May 9th was indelibly inscribed in the mind of Iain Percy, yesterday was exactly two years since he cradled his dead best friend Andrew "Bart" Simpson in his arms -- two years since he had to steady himself and break the awful news to the sailing star's wife Leah, on what was her 35th birthday.
Not a day goes past when Percy does not think of Simpson -- "he's there every day" -- and he makes no secret of the fact he is still haunted by that tragic accident in San Francisco Bay.
"I don't think it will ever leave me," the British yachtsman tells CNN. "I lost someone that was close to me."
The pair had been inseparable from the moment they first played together in a sandpit aged seven, winning Olympic gold and silver in the two-man Star class at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 respectively before moving up to bigger boats.
But tragedy struck in a training exercise ahead of the 2013 America's Cup, for which Percy was skipper of Swedish entry Artemis Racing.
The 72-foot catamaran capsized and broke into pieces. Crew member Simpson was trapped under the hull for 10 minutes, and attempts by Percy and others to resuscitate him proved unsuccessful.
For Percy, though, Simpson lives on -- his past words of wisdom help with virtually every decision he makes, and it is for his friend that he sails on, plotting to win sailing's most prestigious event with Artemis in 2017.
His syndicate is, on paper, one of the strongest challengers to Team Oracle USA's title defense in Bermuda. And every time they go sailing, a ribbon is attached to the vessel in remembrance of a man cut short in his prime at the age of just 36.
