Barcelona Word Race initiative offers key skills to global audience

by Daniel Ferrando on 20 Dec 2014 When it comes to the practicalities of learning skills and topics which really interest leisure and racing sailors, finding up to date and practical educational courses and study material is nearly impossible. Yes, there are countless articles on diesel engines, parking your boat, chart work and navigation, but there are precious few opportunities to learn a full further education standard course on sailing meteorology, food and nutrition for ocean racing, medicine and first aid, sleep management, all for free.

An initiative based around the Barcelona World Race brings a range of such topics to the wider public for free. The Barcelona World Race Ocean Campus offers free access courses delivered on line by world renowned experts during the race period. Subjects available include Meteorology, Medicine, Food and Nutrition, Oceanography and Chronobiology (sleep management). All are broadly related to a round-the-world race and are available on line in English, Spanish and Catalan.

Enroll for free at the Meteorology course, 'Strategies for winning. Meteorology in a round the world regatta' here (till April 6 2015).

Enroll for free at the telemedicine course, 'Injuries, illness and telemedicine in extreme sailing' here (starts on December 15).

Enroll for free at the sleep management course, 'The brain in a non-stop round the world regatta. Chronobiology and sleep management' here (starts on January 26).

The courses have been developed by the FNOB, the University of Barcelona and the El Far Consortium as the Barcelona World Race Ocean Campus, falling under the categories science, the humanities and technology.

The Barcelona World Race Ocean Campus has been founded on a mission to disseminate the broad knowledge base required in ocean sailing and racing but with the rigour and structure of university learning.

Available on Instructure Canvas platform from November 2014, these courses are free and open to all and offer certification from the University of Barcelona in association with experts in online learning Inlea.

The Barcelona World Race Ocean Campus courses fall under the ‘MOOC’ category: Massive Online Open Courses. This is a learning model currently being used by some of the world’s leading educational institutions, disseminating knowledge in the form of online content with open and free access for all.

The Campus kicks off with five courses on the subjects of Meteorology, Medicine, Food and Nutrition, Oceanography and Chronobiology, with study materials available in English, Spanish and Catalan. The courses take place from November 2014 to May 2015.

The Barcelona World Race Ocean Campus is a pioneering initiative in the world of ocean sailing. For the FNOB it represents a natural evolution of its educational programme.