Sailing Channel to be broadcast at Skandia Life Cowes Week

The Sailing-Channel Brings Live Broadcast Television to Skandia Life Cowes Week 2000

• Pre-racing Weather Programme will provide expert analysis of the day ahead and the best ways around the race tracks
• Race Track production teams will capture the drama, action and incident that will be packaged for 90-minute Results Live programme
• Ellen MacArthur, Mike Golding, Pete Goss and other top guests
• Shoot the best on board footage of the week and win a day for six on board the brand new 90-foot grand prix racing machine Skandia Life Leopard 2000

There was only one UK sporting event that broadcasts event-based live TV and that was the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone. Until now.

APP Broadcast, in conjunction with Skandia Life and the Cowes Combined Clubs, will bring live broadcast television to Cowes Week with the launch of the Sailing-Channel for Skandia Life Cowes Week 2000. The Sailing-Channel will be producing a daily schedule of event programming that will be beamed by microwave across to an East Cowes transmitter for broadcast transmission back to the aerials of Cowes.

The programming, hosted by BBC sailing presenter Richard Simmonds, will include The Weather Programme a morning weather and racing information programme featuring weather professionals and well-known racing navigators, tacticians and local Solent experts. Grand Prix Sailing will feature the best of British sailing action from the past 12 months. Results Live will be a live roundup of the day's racing with footage from the race track, interviews with winners and guests and updates from the protest room. The day's broadcasting will climax with the Champagne Moment where the best of the day's bloopers filmed by the competitors themselves will be rewarded with a daily prize and an entry into the Champagne Moment of the Week where the best clip of the week will earn the winner a sailing ride of a lifetime - a race for the winner and their crew (up to a total of six) aboard Mike Slade's new 90-foot Maxi Skandia Life Leopard 2000.

APP Broadcast has secured a broadcast frequency from the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and will be transmitting from East Cowes. The precise details of the location of the transmitter and transmission frequency can be found below and programming is scheduled to run in Cowes from Sunday July 30th to Friday August 4th. TV sets in the yacht clubs, bars and marina outlets can be tuned directly into Sailing-Channel coverage during Cowes Week.

'The Sailing-Channel will bring a new dimension to Skandia Life Cowes Week positioning the regatta alongside the UK's other major sporting events,' says Skandia Life's Bill West.

The daily outline schedule is as follows:

0800-0930 - The Weather Programme

The weather programme will last 20 minutes, will be broadcasted live at 0800 and repeated until 0930. The format will be a fast-moving live show with some of the best brains in sailing supported by latest computer weather and tidal technology giving their opinions on the quickest way around the day's race tracks.

Richard Simmonds hosts a panel of experts and pedigree sailors in an analysis of the day's evolving weather forecast and its impact on the racing - an in-depth look at the tides and latest news from The Platform where course setters will be planning the day's racing. Weather Programme guests will include winners from previous days' racing and tactical specialists including Whitbread navigator Steve Hayles and Olympic bronze medallist and local expert Jo Richards. For Skandia Cowes Week competitors the show will be a unique preview and may help shape race tactics while for the spectators it will provide details on the best places to watch the action and the best action of the day to follow.

1600-1700 - British Grand Prix Sailing

The best of Britain's sailing events and British sailing stars in an hour of international racing highlights. The cream of the action from events like the 2000 British Olympic Trials, the Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup, the Europe 1 New Man STAR and the UK 49er circuit plus news updates and features from PlayStation, Team Philips, Kingfisher and Team Group 4.

1700-1830 - Results Live

Richard Simmonds hosts an hour-and-a-half live roundup of the day's racing with features and reports from the race track, featured classes, guests from the front of the fleets and from the world of Grand Prix sailing. Names like Steve Fossett, Pete Goss, Ellen MacArthur, Mike Golding, Ian Walker, Andy Beadsworth, Ben Ainslie and more. Results Live will monitor and review the stories as they are breaking and bring latest news from the protest room with interviews with key players and form performers. Results Live will lead into live coverage of the Skandia Life daily prize givings in the Marina hospitality area at 1830.

2030-2100 - Daily Highlights and Champagne Moment

Competitors are encouraged to bring their own DVC format camcorders to record the action on board during racing. Each day The Sailing Channel production team will select the top five memorable moments - from the best broach to the most amusing remonstration. Daily winners will win a prize sponsored by Yachting World and will go forward to the Sailing Channel Champagne Moment of the Week where the top moments will be broadcast after the fireworks on Friday. Winner of the top moment will earn a memorable day of grand prix sailing for them and their crew (up to a total of six) aboard the 90-foot Maxi Skandia Life Leopard 2000.

Bring Your Camcorder, Star on The Sailing-Channel and Win a Grand Prix Sail of a Lifetime

For the first time in the history of the regatta there will be live broadcast event television at Skandia Life Cowes Week 2000. The Sailing-Channel will be broadcasting a range of programming daily in Cowes from the morning Weather Programme to the evening Results Live from the Race Course. Highlight of the evening schedule will be the competition for the best Champagne Moment of the day, a chance to wreak revenge on an over-dominant skipper or expose the weaknesses of the foredeck team or capture other boats on the race track in dramtic collisions. Bring your DVC camcorder to Cowes, film the action from on board your boat and you could win one of a tasty selection of grand prix opportunities for you and your crew.

• Bring a DVC camera and enter the Champagne Moment competition
• Each day the top five video clips from onboard out on the race track will be edited into the Champagne Moments highlights package where the winner will win the chance to go for a sail on one of Britain's leading grand prix racing boats
• Winner of the Champagne Moment of the Week Award will be announced after the Friday fireworks. The winner will win a race for up to six people aboard Mike Slade's brand new Reichel/Pugh 90-footer Skandia Life Leopard 2000
• Entry details will be provided with each boat's racing package at the start of Skandia Life Cowes Week 2000
• For more information visit www.sailing-channel.com

How to Watch The Sailing-Channel at Cowes

The Sailing-Channel will bring live terrestrial television to Skandia Life Cowes Week. Programming will be created in West Cowes, beamed to the transmitter in East Cowes and broadcast back to the aerials of West Cowes in the only event-based broadcast television service in Britain outside of the Silverstone Formula One Grand Prix. In order to watch The Sailing-Channel it will be necessary to point your aerial at the East Cowes transmitter and tune in televisions and videos to Channel 57. Transmitter and tuning details are as follows:

• Television/VCR Channel 57
• Transmitter Location: East Cowes Esplanade Grid Ref. SZ 504 962 Lat and Long 50° 45' 45.5" North; 1° 17' 7.1" West
• Group CD aerial, vertically polarized (aerial should be aligned vertically rather than horizontally when pointed at the transmitter)
• Onsite Helpline number 0788 428 0633