Sailing Magazine
The Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, famous solo transatlantic regatta between Saint-Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), will start on 4 November in Saint-Malo. The online race organized by Virtual Regatta offers many innovations, and is about to break its records.
Virtual Regatta, the world leader in online racing, is the official game of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, a solo transatlantic race between Saint-Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), which will start on 4 November in Saint-Malo.
Around 300,000 players are expected on the virtual starting line: a record that can be explained by the many innovations proposed for the eleventh edition of the transatlantic regatta.
“The success of Virtual Regatta OFFSHORE is due amongst others to the fact that everyone can play, cross the Atlantic and the oceans of the world without any sailing knowledge,” says Philippe Guigné, founder of Virtual Regatta. “This new version is even more accessible than the previous ones, with an interactive tutorial and a refined interface. We address different types of players, and offer the most advanced sailors the opportunity to benefit from all the weather and strategic options offered by the real race. But it also seemed important to us to be accessible to players who do not know sailing, and who discover this sport through Virtual Regatta. The handling of the game is easy and instructive. Anyone can easily participate.
Four categories are available to users: the Ultime Class, IMOCA monohulls, Class40 and Multi50.
For the first time, Virtual Regatta features a team regatta, which allows users to compete between friends, or between colleagues within a company, with a private ranking and a messaging system reserved for the group.
The game’s graphics have been improved, particularly in terms of boat representation, meteorology and the density of the players’ fleet. The interface allows you to select your friends, team members, visualize the density of the fleet and, of course, the position of the real competitors on the water.
Virtual Regatta simulates the weather conditions encountered in real time by skippers, and allows players to participate in the regatta in real time from their computers, choosing the best settings for their boat: sails and heading. Participation is free, while the most motivated players have the opportunity to buy options that further increase the enjoyment of the game.
