Olympians Paul Goodison, Stevie Morrison and Bryony Shaw have been named as the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation’s first official
Ambassadors.

The trio competed alongside Andrew, who was nicknamed ‘Bart’, as members of Team GB at
the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The
Ambassadors were announced by Sir Ben Ainslie at the London Boat Show at
ExCeL yesterday, on the charity’s stand.

The trio will be supporting the work of the foundation by
inspiring the next generation. One of the activities they we be
involved with will be visiting schools to encourage children to realize
what opportunities there are in sport and what benefits there are of
getting involved in sporting activities.

The foundation will be
announcing other ambassadors and details of its plans over
the coming months.

Beijing 2008 gold medallist Laser sailor Paul Goodison said: ‘I’m delighted to be
involved in keeping Andrew’s spirit alive, he was not just a best friend
but the guy I always reached out to for help and advice. He always had
the answers and made everything so obvious that it seemed stupid to have
even questioned it.

‘I am looking forward to help support and guide
young sailors in a way that Andrew inspired and helped so many people in
his life. It’s a real honour to be involved with the foundation and
help inspire a younger generation.’

Beijing 2008 bronze medallist windsurfer Bryony Shaw said: ‘Andrew had the ability to inspire you like no one else and always
had time to give advice in his own unique way. We were paired as buddies
for London 2012 so we had each other’s back, he was always a good
listener.

‘I’m delighted to be an ambassador towards his legacy and keep
his spirit alive.’

Stevie Morrison, Olympian and 49er World Champion said: ‘Over
the course of my 49er Olympic campaigns Bart was always the go-to guy
whenever you needed some advice and input into any aspects of your
sailing.

‘A pat on the back before a big day of racing would fire you up
and send you off ready for battle. I hope by being involved with the
Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, I can just in a small way make kids
new to the sport be as excited by what it has to offer, as Bart would
always do for the Olympic team.’

Bart’s Bash

The charity is gearing up to hold Bart’s Bash on 21 September 2014, a Guinness World Record
attempt to create the largest dinghy and yacht racing event ever.

The event aims to inspire sailors of all
generations to take part.

A competition is being run to design the event’s logo and the deadline has now been extended until Friday 17 January. Please send your entries to tim@bartsbash.co.uk

The Bart’s Bash team will shortlist
their top three and put them to the public vote on www.facebook.com/bartsbash, the winner announced on 1 February.

About the charity

The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation is a national charity that
encourages young people to get into sailing and watersports.

Andrew
Simpson, gold and silver Olympic medallist and America’s Cup
professional, tragically lost his life in a training accident in May
2013.

Inspiring the next generation was something Andrew was extremely
passionate about and so to honour his life and legacy Sir Ben Ainslie,
Iain Percy and Andrew’s wife Leah founded the charity in his name.

The first ambassadors

Bryony Shaw, aged 30, is a two-time Olympian and was the first British woman to win an
Olympic windsurfing medal when she won an emotional bronze at Beijing
2008. Sailing in the RS:X class, Shaw also has World and European
Championship medals to her name, and was the British Sailing Team and
British Olympic Association’s athlete of the year for sailing in 2013.
She is campaigning to represent Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Olympic
Games.

Stevie Morrison, aged 35, is a World and European Champion in the Olympic 49er class, and
represented Great Britain at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games with
long-term crew Ben Rhodes. Morrison’s thirst for Olympic glory
continues, and with Rhodes now having retired from Olympic campaigning,
Morrison recently teamed up with Chris Grube in a bid for British
Sailing Team skiff gold in Rio 2016.

Paul Goodison, aged 36, has represented Great Britain in the Laser class at the past
three Olympic Games, winning gold in 2008 after narrowly missing out on
the podium in Athens 2004 where he finished fourth. Injury put paid to
the Yorkshireman’s hopes of defending his title at his home Games in
2012, and since then Goodison has been taking a sabbatical from the
Laser to race in big boat campaigns including Melges 20 and 32s, RC44s
and TP52s. In 2014 he will race as part of Sir Ben Ainslie’s J.P.Morgan
BAR team in the Extreme Sailing Series.

Pictures: Olympians Sir Ben Ainslie, Stevie Morrison, Paul Goodison and Bryony Shaw on the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation stand at the London Boat Show 2014. Credit: onEdition