CNN's sailing show Mainsail to film Landsailing World Championship

The aluminum jungle: Manta Single sailors tensely await the start of a race © Bob Dill

The North American Land Sailing Association (NALSA) announced on Thursday that Shirley Robertson, OBE, two-time Olympic gold medallist and host of CNN International's acclaimed monthly sailing show Mainsail and her crew, will film the Landsailing World Championship in July for the August show.

Mainsail is aired monthly on CNNI and features dynamic footage of Shirley helming and commenting on unique and high performance sailing craft in exotic venues around the globe. She complements the exciting sailing action with in-depth interviews of leading practitioners of the sport of sailing, creating fascinating stories.

NALSA's President Dennis Bassano said, "We are excited and honored that Shirley will be joining us at the Worlds and giving her large global audience of mainly water sailing enthusiasts the opportunity to see top land yacht sailors and their craft in action. We understand she may be interested in giving the racing a go also, which would be great."

Sailors representing 15 countries and 4 continents currently are registered for the FISLY-NALSA 14th Landsailing World Championship, which will be hosted by NALSA and held July 12th-19th at Smith Creek Playa, near the town of Austin in Northern Nevada, USA. NALSA is the U.S. affiliate of FISLY, the International Federation of Sand and Land Yachts.

"We are extremely happy that CNN International will be at the Worlds," commented Russ Foster, NALSA's Landsailing World Championship Media Coordinator. "The show's in-depth, story telling style should allow Mainsail's audience to get a real sense of the sport's appeal."

NALSA will have its own professional video coverage, which will be featured in some of its planned nightly multimedia press releases from the regatta venue. After the regatta, NALSA will edit its best footage into a documentary for its sponsors and the regatta sailors.

"NALSA's video coverage of the regatta will be complemented by the still photography of Belgium's renowned land yachting photographer Walter Carels," Foster continued. "Walter will be selecting and uploading his images nightly for viewing on his website and in our nightly NALSA press releases from Smith Creek Playa."

www.nalsa.org/Worlds2014Splash.html