Weather briefing of the Virtual Regatta races

The wind along the course, the maneuvers ahead and the isobaric charts, race by race.

For each race we follow, eSail4VR computes the route with every option and draws a weather briefing from it: the general situation, the wind phase by phase, and the points to watch in the game (maneuvers to program, energy and consumables, foils, polar degraded in strong wind).

The briefings are written by the eSail4VR AI, once a day, on the 00 UTC GFS run.

How it is made

  • The route: a full routing by the eSail4VR app’s engine, with every option. For a record, the start is taken now. For a race not started yet, the route leaves at the real start of the race as soon as the forecast covers it (the latest GFS run must reach at least one day past the start); before that, it leaves now. For a race in progress, the route leaves from the position of Virtual Regatta’s frigate, the average boat of the fleet.
  • The text: written by the eSail4VR AI from that route, the game’s wind and the highs and lows of the GFS model. It has nothing else to go on: read it as a briefing, not as a certainty.
  • Beginners or experts: the same substance. The beginners’ version explains the terms, the experts’ version is denser and adds the isobaric charts.
  • The isobaric charts: the GFS pressure (isobars every 4 hPa, highs H and lows L), the game’s wind as barbs, the route sailed and the position of the boat, every 24 hours until the finish.
  • The consumables: on the maneuvers of that route, eSail4VR works out when a Fleet Feast Box, a Lobodis coffee or Brets crisps would save time, for a boat starting with full energy. The briefing names them only when they save enough: 15 s for Brets crisps, 30 s for a coffee, 2 min for a Fleet Feast Box.

Making the most of the consumables

A maneuver takes half as long at 100 % energy as at 0 %, and energy above 100 % does not shorten it any further. The consumables of the game’s shop therefore pay off mostly before a series of maneuvers, when the energy is low.

  • Fleet Feast Box (+100 points at once, one a day per boat): the most useful. Take it just before a series of tacks or gybes, once the energy has dropped to about 60 % or less. Above 80 %, most of the points are lost.
  • Brets crisps (+20 points for 15 minutes, once every 6 hours): in the minutes before a long maneuver (a gybe with a sail change, a tack in strong wind), when the energy is below 80 %.
  • Lobodis coffee (maximum energy raised to 110 for 12 hours and +10 points at once, one a day): a reserve before a series of maneuvers in quick succession. Taken just before a Fleet Feast Box, it lets the box fill up to 110.
  • Stock and delays: the items you buy stay in your account’s stock from one race to the next, but the delay between two uses counts boat by boat. An item taken before the start takes effect at the start.

Over a race of several days, energy usually costs a few minutes, more for a heavy boat (Ultim, Maxi) that gybes again and again: most of it is then won back with a well-timed Fleet Feast Box.

Virtual Regatta simulates the wind only: the briefing says nothing of the sea, the gusts or the rain.

To route your own boat, download the eSail4VR app.