Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race graphic
Tuesday 18 November 2008 11:00
Participation in The Virtual Volvo Ocean Race has reached record levels with nearly 70,000 now registered to play.
Today's statistics show that 40,000 players had been online over the past 24 hours, making the virtual fleet one of the biggest and most competitive in the world.
Players compete in real time using real weather files, just as the skippers and navigators on board the real Volvo Open 70s do.
Players can choose to purchase extra game options, with a share of the proceeds going to the Save the Albatross campaign.
The first leg to Cape Town was a thrilling ride. The start, with 8,000 boats, was a tricky one; the Gibraltar Strait wasn’t big enough for the fleet with nearly 30,000 boats trying to squeeze through. After that small hiccup, the virtual racers filled the Atlantic as the fleet numbers continued to climb.
As in the real race, the players who went boldly west of the Cape Verde Islands earned an advantage over those who stuck closer to the African coast. By the time the virtual leaders crossed the equator, over 30,000 skippers were playing the game.
On the final blast into Cape Town, records were broken by the virtual as well as the real fleet. The leaders stayed online 24 hours a day living on coffee and sea biscuits with sleep out of the question – another similarity to the real action on the water.
It paid off, after 25 days of intense racing the yacht Aldabra reached Cape Town first, winning eternal glory and a TNG Sailing Watch.
The game is open for new recruits so come and join us. The Virtual Volvo Ocean Race is fun, you can play for free and you can still win a Volvo C30 along with other prizes. Sign up now!