The latest edition to the Virtual Skipper franchise is based around this year’s America’s Cup yachting regatta being staged in Valencia, Spain. Undoubtedly, the Virtual Skipper series is the ultimate when it comes to nautical simulations. 

Features

• 3D regatta simulation - the ultimate in sailing in computer games

• A vast single player game, featuring an America's Cup campaign as the highlight of the game

• Skipper the 12 official boats of the America's Cup, the Trimaran Open 60, the Offshore Racer and the Melges 24 in single-player or multiplayer games.

• Navigate the 14 legendary ocean water courses, including Valencia, Marseille, Trapani and Malmö, official sites of the America's Cup. Discover the prime locations for competitive sailing such as San Francisco, Sydney, Porto Cervo, Auckland, Vancouver, the Isle of Wight, Quiberon and Qingdao. We have the exotic in store for you with the Bay of Rio and the mouth of Vesuvius.

This genre of game is in a way like the Flight Simulator series, it is for the gamer with an interest in yachting in particular. Having said that, the superb graphical detail and addictive game play is more than likely to catch the eye of the gamer with only a casual interest in sailing. 

The game itself is more than just a recreation of this year’s Cup. It allows the player to take control of four different types of boat. The Melges 24, which is a small yacht that is apparently quite popular with the yachties around the world due to its speed and maneuverability, the Multi, which is an tri-maran, the Offshore, which is a larger yacht similar to what you see racing in the Sydney to Hobart race and lastly the America’s Cup Class yacht which is a boat designed specifically for America’s Cup racing only and the ultimate in design and technology. 

Presentation wise, there is nothing much more that an enthusiast could want. The graphical representation of the boats and seascapes are superb with sounds fitting the subject matter aptly. The complexity of the detail is scalable depending on how decent your graphics card and machine are. Generally speaking you can still get a pretty decent output even out of a relatively older system. So if you are keen you do not need to run out and spend a load of money upgrading your setup. 

Controls for sailing the yachts are controlled via keyboard commands. Steering, sail selection and views are easing manipulated and does not take long to get the feel for. You can take a tutorial on how to learn the basics before you begin racing. Mostly you need to get a feel for how the wind, and its direction affects the performance of the craft. Tactics and knowing when to alter your direction also is vitally important as the races are all match races where you go head to head with another vessel. 

With any of the contemporary games available, you have the ability to race other persons either through your own local area network or over the internet where you can match wits with experts from around the world. From my own experience the serious on-line gamers seem to come out of France and Italy. As the game originates from France, it is not surprising really. 

As with previous versions it is an especially appealing game to people who are interested in the subject matter of the nautical nature. If you are into yachting you simply cannot beat this series and you won’t be disappointed especially if you take any interest at all in the legendary America’s Cup.