FAQ – Ocean Challenge Live! – The Vendee Globe 2008

What is the Vendee Globe?

The Vendee Globe is a sailboat race that spans 25,000 miles. It lasts for approximately 100 days, France to France, leaving Antarctica to starboard, starting on November 9, 2008. The Vendee Globe is the ultimate in single-handed endurance: around the world, single-handed, non-stop with no assistance from shore. Some call it the Mount Everest of sailboat racing.

Rich Wilson is the ONLY American registered for the 2008 Vendee Globe. The first race was held in 1989-90, and has been run every four years since the 1992-93 event. Two sailors have been lost at sea since the race began in 1989, and others have been dramatically rescued.

What is Ocean Challenge Live! – The Vendee Globe 2008?

Ocean Challenge Live! – The Vendee Globe 2008 is an online education program that links school children and adults to Skipper Rich Wilson, one of the 30 elite sailors racing in the Vendee Globe 2008. The Ocean Challenge Live! website contains videos, photos, audio files, journals, topic essays, and more. All of this material can be used with the downloadable teacher’s guide. The lessons within the guide are designed to complement academic learning while providing practical lessons and life skills.

What can I find on the Ocean Challenge Live! website?

There are many resources on the Ocean Challenge Live! website. Listed by section, these are:

RACING GREAT AMERICAN III
In this section you can find Skipper Rich WIlson’s biography as well as the biographies of the shore support crew; the story of the Vendee Globe; information about RIch’s asthma; and press releases and press coverage.

DAILY UPDATES
RIch updates certain information on a near-daily basis. These include the log, the boat’s position, audio podcasts, and weather maps.

SATURDAY UPDATES
Each week a set of information is updated on the website, including Essays, Photos, Video, Q&A, and the program’s Newspapers In Education program.

TEAM OF EXPERTS
The Team of Experts is a group of individuals who are experts in their fields. Each one has a unique perspective on the Ocean Challenge Live! – Vendee Globe 2008 program, and each contributes one topic essay and answers a number of questions submitted by the general public, including (especially!) classroom children. The people on this team are well-known in their fields and, in some cases, well known outside of their fields as well.

TEACHER’S GUIDE
Rich Wilson’s education program support team crafted a specialized teacher’s guide designed to help teachers bring the Venee Globe experience into the classroom. The lessons meet many state and national standards across multiple disciplines, are practical in nature, and help teach life skills to students. Download the Teacher’s Guide.

DONATE
This education program has taken many years to assemble, and is provided free of charge to those who wish to use it. The sitesALIVE Foundation funds the program, and to allow the foundation to continue funding programs such as this one, we encourage donations. Please visit the Donate page to contribute to the Foundation.

How do I sign up my students to send questions to Skipper Rich and the Team of Experts?

You can set up your whole class to send in questions to Rich or the Team of Experts by filling out the Sign Up form and submitting it to sitesALIVE! We only ask for your name, an email address, and a password to log into the website. If, as a teacher or parent, you are concerned with the privacy of your child(ren), we ask that you complete the sign up form for them. Then they can send in their first name (only) when they want to submit a question.

CHILDREN UNDER 13 YEARS OLD CANNOT SIGN UP FOR THEIR OWN WEBSITE ACCOUNT WITHOUT EXPRESSED PARENTAL PERMISSION. CHILDREN UNDER 13 MUST HAVE THEIR A PARENT’S APPROVAL IN ORDER TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS TO THE SITESALIVE! WEBSITE USING THEIR OWN SITESALIVE! ACCOUNT.