January 2007
First Light Solutions at the London Boat Show 2007

Fresh from success in the BBC's Dragon's Den, First Light Solutions have ensured that support for their mermaid id man-overboard system keeps on coming.

Back in August 2006, Matt Hazell braved the Dragons and the gamble paid off with First Light Solutions securing £100,000 of funding from 'business angel' Richard Farleigh.

Central to Matt's pitch was the uniqueness of mermaid id within the man-overboard detection marketplace and his watertight patent for using sonar technology. mermaid id uses unique sonar signals to provide instant detection of a man overboard situation and enable the boat to easily track back to the point of impact.

And now, whilst still in testing phase, Matt and his team have secured partnerships with both the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 and MarineTrack. These partnerships will aid development and also strengthen First Light's proposition.

The Volvo Ocean Race has added a "self initiated digital-sonar alarm", for use within man-overboard (MOB) situations to their Notice of Race 2008-09 and have committed to testing First Light's equipment prior to launch later in 2007.

Volvo believes that safety gives the crews the reassurance to push themselves to the limit and beyond and the above equipment will be mandatory for all crews taking part in the 2008/09 round the world race.

Riccardo Anzil, First Light's Technical Director will head the final stages of testing which will take place on the Solent at the beginning of 2007 with MarineTrack also committing their years of technological expertise and experience of the market to the process.

The partnership between MarineTrack and mermaid id enables the two companies to offer an enhanced alert system with mermaid id providing immediate detection of a man-overboard situation and MarineTrack generating automated shore-side notification via satellite. The technology will speed up the location process in the event of a MOB and maximise chances for a successful rescue.

With both using plug-n-play installation, MarineTrack and First Light believe that their partnership will offer an easy and simple life-saving concept at an affordable price to the leisure marine industry.

Matt will be at the London Boat Show with the Volvo Ocean Race and MarineTrack on 5th January 2007 and look forward to meeting with you.

For further information please contact Susie Reid Thomas or Sarah-Jane Kurtini at Silver Thread Communications:

t. 020 8875 8444
e. susie@silverthreadpr.com or
sj@silverthreadpr.com

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