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WITH THE DECISION being made to
remove sailing with effect from the 2020
Paralympics in Tokyo, the Andrew Simpson
Sailing Foundation (ASSF) will use the funds
raised through Bart’s Bash 2016 to help
promote and develop disabled sailing globally.
These funds will be distributed via national
sailing federations or through the official ASSF grants process, with the
aim to support grassroots disabled sailing projects and make disabled
sailing more accessible.
Bart’s Bash will take place across two days, September 17-18. Since
Bart’s Bash started in 2014, the event has seen more than 45,000 sailors
participate across 62 countries. The aim is to encourage more sailors
and countries to participate, and continue to be one of the highlights
of the sailing club calendar by bringing members and their family and
friends together.
“The money raised from Bart’s Bash has already enabled the Andrew
Simpson Sailing Foundation to support grassroots sailing projects
around the world, allowing children and young people to experience the
sport who otherwise would not have been given the opportunity,” says
ASSF Trustee Iain Percy OBE.
“This year, we want to focus our efforts on disabled sailing. Bart
was extremely passionate about the power that sailing has and that
it should be accessible for all. It is a travesty that the Paralympics is
dropping sailing after Rio 2016 so we have placed Bart’s Bash on the last
two days of the Paralympics Games. It really is a call for the worldwide
sailing community to get together and help raise funds for disabled and
Paralympic sailing in the future.”REMOVAL OF SPORT FROM 2020 TOKYO
PARALYMPICS PROMPTS GRASSROOTS ACTIONBART’S BASH 2016 SUPPORTING
DISABLED SAILING GLOBALLYEnglish sailor Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson won a gold medal at the 2008
Summer Olympics in Beijing, as crew for skipper Iain Percy in the Star
class representing Great Britain. He also won a silver medal at London- Simpson was killed in the capsize of the catamaran he was crewing
in 2013, while training for the America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay.
Since being founded in 2014, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation
aims to improve the lives of young people through sailing. The
Foundation recognises that sailing as a sport is not always accessible to
all due to financial, physical, learning disability, mental health or social
barriers. ASSF therefore works to breaks down these barriers by working
with sailing providers by offering financial and practical support.
To date, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation has pledged
funds of over £600,000 on a range of inspiring sailing projects across
eight countries. Some of the projects supported in 2016 include: A UK
national project with Blind Sailing, Chicago Park Districts Community
Sailing Program, UK National Schools Sailing Association, Hungarian
Yachting Association and Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Sailing
Association.
You can register your club or venue to take part in Bart’s Bash at
http://www.bartsbash.com