This month Shirley Robertson sits down for another two part edition – this time talking to her one time Team GB team mate Iain Percy.
A double Olympic gold medallist, Percy topped the podium in Sydney 2000 at the beginning of British Sailing’s golden era – Percy bagged gold again in Beijing in 2008, and then silver at home in London 2012.
And it’s these years of shared Olympic history that form the foundations of Part 1 of this chat – from their formative sailing years through to sharing digs at the Games in Sydney, Robertson and Percy have much to talk about as they look back on their Olympic years.
This is a candid interview between two good friends, and Iain is open in discussing how much better the thrill of winning felt when part of a crew – his success in China of course achieved with his best friend and team mate Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson.
The pair went on to win silver in London four years later, and Percy describes in detail the moments that saw their firm grasp on the gold medal suddenly slip away.
In Part 2, the pair move on to discuss the America’s Cup, and Iain’s move to Swedish ‘Team Artemis Racing’. It was of course during the build up to the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco that Andrew Simpson tragically lost his life in a sailing accident.
It’s a tragedy that has obviously effected Iain greatly, and here the pair fondly share their memories of the generous and giving ‘Bart’ in an emotional discussion about their friend and what he brought to the British Sailing Team.
But Percy and Robertson also discuss the importance of the Andrew Simpson Foundation, a sailing foundation created in Bart’s memory to continue the generous work and time he put in inspiring children around the world to take up sailing.
In 2017 Iain Percy was team principal at Team Artemis Racing, finalists in the Challenger Series of the 35th America’s Cup in San Francisco.
Iain speaks openly about his time in the Cup, as well as revealing how today, his determination to continue the momentum of the Cup team has led him to form Artemis Technologies, a company taking the technological advancements forged in sailing and applying them further afield.