Punta del Este, Uruguay to Charleston, S.C.
Starting Tomorrow, 0900hrs PDT.
Here we are all together, but making different choices.Companion is shown veering to off to port.
Contiguous is veering off to starboard.
Belladonna leads No Going Back, going towards shore.
Open Container III is (always) the big blue boat who's going to beat (somebody) this time.
Like I said in this morning's comment: one of the most unrealistic qualities of this game, a distortion of real ocean racing, is the leader board calculations. Until the fleet rounds a mark or a headlands, there is no way in hell you can establish any boat's standing. It's location, location, location. At the right moment!
Everyone can easily see that Paula has her lip stick on! But lipsick or not, she'll stand out in any crowd!The rest of us are crowding around her, north, south, east and west or thereabouts!
In my case, I am losing boats hand over fist! On paper, anyways!
Update: 2011-04-14 03:20:25 UTC+2
I thought I had better publish an update before things go south for me again.
The graph (click to expand) above displays the contrast between the virtual race with 22,000 boats and the real race with three boats left. This is interesting because of the discussion about western strategy or the eastern strategy.
In the real race, American Brad Van Liew is leading with his western strategy.
In the Virtual Race, my Open Container III [concentric circles] is doing way better than I had any reason to hope. I didn't rationally select the eastern approach: it was forced upon me by the circumstances of earlier blunders at the start of the Leg. I am still grabbing a few boats minute-by-minute, but I am also still chasing the same windless pocket that's been just ahead of me for days. If I catch it, I'm dead. But right now, I'm #667, right in the middle of the red dots where is exactly where I have to be if I'm going to attain 999th place or better!
No Going Back is on the crest of the green wave, about 7 o'clock from me, where she also very much aims to be. Contiguous is about 25nm ahead and to the west of her. Real close. Belladonna is following Brad Van Liew!
Dinty (Pittsburgh) who always teases me from his position of a 100 boats ahead, is in the middle of the left middle red finger, maybe where Derek Hatfield is.
I'm not taking a position as to which strategic approach is the best. I'm just playing the hand that was dealt me, like on the real water.
Tks Doc, you are very quick !
ReplyDeleteQuick frequently, but not quick enough!
ReplyDeleteHi Guys,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to be back again!
No Going Back
So, what if I say I just heard that the start has been postponed 24 hours?
ReplyDeleteQuite possibly I might be the only one you would get a laugh from, Vladimir!
ReplyDeleteHi Doc. You changed your avatar ;-) What does that mean ?
ReplyDeleteDoc, you look different with out the hat!
ReplyDeleteJohn Newcombe???
ReplyDeleteI just want to say, I was #665 until I had to leave my helm over to Otto and go serve as Race Committee for my club. Now I'm 10,800th! What's with that?
ReplyDeleteNice job, Otto!
Changed my avatar again. I'll try everything or anything! I'm that desperate!
ReplyDeleteDec, not only were you =665 but you also =99 at one point!!
ReplyDeleteAnd then out of nowhere like a hawk Doc swoops in right in front of me. How rude.
ReplyDeleteThe race is on!
Oh, no Paula! Otto did a GR8 job! Maybe if I hadn't drunk so much at the bar, and relieved him in time, I could be in front of Contiguous, by now!
ReplyDeleteI think Many Players is saying that their computer is overloaded:
ReplyDelete"Because of a peak of too important frequentation we cannot furnish yourself the required content for the moment. Thank you for well to want to wait and to try again in 15 minutes.
All the equipe of Virtual Regatta is sorry for the gene occasionnee and you wish a good navigation."
It's fun working with a company in Paris!
I have to do something while I wait to get back online.
Look what Paula (NGB) is doing ! She is beating nearly all of us for now !!!
ReplyDeleteSteady Bella, we have a long long way to go yet... I'll happily beat you at the finish line :)
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs more time on the water
ReplyDeleteCough... cough... cough.. Bella, I'm now eating your spray!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting used to being behind all of you guys! Baydog is right: it's just good to grab a little more time on the water, even if it's just virtual water!
ReplyDeletePaula, that the way it goes :-))
ReplyDeleteDoc, you are in a very good position b4 the wind change !!
Always that qualifier!
ReplyDeletealso changed my avatar, just for fun :-)
ReplyDeleteNice pic, Bella.
ReplyDeleteDoc, you are our new pathfinder. Well done!
One of the most unrealistic qualities of this game, a distortion of real ocean racing, is the leader board calculations. Until the fleet rounds a mark or a headlands, there is no way in hell you can establish any boat's standing. I expect universal agreement on this point.
ReplyDeleteYou are perfectly right, Doc. I suppose the way they calculate boat position is the absolute distance, be it on water or land, to the final destination (Charleston), on a straight line on THEIR map, which is all the way wrong !
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have a list of boats and names of skippers who visit and contribute to this forum...
ReplyDeleteI agree, Paula!
ReplyDeleteVirtual Regatta is not One-Design. There are two classes. A-Boats have additional sails and technology for a price. B-Class boats are the rest of us, who spend nothing but our time and probably get just the same amount of enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Gerry!
ReplyDeleteI think Paula lost her lipstick overboard and had to make a U turn to get it back ! haha :-)))
ReplyDeleteLipstick is my most important piece of equipment!!!
ReplyDeletePaula, just so you know, I was not after your lipstick. I got stuck in traffic on my way home during the mid-day (here) wind shift. Open Container was going SSW and had lost 150 boats before I could regain the helm.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we turn north for Charleston at wind change tomorrow morning (Europe). I will have to set my alarm clock as I don't want Bella, or anyone for that matter, passing me out!! The winner of Leg 3 - Meindray - is 23 nm to the east of me! (I wonder if I am making him nervous?) We are, more or less, all one group near the front of the fleet:)
ReplyDeleteTo see your position, Copy and paste the link in your browser and enter your boat name at the bottom of the page.
http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/carte-sat-velux104.php
As red lipstick is the most important piece of my equipment, I always carry a couple of spares!
GR8 posting, Paula! What's the difference between the red & green dots? A & B classes?
ReplyDeleteHi Doc,
ReplyDeleteWe use the terms SO and AO on this side of the pond. SO stands for sans options - green dots - without options. AO is shorthand for avec options - red dots - with options)!!
Translated: Doc is sailing among the last ranks of the A(red) Boats and the first ranks of the B(green) Boats.
ReplyDeleteJust because your Dodgers lost to the Giants 10-0 yesterday!
ReplyDeleteIve had some, er, time restraints. But Now, I'm back in it. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy comeback is well under way. But if this leg is not over by Friday, I'll be dead meat road-kill. Yet again!
ReplyDeleteYou'll just have to stop going off and playing on the weekends and stay at home on the computer like the rest of us. Ha.
ReplyDeleteWhat I Need to do is quit my day job so I can play all week!
ReplyDeleteBreaking News: Belladonna has gybed over to port and is putting in to Natal. Repairs?
ReplyDeleteIt's tough at the top.
ReplyDeleteThere is hardly any gain or lose movement of boats in the top 1,000. I am presently 1,107th and have hardly moved position in the last 24 hours. According to the 'L'annexe des SO' site, my 'sans options' position is a tidy 96th overall. Looking at the list of the top 100 boats, there have only been 25 movements in the last hour.
http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/velux104.php?page=4&key=1d200d52b0
Sail on!
96th overall in the SO's is definitely at the top, as well as it is an understatement to describe thus. Way to go, Paula. You're right over my left shoulder, makin' me very nervous!
ReplyDelete... and it's lovely to have you forward on my right shoulder keeping me company. I don't think I'll make sub 1,000 (our long standing traget) but I'm sure you'll make it. Just nail down 35 more places and you're there!!
ReplyDeleteHi folks,
ReplyDeletewhen I left your company (around 17°S) to make a tour close to brasilian coast with the goal to prove that Doc's (and mine) theory about classification by MP is absolutely true, I came to my best ever classification : 5th SO or +/-80th AO. Bingo. CQFD !
Well, thanks for the research, Belladonna! What else can I say? You threw your boat on the hand grenade?
ReplyDeleteFor myself, (and for the record), I attained 950th place. But I am now losing one boat at a time, non-stop.
Losing and gaining places is a little bit like knitting. Knit one, purl one, slip one. Knit one, purl one, slip one...
ReplyDeleteAlready I'm in trouble as I have a very busy social weekend coming up with little internet access. All those late nights and early mornings wiped out going from virtual to reality. You gave me a great piece of advice during our old VORG days Doc - "You gotta leave a little trail of breadcrumbs back to reality"
Great to see you back in the frame Bella!
So Dinty is the pathfinder!!! Wow! I've been checking on Contiguous and Companion and glad to see you are hot on Doc's heels and giving him a run for his money.
ReplyDeleteCan someone help me out with companion's flag please? My favourite colours (english spelling) but I don't recognise it... sorreeeee
Have a great weekend everyone.
Don't worry. Dinty will fall asleep at the helm and we'll all slip right by.
ReplyDeleteDoc's going to do some more of his flat water sailing where they open containers, pray for wind, tell tall tales and then cancel the race.
@ Paula. I'd say Ecuador, but not 100% sure.
ReplyDeleteContiguous, I think you all need some sleep at the wheel. That includes Belladonna. I'm in her wake, and not gaining.
ReplyDeleteGerry, and the name of your boat is...
ReplyDeleteUnder 800 for the 1st time! (It can't last!)
ReplyDeleteDoc... Yes you can!!
ReplyDeleteThe real question is Doc, can you hold your 17 mile lead on me? Not that you are looking over your port quarter or anything like that - BUT - with a little luck you'll sail into a wind hole and I can go skating by. It's all up to the wind gods. Are you sure you want to take such a high flyer to the right side of the course???
ReplyDeleteShould be interesting!
Yeah, I'm going to take it, C! I've been sailing my polars for days, and things have been breaking for me. There's a hole in front of me, no mistaking it. But I rather take evasive action when I have to, than before I have to when I might not have to. Besides, you trying to talk me out of it is enough to seal my resolve!
ReplyDeletePlus Paula thinks I can!
ReplyDeleteI was feeling pretty good until you said "Paula thinks I can". Now is that considered obtaining outside help? It's been a long time since I read the rule book but I'm just not sure. Or could that be considered team racing? I'll have to look it up.
ReplyDeleteI don't know but Paula is sticking to me like glue. I can't seem to shake her. Pretty scary.
What's this C? I note that you did not bring up this issue of "obtaining outside help" last leg when Paula and I were rafting up and having moving cocktail parties. Maybe I'll have to check the record....! I would have no objection if you waited up for Belladonna and the two of you compared strategies and tactics over a few drinks?
ReplyDelete;-)
If any one out there has any extra outside help to spare, I'm willing and needy and happy to take it off your hands!
ReplyDeleteHey Bella - What have you got on board? Any really good stuff? Maybe we could stop over on an island or two. I was on St Thomas and San Juan once a long time ago. I wouldn't mind a couple of days on St Johns.
ReplyDeleteYou might even enjoy that after a long winter in Brussels! If you step on the gas we could party on St Johns for a couple of days and then we could still beat OC and NGB!!!
How can anyone extend a helping hand to you, Shpunt, unless or until you identify your boat?
ReplyDeleteHas Shpunt dropped out. Has she gone stealth? Where is she???
ReplyDeleteUpdated this post. If I knew who other boats belonged to, I would have included them!
ReplyDeleteHi Doc, I see you 501th @ 14:00 gmt+2. Great performance. I'm sure you can do even better !
ReplyDeleteAnd under 500 @ 14:04. Ole !!!
ReplyDelete477! I can't watch any more of this! Pride cometh before crash! Off to work!
ReplyDeleteI have run out of luck. I'm at 450, 30 boats ahead of Euroniekk. But present conditions require constant gybes. And I have to go to my day job!
ReplyDeleteMy luck appears to have run out too. Yesterday, I peaked at 56th position in the 'sans options' category but now I'm on my way back down and trying to hold on to 70th position. Who are these boats that are gaining on me now?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at the winds for tomorrow and hoping they will be kind to me. I'm sticking with Zezo because ... well, because I can't actually sail !!
Ok, pointy end still going forwards!
No going back
I can sail. But I'm about to turn on the motor.
ReplyDeleteWell, sailing trade winds when they are established can be somewhat boring, but no need of motor to get to the Antillas or Turk & Kaikos or the Bahamas or Cuba or Santo Domingo or Jamaïca ............... all beautifull and rhumfull islands !!!
ReplyDeleteIt is 0220hrs PDT and I report that all is well; except for the fact that Contiguous is 25nm ahead of me and No Going Back is 2nm ahead. And, of course, I have no way of telling where in hell Shpunt is....
ReplyDeleteThis is a funny old game.
ReplyDeleteThis morning at wind change, there was only one (1) place between Doc and NGB although we were approx 160 nm apart. Different story four hours later.
Zezo took me west and I now have a new 'path finder' CONTIGUOUS!! Just a little over 30 mn ahead with a nice big mauve (?) sail to guide me. Thanks C.!! Belladonna is bringing up the rear, looking nicely tanned from all that island hopping in the Caribbean. Don't worry Companion, we will have some beers on the bar for you when you arrive in Charleston. lol (Maybe I shouldn't have said that cos I may end up eating my words).
Up until yesterday I was a Page 3 girl on the SO rankings website and even toppled over to Page 2 for a while. Today I'm a page 8 girl, nobody wants to be a Page 8 girl but I'll be back.
I hope you are all enjoying the weekend. I am at the beach just steps away from the water of the Irish Sea. There is no chance that I'll actually step in though, way too cold and wet. The view is nice and there are some fishing boats in the distance.
This is my second time writing this post. I wasn't quick enough to press the Submit button last time and the page kicked me out before I had saved the text. Silly me!
No going back.
P.S. Whilst wtiting this second post, I see that our host his written his update which probably makes this obsolete.
I am reading this on the Chelsea-West Bromich EPL game kick-off. I have three Chelsea fullbacks on my Rotiserrie team which is well-established in 1st place. No uncertainties here. I just wish I had an English broadcast available; My Spanish is not as good as Companion's English! (I wish he would comment here!) That is the report from The Beautiful Game.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what Paula aptly calls this "funny old game", I trail her by 8nm and Contiguous by 40nm. My old adversary, Euroniekk, is 8 boats behind. He is an old aversary with an attitude. (We have traded 'niceties' in the VR forum. Maybe my best goal at the moment is to beat his ass by one boat! Yes! Grudges! It has come to that.
But if my Chelsea defenders can escape with a clean sheet, it will be 10-20 points for me.
There is hope!
Shit! Odemwingie just scored. ATR's team has my points squelched. All hope is gone!
ReplyDeleteI guess fútbol is also a "funny game"? No?
ReplyDeleteGuess what! I'm declaring I have hit bottom at 2,150! Ich Ein Komebak Kid!
ReplyDeleteNice race, Contiguous! I am humbled.
ReplyDeleteAs it's time for congratulations, nice race to all of you. I've been very stupid and will SAIL, not crawl next and last leg.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Companion seems to have missed the last connection !!
Many thanks. It was nip and tuck with Dinty night before last. I think the tide swept him below the mark and he had to retreat to get back into better wind. It was just enough opening for me to sneak past.
ReplyDeletePlus here in MD we lost power on Sat night. Luckily we had house guests and they had a small portable wireless router. Saved the day (night).
See you all next leg!
Yes, Belladonna. On the last connection, Companion and I were parked on top of each other: I was two boats ahead. I was looking for an interesting race to the line.
ReplyDeleteYes, C, I worried about you losing your power during our race before your guests arrived. (Joking!)
Bye bye now everyone, till May 14 for the ultimate leg.
ReplyDeleteHope to see all of you in the best possible shape.
Drink and sleep a lot !!!
Bernard
It's been fun, Belladonna! Let's party up! And thanks for giving me the date!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Doc and all of the hearty sailors willing to bring the competition to such a high level. Well done.
ReplyDeleteBella thanks for the leg 5 start date. Where did you locate the information? I've looked everywhere but obviously not everywhere.
Until May 14 - enjoy the Mint Juleps while in Charleston! And make sure to try the Hush Puppies and Grits y'all!
I hope this reminder will be seen, I don't know where else to post it.
ReplyDeleteLeg 5 is starting today @ 09:00 pm utc+2, which means if I'm right, 12:00 noon CA time.
See you soon !