Review of the 2nd stage – Virtual Figaro 2008
An exciting leg for some 9000 virtual competitors who wanted to battle between Vigo and Cherbourg. With no wind leaving Spain, the race quickly became complex to reach the first land mark Cape Finistere.
Some competitors went north, others turned right to go East and the wiser followed the shortest course. The latter remained in the lead during virtually the entire crossing the Gulf of Biscay. The highlight of that stage was probably when more than a thousand boats, and not the least, hit the ground and were stranded during the delicate the passage of Four in Bret.
Bravo to "Carolin" which won the second leg in 3 days, 2 hours and 50 minutes. "Carolin" has managed to contain the repeated assaults of "lemalosaint", "Elauna", "lucasdovic" and "chocolatbamb" to name a few. It is noteworthy that 27 of this stage finish within an hour!
Another noteworthy performance came from the recent winner of the Jules Verne Trophy "lemalotsain". After a tremendous first leg, he nailed the coffin when staying in the top five throughout this stage to finish second only ten minutes behind the winner. Hats off to "lemalosaint"
The finish line of the second stage will be closed this Thursday, August 7 at 23h, so that latecomers can sleep a little. The magic of the virtual race is that all those who have not yet arrived at that time will participate in the last stage.
Third stage – Start planned for Friday 8 August at 1400 local time.
There is still time to register and participate in the third and last stage of this 2008 Figaro (it's free) - This step will be the longest ever in the history of the 39 previous editions of Le Figaro. A monster of 825 miles that takes the competitors from Cherbourg to Aber Wrac'h after turning the island of Man .... It will be necessary to properly monitor changes in the wind step by step without taking too much tactical risks.
It is also worth recalling that if for any reason you cannot be "connected" at the starting time, your boat will be driven automatically until your first connection. Bravo encore to "Carolin" and good luck to all.
The ‘Virtual” race director
www.virtualregatta.com
They said:
FRA444: 130em in 3j4h50m
Having already participated in other virtual regattas, I was surprised at first that I could not access my boat a good half hour after hour H (probably because the network was saturated). However, I was relieved to see that my boat was en route to the finish line. I think that's a good point otherwise I could have been very frustrated!
The updates every 10 minutes keep the user “in the game” without time-out. It's perfect from the race viewpoint and it is up to you to keep control of yourself. To sums it up, a user friendly game, easy and simple, and just like in real racing, it is the one who gives the most (without making mistakes) that finishes in front. Thank you for pleasant time sailing! … FRA444
JEF38: 780em in 3j7h00m
My sailing experience is limited to nothing but an afternoon cruising the other day on the real boat with "Destremau." So, I enrolled in this game without real conviction and only for having fun with my friends. Finally we understood the game quickly and it becomes really exciting. It is simple to use and the updates (position classification, the course winds… etc.) keeps the players going. My race was simplistic from a tactic stand point. I kept the most direct path only adjusting the control to stay fast. I know there are better things to do, but this is my first race and l am very happy with my result. In conclusion I expect one thing: to have even more fun with my friends during the third stage … Jef38
Petitgrain 1228em 3j8h10m
Petitgrain is based in Toulon - A place where boats looks pretty from the beach or sunbathing on my terrace. I took the start last Friday morning just to be like my friends.
Brilliant, it was easy, and I stayed in the top 100 during 24 hours. I then left for the weekend to porquerolles island entrusting a Pro to look after Petitgrain! A Master at sailing! One who strives to teach me how to make a bowline, "the snake comes out of the well, turn around the tree, … And he left my boat under spinnaker during 1h when she should have been under the jib. Badaboum to my ranking! Petitgrain will be big enough to cope alone during the 3rd stage. I'll be driving her because I had so much fun ... Petit Grain
Black ADDER: 1768em in 3j10h10m
Unlike my first leg where I persisted with a nice consistency in my errors, I'm happy with my second journey. Pity that this event is not the Tour de France cycling, I would have been entitled to the price of combativeness. The icing on the cake was the cemetery of boats (1067 stranded! At least) in the Brest area. That is something you enjoy watching once in your life! I know this is wrong, but it was so funny .... Black ADDER
Destremau - Lost at sea?
"The Solitaire du Figaro ... a ruthless universe "
The second step was for me a real drama! I had mixed fortune at the outset of Vigo when I sailed a little to too high. From then on, my route showed that I was greatly irritated. I was trying too hard to get back into the race and was only getting further down the ladder. The final straw was of course when my boat ran aground for several hours in Brest whilst I was deeply asleep J. In addition I went to give a few more kisses to some crabs in Guernsey! So yes, my exceptional performance on this stage has attracted some well deserved ‘friendly’ comments.... Destremau
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