It’s been a fast start to Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race game, with the leading players covering more than 1,000 miles already. The longest of all the 11 legs that make up the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, the 7,600-mile epic from Auckland in New Zealand to Itajai is also the most iconic.
© Virtual Regatta
It sees the virtual fleet take on the might of the Southern Ocean for the second time in this edition, and includes the rounding of the infamous Cape Horn. Much like in the race proper, the leading game players have dived south after leaving Auckland on Sunday in a bid to reach the Southern Ocean highway that will power them towards South America as quickly as possible.
France’s amiral d aurigny currently occupies the top spot after three days ‘at sea’, with a narrow 2.5-mile jump on the USA’s GYA_SurfaceTension in second and Switzerland’s FBF-GVA a further half a mile back in third.
As always, the racing is incredibly close - just 11 miles splits the top 50 boats.
With a huge anticyclone currently providing steady north-easterly breeze, speeds remain high up around the 20-knot mark.
Once round the bottom of the high pressure system the fleet will be able to point their bows east and jump on the train that will rocket them all the way to Cape Horn.
It’s still not too late to join in the action – just go to www.volvooceanrace.com/game to sign up and race in this iconic leg.
