Boats and sailing vacations are grand prizes in largest giveaway at a SAIL EXPO show

Atlantic City (NJ) Dec 12, 2004 -- In a city where good luck can translate to real fortune, organizers of Atlantic SAIL EXPOĆ (ASE) have decided to add a new twist to their annual sailboat show held each January in Atlantic City. This year`s four-day show will feature a prize giveaway worth tens of thousands of dollars. A handful of lucky showgoers will attend SAIL EXPO and head home from the show with a boat, a sailing vacation, or a number of other prizes. ASE 2004 takes place January 15-18 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

"The prize giveaway will add a lot of excitement to the show floor--and I hope many attendees will come through the show gates to try their luck," said Scot West, Executive Director of show producer Sail America. "A number of exhibitors really got behind this idea, and they came through with some amazing prizes."

Among the prizes in the giveaway, the largest-ever at a SAIL EXPO show, are sailboats produced by Hunter Marine and Hobie Cat, a Yanmar 18-horsepower diesel engine, Caribbean sailing vacations with The Moorings and Sunsail, learn-to-sail vacations and keelboat courses with Offshore Sailing School, Baysail School and Charters and New Jersey Sailing School, and other prizes such as a storm jib from North Sails, foul weather gear, magazine subscriptions, nautical jewelry, and more. The largest prize in the giveaway is the Hunter 216, a 21-foot sailboat worth nearly $14,000.

The awarding of prizes will be a daily happening at the show. A grand prize and second and third prizes will be awarded each day during ASE. Attendees will have to sign up for the giveaway drawing once they arrive at the show, but they can enter their names at exhibitors` booths where individual prizes are displayed or at the show entrance or the information booth. Visit www.sailamerica.com/prizerules for more information on rules and a complete list of prizes.

The 12th annual Atlantic SAIL EXPO will draw some 200 exhibitors and the latest in boats and equipment. Sailboats on display will range from small one-person dinghies to large cruising boats equipped for offshore voyaging. Attractions and special events are geared toward all levels: from world cruisers who have crossed oceans to those who have never stepped foot on a sailboat before.

World-famous racers and voyagers who spend their lives afloat will head to Atlantic City to share their stories, their passion for sailing, and their expertise in a full slate of seminars that are free with the price of admission. Sessions cover a wide range of topics: from how-to lessons and sessions on sailing technique to entertaining tales of cruising adventure and victory on the racecourse. Among the notable sailors giving seminars are Lin and Larry Pardey, voyagers and well-respected authors who have logged over 180,000 miles together over the past 30 years; solo round-the-world racer Tim Kent, who survived a harrowing capsize at sea; and Bernadette and Douglas Bernon, a couple who left their land lives to pursue an endless-summer existence of exploring under sail.

Some 100 seminars will run throughout the four-day show. In addition to these sessions is a special Satu