History of sitesALIVE!

Rich Wilson, Founder & President of sitesALIVE!, grew up sailing. In 1988, Rich recorded a series of live interviews by radiotelephone with a Boston radio station from the 35-foot trimaran Curtana that he skippered in Class V of the Carlsberg Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. Rich won the 3,000-mile non-stop sail from England to Rhode Island and returned to the United States invigorated not only by his victory but by the overwhelming audience reaction to the radio interviews.

Motivated by this enthusiastic response, Wilson, a lifelong educator, realized he could engage and educate people (most importantly kids) from afar by combining an irresistible adventure with the astonishing variety of subjects and disciplines required in offshore sailing. As Wilson says: "Once you've hooked the kids with excitement, you can feed them whatever content you want—math, science, nutrition, biology, astronomy, teamwork, perseverance, goal-setting…."

Disaster at Sea Proves Successful in Classroom

In 1990, Wilson acquired and re-fitted the 60-foot trimaran Great American for his first project. He sought a project long enough to effectively target the desired disciplines, dramatic enough to arouse media attention, and uncertain enough to keep the outcome in doubt. He decided to tackle the sailing record from San Francisco to Boston by way of Cape Horn, set during the California Gold Rush by the clipper ship Northern Light. A Teacher's Guide was written and distributed to several hundred schools. Classrooms also received newsletters and had access to a daily telephone recording from the boat.

The project was a success in the classroom and a disaster at sea. Wilson and his co-skipper Steve Pettengill capsized on Thanksgiving Day 1990 in 65-foot seas 400 miles short of treacherous Cape Horn. The boat was upside down for an hour, and then was re-righted by a wave—the first re-righting of a capsized trimaran by a wave in recorded history. Rich and Steve’s dramatic midnight rescue by the giant containership New Zealand Pacific (NZP) was chronicled in a variety of multi-media and press outlets including network news reports and features in major national print. Wilson and Pettengill went to Holland aboard NZP, and then returned home to Boston. (The trimaran was lost only to fetch up a year later on South Georgia Island, mere miles from where Sir Ernest Shackleton landed in the early 1900s.) As Rich traveled to various post-adventure speaking engagements and school programs, it was evident that the kids loved having something real sailing into their classrooms and that teachers valued the power of this adventure to teach many disciplines. This enthusiasm is what prompted Wilson to try his voyage again. “The enthusiasm of the kids and their pointed questions confirmed our belief that there was a place for learning adventures in the classroom,” Wilson recalls. “Their excitement also convinced me to make another try at the Cape Horn sailing record.”

In 1993, Wilson raised funds to acquire another trimaran. Twelve major newspapers agreed to publish an 11-part series with updates he would write from the boat for kids to read. In addition, Prodigy produced the first interactive learning adventure to allow children to follow right along with Rich in all aspects of his journey.

He then set out again from San Francisco and with co-skipper Bill Biewenga, survived Cape Horn and broke Northern Light's record, arriving in Boston in 69 days 20 hours. There, the sailors were greeted by one thousand of the 1/3 million schoolchildren who had followed the adventure through the newspapers and Prodigy.

The Ocean Challenge Concept Was Proven

Initial Ocean Challenge projects included an interactive learning adventure with the U.S. Women's Challenge, a team that sailed in the 1994 Whitbread 'Round the World Race. In 1994, Ocean Challenge developed Young America: Defending the America's Cup—a science and technology program based on an America's Cup syndicate.

Seeing the potential for success in other types of adventure programs on land and sea, Ocean Challenge turned to work with real field schools, accredited academically, in settings which were extraordinary adventures unto themselves. Thus began the series of partnerships which has evolved into sitesALIVE!, a menu of programs, running concurrently, which link students in classrooms to their peers on fascinating adventures and rich educational expeditions worldwide.