Transpac 2023 and RealSail offer virtual race game
by Transpacific Yacht Club 7 Jun 2023 13:14 PDT
27 June - 1 July 2023
Transpac 2023 and RealSail offer virtual race game © Transpacific Yacht Club
For those unable to physically participate in the race, the Transpacific Yacht Club and RealSail have partnered to offer an interesting online alternate: the RealSail Virtual Transpac 2023 race game.
This virtual game is being made available for participants at no charge and is set up specifically for Transpac to mirror the real race. The game will feature five classes to choose from and three separate starts (on the same days as the Transpac starts). The classes and start dates are:
- June 27 -- Cal 40
- June 29 - J/125
- July 1 -- TP52, ULDB 70 and MOD 70
RealSail offers some important features in its games to enhance the reality for its players at all levels of expertise. These include:
- real high-resolution weather information from NOAA updated every six hours and interpolated to anywhere on the race course
- real satellite cartography
- use of either your own routing tools or those that embedded in the game
- multiple steering tool options to steer your boat in the game
- real time leaderboard rankings calculated from the distance to the finish
- real time chat with other skippers and direct access to game developers
"We're excited to offer this online virtual race to our Transpac audience," said TPYC Commodore Tom Trujillo. "This game looks suitably sophisticated to challenge the technical players but is approachable for those new to virtual racing."
To help participants learn how to use RealSail, they have offered the SoCal 300 race course as a free practice race that players may enter and race in as often as desired. The actual race has recently concluded, but playing on this long course can give players insight on how the game operates so they can be ready for the RealSail Virtual Transpac 2023.
Transpac-winning navigator Peter Isler has also been involved with promoting virtual offshore sailing, and says "The time you spend practicing, learning all the RealSail tools and its "buttons" is invaluable. I know, I spent the month of May learning and creating my course in Isler Academy/Marine Weather University to help folks learn about weather routing while playing the RealSail Game."
Isler is going even further: he has teamed up with RealSail to host a final Practice Race on Tuesday June 13 at 1300 PDT. It's on the Transpac Course and will be a dress rehearsal for the real race.
?"We've both put in a lot of time and energy to make the Transpac/RealSail collaboration a success and it'll be exciting to see how everything works on the "big" race course," he says.
To learn more about the RealSail Virtual Transpac 2023 and to enroll and play in the free practice race on June 13, go to www.realsail.net.
For more information on the 2023 Transpac, visit www.transpacyc.com.