[Closed] Virtual regatta

Just joined, although accidentally started the solar one first!!!!

i think its a combo of good sails and an almost religious dedication verging on addiction.

worried that ocrider is being distracted by the babes on the beaches, he's about ready to run aground

Well this mornings weather wasn't what was forecast for the Gibraltar area.....**** **** ****

Think im getting addicted!

Bugger.... been seen off by by the forecasters. That is OCR, Carbon and me stuffed.

We can only hope that the forecast is equally as fickle for the Western crowd too.

179° today. Should be catching the gust coming out of Gibraltar this evening.
I'm aiming to check my course twice a day and no more. This could get far too antiproductive if not!

20 knots due South. Ridin' the low baby!

I think Rusty Floater must be off to visit some Yank relatives.

There's a non upgrades ranking [url= http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/velux101.php?lang=en ]Here[/url] and a satellite image of all the competitors [url= http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/carte-sat-velux101.php?lang=en ]here[/url] green on the map for honest hardworking folk like myself and red for those who think that victory is simply bought.

heading west to catch the southerly from that low, hoping i've not left it too late,

doing 7 knots and watching those others skelping down at 20knots + is a bit disheartening. Wishing i'd packed a carronade now that'd slow em down a little.

Cheers for those links. Sat image is nearest 10000 boats to Cape Town. Atm all the ones sitting around twiddling they're thumbs.

does not seem to work on ipad..

doing 7 knots and watching those others skelping down at 20knots + is a bit disheartening.

20 knots due South. Ridin' the low baby!

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Woooooooosh!

Really not too far west either, currently on a heading of 180° and not going to pass that far west of West Africa at this rate.

Its the boys following the orange line who are in trouble at the mo.
Dazzlingboy is head on into the wind with a spinnaker

Yup next 12 hours are going to be dull, dull, dull cantral course. And a wait to see if CMG/VMG beats the western speedsters and the eastern gamblers!

Still you can see who the Asymetric boys are in the fleet 🙄 😆

(parkerknollrecliner)

EDIT:

Dazzlingboy is head on into the wind with a spinnaker

Not anymore he isn't, and I was hoping to sneak past 👿 😀

Late starter. Currently doing 6.5 knots and hoping the 24/36 hr weather forecast proves correct 😕

after bottling going far west I went south, just west of the line now I see a way to get west into the big winds in 24 hours. if it comes off I'll be flying..

cruising slowly at the mo, it is a bit of a lull and minor course correction. Just trying to get in to the depression. I was cruising early on.

its pretty unlucky to be near Gibraltar.

You have done well to get in to that low far in to the Atlantic then bring it back in...

Looking at the latest forecasts I think there is only "rusty Floater" I have a chance of beating to Cape Town.

What time does the weather update? Does it just switch every 12 hours or does it change all the time?

Forecast are updated twice a day. Twelve hours apart. 10 ish souns about right but I guess you would need to look on the virtualregatta site.

Changes at 7am and 7pm i.e 10 mins time.

finally made it to some decent wind, regretting not heading west and following bogillou when I had him in my sights,

seem to be making decent headway now 13knots with a 14knot tailwind is not bad but I've got some serious work to do to catch Stevo,

thanks re. forecast times 🙂

Come in xcgb (Rusty Floater) your time is up!

Maybe he is off to sail round the Bahamas for a couple of months hoping he won't be missed then sneakily rejoin just in front of the leading group as they head up from El Salvador to Charleston 😉

Do we get extra bonus points for sailing north to rescue the lost skipper? maybe scurvy has set in already.

Hoping to catch some decent southerly breezes soon and doing some serious catching up.

Hoping to catch some decent southerly breezes soon and doing some serious catching up.

We are about the same distance as the current leaders to Cape Verde and will hopefully have much better winds over the next couple of days so should get there well ahead. I'm gaining 150 ish places every 10 mins or so atm.

(My names Doug and I'm a Virtual Regattaholic)

Maybe he is off to sail round the Bahamas for a couple of months hoping he won't be missed then sneakily rejoin just in front of the leading group as they head up from El Salvador to Charleston

He'll be in Charleston before I get to Cape Verde at this rate.
Still, 630th for now, although I'm guessing back up to around 1200 before breakfast. I'm going to have a very still day tomorrow.

I'm gaining 150 ish places every 10 mins or so atm.

Don't even think about drafting me. I'm getting ready to repel boarders! 😉

Don't even think about drafting me. I'm getting ready to repel boarders!

See you all tomorrow.

finally got a decent breeze, heading south now

fair winds and happy dreams all

I've blown it, went from 9000 to 19000 overnight

I dropped a load of places too. My aim is to try and keep the rest of you guys in sight

starting to catch up on stevo & doug, but starting to wonder how far west I can follow this breeze. I'll need to turn east at some point.

Still not all lost yet.. I wont be beaten - I WONT BE BEATEN

Even if it means getting up through the night.

I gained nearly 2000 places overnight, but still not telling the whole story - all of you in-shore guys are still ranked ahead of me!

Easy enough today, looks like interesting times tomorrow. Decisions to be made!

I'm heading pretty much straight for Cape Verde for the next few days. I'll tack back east at the 7pm wind change. Don't want to be too close to Africa when I get there though as there's usually a [url= http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/marine/weather?LEVEL=3&LANG=en&MENU=0&TIME=165&MN=gfs&CONT=afri ]headwind[/url] coming up the west coast once you pass the equator.

Bah! Blown up overnight - falling well back and now stuck square in the middle of the low!! 🙁

Looks like 'Tortoise' is off to rescue 'Rusty Floater'.

Rusty's currently doing 0 knots so at least he's not actually going any further the wrong way!

Maybe some massive North-westerly is going to blow up in a couple of days and we'll all be laughing on the other side of our faces...

Been very quiet here today, everyone keeping their cards close to the chest? or did we all break out the rum rations early?

I'm now tacking in the strong sou'westerlys making up as much ground as I can, a steady 16 / 17 knots should see me well out into the atlantic.

Not sure how soon to turn and make the run down into the southern ocean but it looks like a busy 36 hours ahead with tacking into some strong winds.

i'm going south, slightly east at 30kms, flying!

Well over two days I've made up 10,000 places so very happy 🙂

I even managed a successful course change on my Desire whilst at work, though it did take 10 minutes of prodding at the screen as it doesn't seem to register button presses very well.

Bit silly that the leading group down in the southeast appear to have bought all the upgrades and set their course to stay at the same angle to the wind, and then forgotten to log in to make manual adjustments. At least they are stuck with no proper winds now 🙂 Reckon some of the auto options should only be able to be used for say two days max so there is a bit of skill involved.

Reaped the rewards of heading due South since last night, 6000 places gained over night!

Reckon some of the auto options should only be able to be used for say two days max so there is a bit of skill involved.

You kind of wonder what the point in playing like that is. You've paid to have the computer play the game for you? ❓

Decision time tomorrow... east or west of Cape Verde?

Hopefully I might get my boat back in the mix again after tonight. Will be a long way back but I have a cunning plan...

Does it involve an outboard motor? 😉

Uphill - Ive managed to escape from your grasp... slowly catching up I hope.

i've paid to have the computer keep a watch so i can go to casualty after cycling over a dog, is that in the "rules"?

east of cape verde looks best currently, another 24hours before i need to make the final decision..

stevomcd - Member

Does it involve an outboard motor?

I am hoping to swap boats for [url=

Stand by for me overtaking!!!!

I'm going to head straight for Cape Verde to leave my options open until the last minute then see what the winds look like.

:Waves to stevemcd:

Heading due south and catching up slowly, need to make some decisions in 24 hours or so. for now I'm cracking open the pink gin and olives, everyone's welcome on the poop deck

:Goes to check fridge:

Olives - Check
Gin - Check
Angostura bitters - Hmmm. Might have to get a bit creative.

Chin chin.

[Waves! - to Doug. Obscene gestures to the XTR sails crowd 😉 ]

Just had a nice barbecue and a few beers.

Spoiled by a fly in a bottle of Heineken. You shouldn't ever drink Heineken. I am slightly drunk and in no state to make this up!

So how to the rankings actually work!?

Warton and Bawbag appear to be virtually on top of each other, yet there's nearly 600 places between them!

Rankings are taken as the nearest in a straight line to the stage finish in Capetown. Even if you were a mile behind someone, due to the numbers playing there will be hundreds if not thousands along the band that is equidistant. I'm out to the West, the new leaders are about 12hrs ahead of me but in the rankings I am still behind a boats as far back as the Canaries because they are nearer to Capetown as the crow flies.

Have a look at [url= http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/carte-sat-velux101.php?lang=en ]this map[/url]. It shows the first 10000 on the leaderboard. The sharp edge along the northern side of the boat plots is where it gets to 10000th place. Everyone along that edge is in a similar place on the leaderboard so by moving a little closer or further away from Capetown you will make/lose loads of places.

Think I'm going west of Cape Verde, there seems to be a bit of a lull to the east for a few days just as we get there plus any wind there is is blowing directly due south rather than at an angle.

Doug, can you hear me creeping up behind you, ninja style? i'll be following you to the west of cape verde i think. looks like steve is going to join us over there..

ps what tyres for changing my XTR sails?

Doh. Getting hammered last night really did not help me. Although I do think I mostly got away with it!

bigG, better pass out of arms reach or I'll strap a huge magnet to your keel to fox all those automatic gizmo's your utilizing and spray WD40 all over your posh XTR running gear so the squeaking keeps you awake all night. 😉

Shonen Knife and I (series1) look like we're on collision course!

Never mind XTR. Looks like mine must be Altus from the way I have been going. Have a cunning plan that might get me back to mid table.

772th at the moment, great weekend! have been really busy so just checking and changing course once every 12 hours or so. kept a steady 28ish km all weekend.

making steady progress now, not sure if I should go east, west or through cape verde,, lets see how the winds feel when I get a little closer. I'm guessing that rusty floater & tortoise have done a robert maxwell..

Apparently I'm going to be hugging the coast as I forgot to change my heading yesterday!

Decided on east of Cape Verde (or maybe through the eastern end). Doesn't seem to be much advantage to be gained by taking the longer route west.

I am currently leading the STW Armada. That is all. (until the game realizes the guys in front of me are closer to the finish than me)

Warton, I held that position for a short while till I was skunked by the lack of wind of Gibralter.

I think it highly unlikely that lady luck has finished with her fickle ways. At least I hope not cause some good luck would be a change for!

I am currently leading the STW Armada. That is all.

By 37 slightly imaginary miles! 😈

Actually, I think in real terms you actually are there or thereabouts. You're far enough west to get round, just a bit short of options if the wind isn't quite right!

I fully expect to finish way off my current standing. its pure fluke I am where I am.

jeezo - just logged in after the weekend - dropped 7000 places! That's me knackered then!

I think MTBSTAN needs to change course 😯

****, it's wind-change time and I can't get on!

IS that MTBStan and Shonen with their EPPIRBs going off? Will they have to survive in their upturned hull for days? 😆

22,000 places dropped from best standing, just before the Gibraltar saga and tonight at bed time. Bugger!

Picking up places slowly but surely and making good progress past Verde, now the run into the south atlantic is on. Same question though, just how far west is enough?

Looks interesting ahead though with a beat coming to mix it up a bit. More chances for position juggling.

I cracked. I'm sorry. 😳

Broke into the top 1000 and with the outright leader tantalisingly within reach, that extra knot was too tempting. 😳 😳

No automation though. 😯

As expected, lost 1300 places overnight as the 'real' leaders take up their rightful position at the front of the race.

I've been making good steady progress (series 1) over the past two or three days. I must confess I don't really know what I'm doing. My present course is to to come close to Cape Verde on its eastern side, but the wind looks like it will be much lighter if I'm too far east.

I think I'm hooked...