Tributes to two-time Olympian Andrew Simpson have poured in from the world of sailing and beyond.

A statement from Sir Ben Ainslie's Oracle team read: "Today is a sad day for all of us in the sailing community. Andrew Simpson was a great person, a terrific sailor, and a good friend to all of our team.

"Our thoughts are with his family and the entire Artemis team. He will be dearly missed."

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and British Sailing Team said they were "devastated" to confirm Simpson's death while sailing the 72ft yacht yesterday.

John Derbyshire, RYA's performance director: "We're devastated by the news from San Francisco today.

"Andrew is someone I've worked closely with since the age of 16 - he was a great talent, and a key figure in our World Class Programme over many years culminating in his well-deserved Olympic success.

"He was a huge inspiration to others, both within the British Sailing Team and across the nation and our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this terrible time."

Stephen Park, RYA Olympic manager, added: "Andrew was a fantastic sailor who got the best out of everyone he sailed with.

"He was much loved and will be sorely missed by everyone in our close knit team. Our thoughts today are with Andrew's family."

Olympic silver medallist windsurfer Nick Dempsey said via his Twitter account "Going to miss you Bart", while Luke Patience, who took silver in the men's 470 class at London 2012, said: "Devastated. Bart, you are a true inspiration."

The British Sonar team, comprising John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas, also took to the social network, posting: "Devastated by the news from Artemis racing... Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bart's family and team, a true sailing legend..."

Simon Shaw, sailing double world match racing champion, added: Today we lost a courageous sailor. A true friend from school, till now, my heart is with his family."

Sir Clive Woodward, British Olympic Association director of sport at London 2012, was another to pay tribute, tweeting: "Totally shocked to hear Olympic star Andrew 'Bart' Simpson died after Swedish America's cup catamaran capsizes - thoughts with his family.

The US Sailing Team also spoke of its shock and sadness at the news, saying: "A tremendously sad day for the sport of sailing. Our thoughts are with the family of Olympic Champion Andrew Simpson, and Artemis Racing."

Former America's Cup sailor Andy Green had known Simpson for many years.

Mr Green told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "He was questioning whether he wanted to continue sailing, but because his friend Iain Percy was at Artemis he went over there in February and started racing with them as a valuable asset. He will be sorely missed by them.

"It's particularly poignant for a British audience that this tragedy has happened because of his history in the Olympics, but I can only hope that Britain goes on to get involved in the Americas Cup and win it back, with this very firmly in mind."