American duo attempt Clipper record

Rich Wilson and Bill Biewenga tackle New York-Melbourne record on trimaran

Before the second voyage, Wilson arranged with a dozen newspapers throughout the United States to publish a series of articles about the trip that he would write at sea and that would be distributed to some 10,000 classrooms nationwide, connecting more than 250,000 students with the journey. In addition, Great American II was linked to classrooms and homes around the country through the Prodigy on-line computer service.

If Wilson had any doubts about the potential of this educational venture, they dissolved when he and Biewenga sailed into Boston Harbor in April, 1993, after breaking Northern Light's record. More than a thousand school children and their teachers greeted Great American II.

Based on his experiences, Wilson launched Ocean Challenge, Inc., to develop similar educational adventures for classrooms. From this parent firm emerged sitesALIVE!, an interactive educational web site that connects classrooms with learning adventures on land and sea all over the world. sitesALIVE! will present eight other learning adventures for schools concurrently with the Great American II voyage.