The youth sailing development programme was suspended in 2013 because of Government budget cuts.

However, a local branch of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation (ASSF) are taking steps to get the programme back up and running.

“The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation has been formed specially to bring the sport of sailing to people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity, and we are working very hard to do that,” Tim Patton, who serves on the local ASSF board of directors, said.

“One of the things we used to have that was huge in Bermuda was the Waterwise Programme that, along with a lot of other things, has lost funding because there’s not a lot of money around for that.

“But we are hoping to use the ASSF money to help get that kick-started again. We are going to be working with the middle schools and try and revive the Waterwise Programme.”

The Waterwise Programme began in 1999 with a pilot scheme and was fully implemented in 2002 as a collaboration between the Bermuda Sailing Association and the Government to introduce middle school children to their maritime heritage and teach them about water safety and aquatic awareness.

The ASSF is a charity that was founded in 2013 to honour Simpson who was killed in the capsize of the catamaran he was crewing in the lead up to the 34th America’s Cup while training with Swedish challenger Artemis Racing.

English sailor Simpson, who was fondly known as “Bart”, won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and silver at the 2012 London Games. He was aged 36 when he died.

As well as reviving the Waterwise Programme, the board of the local branch of the ASSF have a host of other ambitious proposals they are keen to come to fruition, again through the aid of their overseas colleagues.

“Along with reviving the Waterwise Programme we are also hoping to use that initiative to bring some full-time sailing courses for children to the East End Mini Yacht Club and to the West End — perhaps at either Sandys Boat Club or West End Sail Boat Club or perhaps a combination of the two,” Patton said.

“We want to do that in a professional manner so that there’s someone in a paid position to orchestrate that.

“We are also trying to establish facilities at the East End and West End for kids from clubs in that area to get involved.

“I think this is very important because it’s an opportunity to do what the big clubs have been trying to do, which is trying to spread the sailing gospel to a broader base.

“We have done that with some success, but there could be a bunch of hugely talented kids in Bermuda that just would never have been given the opportunity.

“Another thing that we are really keen to do is a post-Optimist sailing programme.

“The Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association is so good and organised, but after that there’s no pathway, and we are trying to help develop that.”

The local branch of the ASSF have already started raising funds to help realise their plans.

“We have some money at hand already from a big fundraising dinner that was held and also from the Bart’s Bash Regatta that was in Bermuda,” Patton added.

“What we are hoping to do is to establish a plan, and once we have that plan in place we can then go out seeking for the additional funding.”

The Bart’s Bash is the world’s largest sailing event and is run by clubs all around the world on behalf of the ASSF.

More than 700 sailing clubs from over 68 different countries took part in their own individual Bart’s Bash race when the first event was held last September.

The event raised £366,000, which set a new Guinness World Record, and is being used to help support the development and delivery of the foundation’s charitable programmes.

Among the ASSF’s board of trustees is Sir Ben Ainslie, the most decorated sailor in Olympic history and team principal and skipper of British America’s Cup challenger, Ben Ainslie Racing.