A Leicestershire team-mate of Olympic gold medallist sailor Andrew Simpson, who died in a training accident last week, has spoken of the loss of his friend.
America's Cup yachtsman Chris Brittle, 32, from Rearsby, was with the Artemis team in San Francisco when the catamaran Mr Simpson was aboard capsized during a training exercise.
Mr Simpson, 36, known as Bart, won gold in the star class with Iain Percy at the 2008 Olympics and silver at last year's games.
He was one of an 11-man crew on board the catamaran in San Francisco Bay, but became trapped underneath when it capsized and did not respond to efforts to revive him.
The Surrey-born sailor was preparing for this year's America's Cup with Swedish team Artemis Racing.
Chris, who also been the training partner to some of Britain's most successful sailors including triple Olympic gold medal-winner Ben Ainslie, said: "It is hard to get across with words what an amazing person Bart was.
"He coached me as a youngster before we became training partners in the Olympic classes and teammates in three America's Cup campaigns. He was the best friend anyone could ask for, the proudest father of two boys I have ever seen and loved his wife and family like nothing else.
"He inspired so many sailors throughout his amazing career and will go on to inspire many more."
Chris' mum, Linda, said: "It's awful. Chris was supposed to go out on the boat the day it happened.
"His wife Christina rang me to let me know Chris was okay. At that time it was an accident and they didn't know what had happened.
"Chris went out on one of the boats to try to see if they could help.
"It hasn't really hit him yet. He is flying back to the UK with Iain Percy, who won the medal in the Olympics with Bart.
"Chris and Bart shared a flat when they were in Valencia before going out to San Francisco.
"Chris is due to be out there until September. Obviously we're all devastated, they were very close and spent a lot of time together. Bart sometimes stayed at our house, he was a lovely guy."
Chris represented the British youth squad from 1997 to 1999 before graduating into the British senior team for the following six years.
He became the world and then European junior champion in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
In 2008 he was named the Olympic star coach for the British team before lending his experience to Team Korea's inaugural America's Cup season, having represented Team Origin for the previous three years.
Known for his strength and endurance, Chris proved his mettle during the 32nd America's Cup.
He joined Artemis Racing in 2012.
