An online press office is being launched to help track progress of the world’s toughest yacht race, the BT Global Challenge.

Journalists will be able to access the dedicated site for all information on the round-the-world race.

Resources available will include press releases, background interest, media materials, details on the yachts themselves and all their technology, crews and skippers.

This will run parallel with the official race site and the journalists’ website address will be announced when it becomes operational.

It will be a massive media event: during the last race there were 900 pages of news print, 350 hours of broadcast coverage in 32 countries and 47 million hits to the BT Global Challenge website.

This is expected to be doubled during the BT Global Challenge 2000/01.

There are already scores of local and national stories and story ideas on the main website, with daily press releases on the preparations for the event, the teams’ progress and business stories from the various sponsors.

BT will be using the power of technology to help guide the yachts around the world and enable crews to communicate from the remotest regions of the earth.

The company will use lessons from the race to develop enhancements to the quality of communications technology at the home and in business.

The BT Global Challenge starts from Ocean Village, Southampton, on September 10.

It is the only round-the-world yacht race to circumnavigate the globe against prevailing winds and currents. It will involve 12 yachts, over 300 international crew volunteers and take approximately ten months to complete. Crews, drawn from volunteers, fund their own places and give up their careers for nearly a year.

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