The 50-year-old Italian – better known to players as JustSailing – won the leg from Newport, USA, to Cardiff, UK, in a time of seven days, 20 hours, 25 minutes and 44 seconds
© Virtual Regatta
Andrea beat second-placed karriv from Finland by 10 minutes and 42 seconds, while third-placed Fast Flo NAP from Belgium was 13 minutes and 20 seconds behind.
His win was all the sweeter for the fact that a few hours from the finish line he was lying in 300th, having taken a risky gamble to win the leg outright.
“I made two big moves in this leg,” said Andrea, who comes from Lake Maggiore but lives in London.
“At the very beginning of the leg I sailed deep into the south-east front before heading to Newfoundland, which got me in the leading pack of less than 50 boats with 70nm advantage on the main group.
“Then, coming up to the Bristol Channel, instead of defending my good 15th position I decided to risk it sailing north into the new air and hugging the Welsh coast.
“I fell back to 300th place before starting a rapid recovery. In the end it was a really close call and it worked out in my favour by a single mile over karriv, who’s been a great challenge to reach for the whole leg.”
Andrea sails is a navigator and tactician on racing yachts and has competed in events such as the Giraglia Rolex Cup and Middle Sea Race.
However he only joined the Volvo Ocean Race game after Leg 4.
"It’s an amazing feeling to win this leg. This is an incredibly competitive group! The key to success was to not chase the leaders. They are too strong, you’ll never beat them unless you invent something original."
Overall, Tessa94 leads Sideshow in second and Marcus Belgicus in third. Leg 10, the penultimate stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, begins on June 10. Go to www.volvooceanrace.com/game to sign up and be part of this incredible event.
