AmericaOne News

AMERICAONE MAKES HISTORY WITH FIRST-EVER ONLINE BROADCAST OF THE CHRISTENING OF AN AMERICA'S CUP CHALLENGER Special Online Event Brings a Prestigious Ceremony to the Masses for the Very First Time Select Here to Pre-register for the Christening of USA 49 SAN PEDRO, Calif., July 12, 1999 - AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club's America's Cup 2000 challenger, today announced the first-ever online broadcast of the christening of an International America's Cup Class (IACC) boat, via the Internet, July 17 at 3:00 PM/PDT. The special "webcast" at http://www.AmericaOne.org will be presented live from San Pedro by sponsors Ford Motor Company, Hewlett-Packard Company and SAIC, and will feature a video, pre-show compound tour and christening of AmericaOne's first IACC boat, USA 49. The webcast is powered by HP, AmericaOne's Official IT Sponsor and AmericaOne's Official Founding Technology Sponsor, SAIC, is the webcast systems integrator. Virtual guests are invited to log onto the AmericaOne website to pre-register for the event, as well as to download the viewer that will allow them to tune in for the christening. Attendees of the pre-show will enjoy both a pre-show video and a "virtual" tour of the AmericaOne compound, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the different workshops the AmericaOne team has used to operate the boat and run its business operations including the sail loft, Tech Bay and a number of other shops utilized for rigging, electronics and machine work. "AmericaOne is built upon the successful application of leading-edge technology," says Paul Cayard, skipper and CEO of AmericaOne. "It's exciting to use some of that same technology to share what is essentially the first public chapter in our race to recapture the America's Cup from New Zealand." The webcast marks the first time such an America's Cup christening ceremony has been shared with the public-at-large in what are usually private events reserved for individual challengers' sponsors, members of the press, and international VIPs. SAIC was also responsible for developing "America's Cup On-Line" during the '95 Cup - the official website which provided news and information about the Cup races. "Call it the democratization of the America's Cup," says AmericaOne's Cayard. "The broadcasting of AmericaOne's christening is a small step toward broadening the appeal of sailing's Holy Grail to a worldwide audience." Official and supporting AmericaOne sponsors, Ford Motor Company, HP, Telcordia Technologies/SAIC and United Technologies continue to provide technology solutions to further the AmericaOne design team's revolutionary developments in sailboat design aimed at reclaiming the America's Cup for the U.S. Webcast Checklist Log on to the AmericaOne website at http://www.americaone.org Pre-register for the christening of USA 49 Check configuration by viewing AmericaOne video highlights Tune in for virtual pre-show compound tour Join the AmericaOne Team for the virtual christening ceremonies on Saturday, July 17th at 3:00 PM/PDT About AmericaOne AmericaOne is dedicated to recapturing the America's Cup by applying U.S. technology in aerodynamics, computer equipment, hydrodynamics, naval architecture, sail design and structural engineering to America's Cup sailboat design. Operating since June 1, 1996, AmericaOne is the challenger on behalf of San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club. Official and Supporting technology partners include Hewlett-Packard Company, Telcordia Technologies/SAIC, Ford Motor Company/Visteon and United Technologies Corp. To learn more about the syndicate or the AmericaOne Design Challenge contest visit: http://www.ac2000.org. # # # For further information on AmericaOne, please contact: Gina von Esmarch E-mail: gvonesmarch@americaone.org / Phone:415-474-3425/Fax: 415-474-3571

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