THE Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation has announced it will hold its first “Bart’s Bash” on September 21.

The inaugural Bart’s Bash is a sailing race that will be run by sailing clubs all around the world on behalf of the charity, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation.

Each sailing club will sail an individual Bart’s Bash race at their location, with certain set requirements to meet our world record criteria, on Sunday 21 September 2014.

Dorset-based gold medal-winning Olympian Andrew Simpson, affectionately known as Bart by friends and family, tragically died in a training ground accident as he prepared for the Americas Cup in San Francisco in 2013.

The foundation was set up by Simpson’s friends and family in his honour and is based at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Portland.

The centre was opened at a star-studded ceremony by Sir Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, who were teammates of Simpson. Bart’s Bash will be the major fundraising effort for the centre, and a £5 donation is required to take part in the event.

The race details will be set locally by each club, but are not onerous – at a bare minimum, to meet the world record rules, the course will need to be over 1km and you must sail for more than 15 minutes.

For more information, visit bartsbash.co.uk