As the only American in the Vendée Globe race around the world, Rich Wilson has been a busy man this morning, giving interviews and commenting on an historic election result in his home country. 

He admits that preparations for the Vendée Globe were his main concern, and so he slept soundly through the historic night for America, waking to learn the election outcome.

Two decades ago Wilson worked as a writer with the Dukakis campaign, and is an avid follower of politics, American and international:

“It is a great result for my country and I hope for countries all around the world. Senator Obama has such a unique background and he has a different view of the world. I will be watching what is happening back home. It is a great way to relax from the boat.”

“This race is in a way congruent with what is going on in the world, this is now a global world, and the idea of the nation states is perhaps a bit antiquated. The media here are coming together in different ways and, in Europe, and the same kind of thing probably needs to happen around the world, to business and trade.”

“Symbolically, in chorus we are going around the entire world, we won’t be near many countries around the world as we go, but in teachers’ guide to this race we talk, in a section called Invisible Places, we talk about places and countries which are just over the horizon, places and cultures that we would like to learn about but we don’t have a chance. It is a great symbol of the world right now and so it will be interesting to keep in touch as we go round the world.”

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 05 November 2008 )