SPANISH NAVIGATOR COMPLETES HIS RECORD SETTING JOURNEY ACROSS ATLANTIC OCEAN ON A WATERCRAFT, ARRIVING AT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

Alvaro de Marichalar arrives in New-York City, (Final arrival of the transatlantic Expedition on a Sea Doo Watercraft, With the spectacular setting of the Statue of Liberty as a background, and Welcome celebration with City officials and prestigious guests)
Wednesday July the 24th, 8:00am
Battery Park,NY (Gangway 3 and 4)

8:00 / 8:30am Arrival, Docking and message to the medias ( filming and photos possible by chopper, boat or from the dock at Battery Park)
8:30/9:00am Official welcome and toast
from 9:00am individual interviews

Miami, FL, July 21st, 2002 -Alvaro de Marichalar who successfully made the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on a personal watercraft, riding a Bombardier Sea-Doo will arrive at the Statue of Liberty, Wednesday 24th at around 8:00am.

Alvaro de Marichalar left Rome (Italy) on February 23, 2002 in the footstep of Christopher Columbus, 500 years exactly after his 4th and last trip to America. After visiting 16 countries and crossing the Atlantic ocean he reached America in Miami-Beach on Saturday June 22, at 11 a.m. He continued with the ultimate part of the expedition, along the East Coast of the United State. As he left Miami-Beach, the mayor, David DERMER, presented him with the key of the City, in recognition of the achievement and wished him well. Celebration became bigger and bigger at each of his stops along the coast as he was welcomed by many children and supporters. There have been numbers of very moving moments, like the stop in historical Saint-Augustine. Alvaro's arrival was held back many hours. Still all supporters, TV crews and officials were there the next morning after several hours wait to salute his arrival. He was welcomed with the highest distinction of the City and the mayor insisted to add a very special gift: the Spanish flag that flew only once for the visit of the King of Spain on April 1st 2001. Such extraordinary warm welcome from the descendants of the first settlement in America, spoke for itself and echoed as a salute of the entire Nation to this modern hero.

Alvaro de Marichalar has already been featured in over 100 television and print media outlets since his transatlantic arrival and has received nationwide interest in his extraordinary journey. An adventurer at heart, Mr. de Marichalar is continuing to push himself while riding his watercraft to promote his causes to the people of America.

"This is a great achievement and a fabulous demonstration of courage and endurance associated with this unique crusade for a Drug free World" commented yesterday a spokesperson for Awareness against Drugs. .

Throughout most of his journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Alvaro navigated 12-14 hours a day, most of the time standing up. A support ship with a six-man crew followed him from a distance and aided him with the maintenance of his watercraft. A life raft, constructed by Aquarium of Barcelona and equipped with a special ultrasonic device to keep sharks away (developed by Doctor Gruber ) became his "home" on the sea. Sleeping under such extreme conditions was most certainly one of the hardest aspects of the adventure. In order to prepare, Alvaro spent the month of September living on the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Mallorca. In addition, he spent two months training eight hours a day to gain 40 pounds, to compensate for the weight he would lose on his journey.

During this 125 day expedition, departing from Rome (Italy) and to terminate in New-York, Alvaro de Marichalar accumulated 65 days of navigation at sea, 700 hours standing up in rough seas over 9,000 Nautical Miles, and visited numerous countries along the way: Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, The Canaries Islands, Atlantic Ocean, Antigua, Saint-Barths, Saint-Martin, The British Virgin Islands, The US Virgin Islands, Porto-Rico, The Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, Providential Islands, The Bahamas, and now the United States of America.

Mr. de Marichalar has not been subjected to such demanding conditions on his 1600-mile journey from Miami. Although this last part of the voyage has hardly been a leisurely cruise, in his words the trip along the Eastern United States coastline is, "Easy" compared to the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean. The trip will come to an end Wednesday, early morning at the Statue of Liberty in NYC. The arrival shall be transmitted live by NBC during the Today Show, as well as by number of other media from around the world.

Alvaro de Marichalar's passion for the sea and watercraft began in 1982. His nineteen years of navigation have earned him six sailing world records between 1992 and 1999. It is during his student's years at the University of Miami that he became fascinated with watercrafts, and started dreaming about linking Europe and America across the Ocean on his favorite embarkation. It is now mission accomplished: in 2002, he sets several new world records at once (longest journey on a watercraft, smallest embarkation across the Atlantic Ocean).

For a full account of the Atlantik 2002 Crossing including Alvaro's daily journal entries and photos, visit the official web site at www.atlantik2002.com