CNN has announced that this month its show Inside Sailing visits Asia where CNN news and business correspondent Liz George drops in on the Singapore Straits Regatta, one of the four events that make up the Asian Yachting Circuit (AYC). Other locations on the AYC circuit include Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The show airs on 16 February at 7 pm with repeats on 19 February at the same time and 22 February at 6 pm.

With the economic downturn making it difficult to attract sponsors and competitors, the show investigates how sailing in the region is coping with these problems and what future the sport holds.

The half-hour programme also visits DK Yachts in Malaysia, the first world-class builder of racing yachts in Asia - which is working extremely successfully, with full order books for the next two years. The show also has a sneak preview at one of DK’s most exciting projects - a radical new 30m (100ft) yacht that could become the fastest monohull in the world.

Looking forward to the match-up for the America’s Cup the show files a report from the Team New Zealand camp, examining the controversial ‘hula’ appendage on their boat. In an exclusive interview, Team New Zealand design coordinator and head Tom Schnackenberg, puts the case for the defence, while Alinghi, the Swiss challengers, question its legality.