Sail with New Freebooters

The sailonline game is so addictive that I nearly forgot to pay for the next year’s hosting of this blog - it’s due tomorrow. It’s a heady mix of the feel of navigating a blue water race in real time with real weather forecasts, and the amazing companionship of the associated chat window.

Mixed in with the same bantering chat you get on the social networks, you find serious exchanges of information - some of it about sailing and the real Volvo Ocean Race, but quite a lot about the game itself. The people who write and maintain the software are on line most of the time, taking part in the game but also giving advice and taking feedback from users - some of whom are themselves competent software engineers.

In spite of various setbacks - such as mistakes in Delayed Commands set up before competitors went to sleep, or failed guesses at True Wind Angle courses that ran unattended boats aground when the wind shifted more than expected - the main wave of the fleet got through the Straights of Gibraltar and still extends only about 20 nautical miles. There is another quite sizeable wave of very late starters still in the Med.

Meanwhile, the real race has had its nail-biting moments (or hours). Take a look at Trac Trac
and see how the two Ericsson boats, well ahead as they entered the Atlantic, actually sailed round in circles when they fell into a wind hole. See also how Telefonica Blue, which took a 12 hour penalty to go ashore and repair a rudder, has taken a shorter course in different wind conditions to regain some of the 100 nautical miles or so that she lost.

It’s still a long way to Brazil, let alone Cape Town, whether you’re in the real race or a simulator game.

It’s also early to make judgements about the success of the Official Online Race , but serious sailors and gamers seem less than impressed so far. I agree with almost everything in the article ‘Virtually Useless’ at the bottom of this page. Nearer the top, you will see feedback related to the article.