The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation is planning a monster sized attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for 'The Largest Dinghy Sailing Race' in the World Ever, which we are calling 'Bart's Bash'!

The idea was born from an article by Sailing Journalist Andy Rice who wrote "I have been wondering if there is a way of having a club race simultaneously across the whole country. Pretty much every club in the country has a race on Sunday morning, with all kinds of boats taking part, why can't we get all the race results mashed together to create one big national race on a Sunday Morning?"

There is a strong team behind Bart's Bash with tons of enthusiasm to make this a 'must do event' and at this stage we are planning to make an official launch with race specifics on 1st February, 2014. The Foundation will be looking to engage all RYA affiliated clubs and centres with the race which could generate interest from several hundreds of clubs across the country.

Jez Payne from 'The Bart Project' commented, "It is one of those ideas that has huge potential to be a major, major event that absolutely honours the core of what Andrew was about."

Sir Ben Ainslie enthused, "We have been overwhelmed with the support from the sailing community for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. We firmly hope this event will inspire sailors young and old, beginners to professionals with clubs getting involved to capture people's imagination and create thousands of Guinness World Record Holders."

Iain Percy OBE added, "I am positive that it will not only receive enormous support from the UK but worldwide support too, it's going to be a colossal event and a great fun way to get thousands of people on the water at the same time whilst raising money for the Foundation."

The date to save for 'Bart's Bash' is Sunday 21st September 2014. A full briefing for clubs & competitors to be launched on the 1st of February.

www.bartsbash.co.uk




Background

The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation has been set up to honour the life of Andrew Simpson nicknamed “Bart” who won a Gold and Silver medal in the Star Class at the Beijing and London Olympic Games and was working with Artemis in respect of their America’s Cup Challenge when he was sadly killed in a training accident in San Francisco Bay in early May 2013 training for the 34th Americas Cup.
Andrew spent a great deal of his time and energy seeking to encourage youngsters in their pursuit of sailing and, in his memory, have formed the Foundation as a charity with the objective to introduce young persons into sailing who otherwise would not be afforded the opportunity.

Andrew was very well respected world-wide and his death has saddened sailors and supporters all over the world. The Foundation is growing from strength to strength and has raised over £300,000 for our charitable aims in the last 6 months.