Web 2.0 at Sea

This is Day 77 in the Vendee Globe around-the-world race. Skipper Rich Wilson, the only US contestant and the oldest skipper in the competition is in tenth place. At the start of the race there were 30 skippers. Now there are 12 remaining in the race. Rich is rounding Cape Horn today. Ironically today he was sailing in nearly the same position that he was in when his Great American boat capsized off the coast of Cape Horn in 1990. It was an uneasy feeling as he reports on the audio file that he posted in his podcast on the SitesALIVE! website.

In an interview with Yachtpals, Rich spoke about the reasons that he undertook this epic race.
YP: Would you say you sail more for the challenge or the pure joy?
Rich: There's a variety of reasons. Certainly there's a challenge, particularly this race, which is the biggest race of all, in my view. I also sail for the school program. If we didn't have the big school program, I wouldn't be here.
The purpose is to connect kids to the real world, because they'll be far more excited about the topics in class than they will be if they're just doing textbooks. http://yachtpals.com/rich-wilson-american-4013

Before the start of the Vendee Globe race, Rich spent many months preparing himself, the boat and the school program. He and I volunteered to do webcasts in New Zealand, Australia, Romania, the Philippines, China, and in the US where we virtually visited schools to tell them more about the voyage and give the students and teachers the chance to ask some questions. He had a webcast with Steve Hargadon in Elluminate that is still archived on this site. He gathered an incredible 'Team of Experts' who extend the voyage in many directions with their own career experiences and expertise. Students are invited to ask these experts questions as well. And as Rich is at sea, he and his team are using web 2.0 technologies to connect with the global audience via his http://www.sitesalive.com website, Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/Rich_Wilson , Facebook Gabcast , the http://www.sitesalive.com website where Rich posts blogs and ship logs, answers questions that students/teachers send via e-mail, and uploads videos to YouTube and TeacherTube. He invites students to send him email via his website and to send in projects that they have created as a result of following a part of the voyage. At the moment, my students are plotting points in google earth. Position points are available on his website.
Rich has 7251 nautical miles to the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne. I hope that you will join me and others around the world in following him and cheering our 'teacher at sea' in in this epic race! If you come 'on board' I'd enjoy hearing about your journey. Thanks very much!

http://www.sitesalive.com
http://www.twitter.com/Rich_Wilson
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en
http://ehrweb01.aaas.org/sail/