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Qingdao, on the Yellow Sea approximately 450 miles southeast of Beijing, will play host to the 400 athletes competing across the 11 sailing events at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Sailors from 53 nations have qualified for the Olympic Sailing Competition, which for the first time will feature the new Medal Race finale to decide the 2008 Olympic Champions. Sports fans will be able to get closer than ever to the action in Qingdao with International Sailing Federation (ISAF) working with their website provider Sotic - a leader in web technologies to the professional sports market - to give www.sailing.org an Olympic overhaul and bring you unrivalled coverage of this year's Olympic Sailing Competition.

ISAF President, Göran PETERSSON, said, "The Olympic Games is the sporting world's greatest arena and there is no better showcase to demonstrate the excitement and passion of sailing to the world. Sailing is a sport that embraces innovation and universality and these values will be at the core of ISAF's coverage from Qingdao. No matter where you are in the world, the ISAF website will transport you right to the heart of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition."

Leo MINDEL, Sotic Technology Director, said, "We are delighted to be providing an Olympic Games microsite for ISAF. An event as prestigious and globally reaching as the Beijing Olympic Games will allow Sotic to demonstrate our ability to present a high quality technical solution that will integrate real time statistics, images and written content into one easy to use information point for the worldwide sailing community."

ISAF has secured access to the Internet Data Feed from Beijing, which will mean the ISAF Olympic microsite will be updated live with mark-by-mark roundings, results and weather info from every race in Qingdao. Results, medal tables, schedules updates, official communications and jury protests and penalties will also be updated live from the data feed, meaning sailing fans can follow the action as it happens on www.sailing.org.

We'll also be receiving news updates from well-known sailing reporters Lynn FITZPATRICK and Di PEARSON, who will be on the water in Qingdao providing their expert analysis for the Organizing Committee. ISAF will also be in Qingdao to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Olympic Sailing Competition and the personalities that bring the Games to life. Enhancing our news and feature coverage will be fantastic photography supplied daily by the world-renowned Getty Images, the ISAF Official Photographers to the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.

In addition to all of the live competition information, news and photography, the ISAF Olympic microsite will also include a full review of Olympic sailing through the ages. Look back at editions past with our database of Olympic sailing results and medal winner and read our review of the sport's Olympic history. We'll also be bringing you all the background information on the Games, including everything from anti-doping procedures and regulations, qualification details to the sailing legacy that will remain in Qingdao. And for those new to sailing, our simple guide will give a brief overview of the key aspects of the sport and direct you were to go to find out more details.

The current ISAF Olympic microsite at www.sailing.org/olympics features all the key documentation, qualification information and news related to the Olympic Sailing Competition. During July we'll be going into Beijing 2008 mode with a new look and the first wave of our Olympic coverage.

Wherever you are in the world, you can follow this year's Olympic Sailing Competition at www.sailing.org.