Global Ocean Race – Sign up for online virtual race

by Oliver Dewar on 2 Sep 2011 Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR) and UnitedGames are launching a free-to-play test race, on Sunday 11 September, prior to the start of the main GOR Virtual Race on Sunday 25 September. The GOR’s test race is a chance for players to discover the game’s new and exciting features and to become familiar with the controls prior to the intense competition in the event’s main Virtual Race.

With 24 days to the start of the GOR, the teams are already heading for the start line in Palma and making final preparations to set off on this thrilling and exciting round-the-world adventure on Sunday 25 September. One popular element of the race for spectators is the GOR’s Virtual Race – a highly-competitive computer game developed and published by UnitedGames that simulates racing a boat along the same route and in the same weather conditions as the actual Class40 boats racing in the GOR. The game’s software replicates the performance of the real boats and the virtual boats experience the wind conditions and weather forecast predictions as the real boats out on the ocean.

GOR Virtual Race players have the chance to match their tactical skills against the real teams and other virtual players. It is extremely compelling, whether you are an experienced sailor, or a total novice, and you don’t have to put up with the freezing cold, the searing heat and the freeze dried food that the real teams will be experiencing. In addition, as the game is available on iPhone and Android platforms, gamers can play on the move and are never out of touch with their virtual team.

The GOR’s Virtual Race Game will run from the actual start of the GOR on 25 September, through to the finish next June with 30,000 miles of racing through the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans with five separate legs split by four stopovers in ports around the world. Players can sign up for the test game on the GOR website. In the main Virtual Race, starting on 25 September, players can buy performance enhancing extras – racing sails, autopilots, crew energy levels – that can give you an edge over the competition. Proceeds from the purchase of these extras will go to the GOR’s Official Charity, the Global Vision Sailing Trust, an important charity created to introduce under-privileged young people to sailing and its core values via a global dinghy sailing programme. Prizes for leg wins in the GOR Virtual Race and for the overall podium players will be announced Global Ocean Race website