Omstart i Volvo Ocean Race

Ja, ni blev säkert lika förvånade som jag. Men sån tur var det “bara” i det virtuella spelet. Tur att man inte orkar/hinner köra det längre…

Restart at Sri Lanka

Due to conflicting information in our Leg 3 briefing we currently face a situation where a number of boats have taken the northern route over Sri Lanka instead of the southern route. In our explanation of the race rules, we did not prohibit this course and it is our error, for which we sincerely apologise.

We pride ourselves in having an open, fun and positive game with a large community of sailors and armchair sailing enthusiasts. Because of this mistake we have created a situation that many people feel is unfair. Therefore we have decided to make a change to the current situation so that the game is once more perceived as fair for all players.

After careful consideration and discussions with our player community, game officials and Volvo Ocean Race officials we have decided to restart the third leg of the Virtual Ocean Race Game.

We feel that the restart is the best choice out of the options available to us for these reasons:

* the restart will reinstate the level playing field for every player
* the majority (98,100) of the players are already near the restarting point and therefore the impact will be as minimal as possible under the circumstances.

We greatly regret the fact that the sailors that took the northerly route or are in leading positions down south will feel disappointed, and we feel very bad about this. We are extremely sorry but we have thoroughly discussed this solution with all officials, virtual and real ones, and we feel this is the fairest way to redress the situation for the entire player fleet.

RESTART PROCEDURE

* All boats will be teleported to the start point off the southern end of Sri Lanka.
* The restart will happen at 11:00 (GMT +1) on 16 December 2008.
* The starting position will be 05°600N – 80°600E.
* All boats will be sailed automatically until you can log in.

THE COURSE

Starting from the pack boats shall:

* Leave the island of Sri Lanka to port.
* Sail through the Pulau We gate. The gate is a line true north of position 05°50.000N – 095°20.000E, leaving the island, Palau We, to starboard.
* Finish in Singapore. The mark will be set @ 01°15.830N – 103°36.010E

The finish area is a large circle of circa 30nm in radius.

Once again, our deepest apologies for this situation, but we hope that you will enjoy the challenge ahead of you!