 to 50 mph.
This it is the third America's Cup training accident — though the first fatal one — in the last two years in the San Francisco Bay.
And in 1999, there was one other America's Cup fatality: Martin Wizner of the Spanish Challenge died almost instantly in Valencia, Spain when he was hit in the head by a broken piece of equipment.
Back in October, a nearly $8-million, 72-foot catamaran used by Oracle Team USA capsized near the Golden Gate Bridge. No one was injured when that happened. But there was at least $2 million in damage to the wing of the AC 72 boat, a massive vessel with a 13,000-pound hull and a 131-foot mast.
To see some video of the Team Oracle boat capsizing in October 2012, click here:
There was another accident in June 2011, with the same Oracle team.
Artemis has had technical problems, as well. Last fall, Artemis said the front beam of its AC72 catamaran was damaged during structural tests, delaying the boat's christening. A year ago, Artemis' AC72 wing sail sustained serious damage while it was being tested on a modified trimaran in Valencia, Spain.
The America's Cup race is scheduled to run from July through September, and the teams are training on the bay in specially made 72-foot catamarans.
Photos and updates were also available on the America's Cup website.To see the members of the Artemis Racing team, click here.
View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.
NBC Bay Area's Stephanie Chuang, Cheryl Hurd, Kyle Bonagura, Tim Bollinger, Gonzalo Rojas, Jean Elle and Jeff Ranieri contributed to this report, as well as the Associated Press.
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area