18 May 2013

America's Cup sailing suspended for review of dangers

11:58 am on 18 May 2013

The America's Cup yachting syndicates have been ordered to temporarily halt practicing on San Francisco Bay, in the wake of last week's deadly Artemis accident.

Sailing has been suspended until the middle of next week in both the 72-foot America's Cup catamarans and the smaller AC45s.

Organisers of the sailing regatta have said races will go ahead in July, despite growing public concerns over safety, after the champion British sailor Andrew Simpson was killed when one of the sleek, ultra-fast AC72 catamarans built for the competition capsized and broke apart.

They have left open the possibility of changes to the rules of the race, brought to San Francisco by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose team won the trophy in the 2010 event in Valencia, Spain.