Spike Sponsors First Australian to Sail the Famed Three-Week Transatlantic Race.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1999--

Australian Yachtsman Christophe Vanek's Progress to Be Documented

and Webcast Live on the Internet at www.minitransatlantic.com

Spike Networks, the youth-focused, global online media and services company, is the principal sponsor of Australian yachtsman Christophe Vanek's entry in this year's Mini Transatlantic Race, a three-week race launching from Brittany, France, on Sept. 26 and finishing in the French West Indies, in the Caribbean.

Vanek will be the first Australian ever to sail in this world-famous race, in which the size of the yachts entered is limited to no more than 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in length.

Updates of Vanek's journey will be broadcast on the Internet from the mini-transatlantic Web site, located at www.minitransatlantic.com. The site will feature streaming video of the start of the race, as well as daily position and news updates, including an animated tracking map.

The lone yachtsman will take a digital video camera with him on his journey, and will upload video footage and photographs to the site upon arrival to the midway point (Canary Islands), and the finish of the race (French West Indies).

The footage will offer a unique insight into the tough physical and psychological challenges faced by a lone sailor crossing an ocean. Users will also be able to e-mail questions to Vanek, who will be interviewed at the start, midpoint and completion of the race.

The first leg of the race starts in Cocarneau, in Brittany, France, on Sept. 26, 1999, and ends on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands approximately one week later. From there, the second leg begins on Oct. 19 (two weeks later) across the Trade Wind latitudes of the North Atlantic Ocean to Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, and takes around 20 days to complete.

Held every second year, this 4,100-mile race is limited to 60 entries. The design rules require the boat to be no more than 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in length, to carry no more than eight sails and to pass a self-righting test. Vanek's entry, to be named Spike, has been designed by the renowned French company Foucault in lightweight, foam-core GRP. It has an ultrawide beam, 200 liters of moveable water ballast, twin rudders and a long fin keel with bulb.

Vanek has been sailing professionally for the past 16 years. As a bowman on France 3, he was the youngest crewmember to compete in the elimination rounds of America's Cup in 1983 and also competed in the 1987 America's Cup aboard Courageous IV.

Vanek has raced aboard several large multihulls and monohulls -- among them, Helisara VI with America's Cup skipper, Dennis Conner -- and has logged more than 60,000 miles in major ocean races, including six Sydney to Hobart Races, five Sydney to Mooloolooba Races, The Sardinia Cup, several Fastnet Races in Britain and four races around France.

"It's going to be fun to have such a young, dynamic global media company behind me," Vanek said regarding Spike's sponsorship. "It is great to know that in addition to providing vital financial support, Spike will make it possible for hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of others to share this great adventure with me online."

Spike's sponsorship of Vanek was inspired by a chance meeting between Vanek and Spike's chief executive and founder, C. Chris O'Hanlon, himself an experienced yachtsman.

"This will be one of Spike's first forays into sports sponsorship and into the delivery of extreme sports online, an essential component of this company's evolving commitment to the development and distribution of original entertainment content online," said O'Hanlon. "We jumped at the opportunity to be associated with Christophe and with this extraordinary long-distance, single-handed race."

About Spike Networks

Since it was founded in 1995, Spike Networks has positioned itself as a youth-oriented company more interested in achieving goals through taking risks and charting new territory than adhering to traditional business models. The company established itself as one of the early innovators in the Australian Internet services market, having designed and developed more than 120 corporate and institutional Web sites.

Today, Spike Networks is one of the Asia Pacific region's leading providers of end-to-end strategic Internet services, with clients including multinational corporations and institutions in Australia, the United States, Japan and New Zealand, as well as one of the region's leading Internet companies.

It is now building the Spike brand around services, ventures and content, and, by leveraging its existing services, technology, content, marketing assets and client relationships, Spike Networks is establishing a unique approach to incubating and launching revenue-generating online projects targeted at the youth market.

For more information, visit Spike's Web site at www.spike.com.au or call the company's offices at 323/845-1700.