As the seven Volvo Ocean Race teams depart Lisbon bound for Cape Town on their toughest challenge of the 2017-18 race to date, so does a fleet of more than 70,000 virtual skippers who are hotly contesting the official Volvo Ocean Race game.
© Virtual Regatta
At 7,000 miles long, Leg 2 is almost five times the distance of the opening stage from Alicante to Lisbon – and for the virtual racers that means up to three weeks ‘at sea’ competing 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Just like in the real race, players must constantly adapt their boat’s heading and sails as they encounter real-life weather conditions along the course, only sleeping when they get the chance.
Unlike the reasonably straightforward strategy of Leg 1, the second leg will see the fleet have to navigate through the tradewinds, across the dreaded Doldrums, around the infamous St Helena High and into the Southern Ocean before making it to Cape Town.
Among the players to watch are the top three from Leg 1: Britain’s ‘Sideshow’, winner of the 2011-12 game, France’s ‘Tamebird’ and Australian ‘Mangina’ who won the 2016-17 Vendee Globe virtual race.
Log in or register now or download the Virtual Regatta app for iOS and Android today and get ready to start racing.
Leg 2 of the virtual race begins at 1400 UTC on Sunday.
