Four year old Freddie Simpson racing in Bart’s Bash with his late father’s Olympic teammate Iain Percy. Make your donation to the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation on Freddie’s page, here.
Congratulations, if you raced in Bart’s Bash yesterday (21 September 2014) to help set the world record for most participants in a regatta. If you didn’t race, you can still make a donation, here.
Thousands of people from around the world took part yesterday in Bart’s Bash, a sailing race that looks set to smash the Guinness World Record for the Largest Sailing Race (24 hours). Set up to remember Olympic gold medallist Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson and to inspire the next generation of sailors, Bart’s Bash attracted over 18,000 participants of all ages and abilities, taking part at more than 700 sailing clubs in 68 different countries.
The Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre, in Weymouth, UK, was buzzing with over 200 sailors taking part. Foundation Trustee Iain Percy, who won a gold and silver medal with Bart at the last two Olympic Games in Beijing and London, today sailed with the older of Andrew’s two sons, four-year-old Freddie. He said: “It has been an incredible day. It has never happened in any other sports that so many people have come together to remember one person; it’s very special. And it was special for Freddie and I to sail together here on these waters, for the first time after the Olympics. Today is a celebration of Bart but most importantly a celebration of our sport. It’s been such a success; many people today were inspired to sail for the first time. It has been a great fun race, and that’s why it will last into the future.”
Follow the results, organized by lady helms, rookies, Olympians, light- medium- and heavy-wind… Results.