MANY CHAMPIONS COMPETING IN THE SPA REGATTA 2003

Medemblik, 20 May 2003 – On Wednesday 20 May 2003 the 19th SPA Regatta will start in Medemblik, the Netherlands. 1.200 competitors representing 60 nations will compete in the eleven Olympic classes.

More than sixteen World Champions will start tomorrow on the IJsselmeer. Among them are several multiple World Champions, like Robert Scheidt from Brasil in the Laser. Also there are many Olympic Champions sailing the regatta. For example, in the Star class the Gold, Silver and Bronze medalists from Sydney came to the Netherlands to compete in the SPA Regatta.

The SPA Regatta introduces live tracking and tracing of the Yngling races on Internet. Some of the boats will be equipped with a GPS / GSM receiver developed and produced by co-sponsor Armada Security Products, which determines the exact location of the boats on the course areas. The GPS / GSM receiver sends every few seconds a data message to a computer, that translates the content into a position on the water map of the race courses on the IJsselmeer. Linked to this are sail numbers and names of the crew. On the website will also be up-to-date information on the weather circumstances. This ensures that the spectators, world wide, do not have to miss a single moment of the exciting race.

The first race on Wednesday 21 May 2003, will start at 11.00 hours.