Mangina-PYR, alias Matt Johnston, is from Adelaide, Australia and has just won the 2017 Virtual Vendée Globe. Arriving in Les Sables-d'Olonne on Tuesday 17th January 2017 at 15:37, it took him 72 days 02 hours 23 minutes and 10 seconds to complete his solo round the world voyage, without assistance and without stopovers, covering 26,592.2 miles. It sets a new reference time for the virtual game and dethrones the 2012 winner, Lilian Launay, who took 74 days 16 hours and 59 minutes. To complete his loop, the Australian had chosen the IMOCA 60' in the colours of Alex Thomson's Hugo Boss.
"I'm super happy, that's great. I got off to a bad start, but in the end, I made it." said the 38-year-old father, who followed the "Same road as Alex Thomson." to win. "Once I rounded Cape Horn with the real leaders, I took an option in the doldrums which worked and I was able to break away", explains the engineer. In order to achieve a hot time, Matt Johnston spent nearly 6 hours a day on his virtual sailboat called Mangina.
"Depending on the weather and the wind, I'd set my alarm clock for 2:30 in the morning. At Christmas, I didn't have to get up. However, the alarm clock did sting a bit on New Year's Day. My wife said I had an addiction, but she was supportive anyway, he confides.
But Matt Johnston is not just a virtual sailor, as he fell into it at the age of 5 and has been sailing for about 30 years now.
In second place, New Zealand's NZ-Eligo" IST" finished 2.8 miles from Mangina-PYR. 14 minutes and 44 seconds behind the winner. Frenchie Didier Flament (Didflam) from Brest completes the podium by finishing 46 minutes and 59 seconds, 13 miles behind the winner.
"This is my third virtual Vendée Globe. This game allowed me to follow the real race more intensely. I hesitated a bit before entering this new edition, but now I really don't regret it. I'm not a great strategist or a war lightning bolt. I just set my course according to my instincts. Not going too far towards the African coast on the way down, staying well along the ice edge, as the route is shorter, going around Saint Helena on the way down and back up, in short setting a relatively wise route was my credo. I'm very happy to be third for the moment and I wasn't expecting that at all when I started the Virtual Vendée Globe. It's a nice surprise in any case" said the Finsiterian.
In total, more than 450,000 virtual sailors have set off on this virtual circumnavigation of the globe. The level of the game this year has gone up another notch. To give you an idea, we at the editorial staff have two players taking part in Virtual Regatta. The first one is currently off Brazil in 208,120th position, while the second one is off the coast of Brazil in 208,120th position e is 71,041, off the coast of Cape Verde!
199 countries are represented in this 2017 edition of the Vendée Globe 2017, including 3 in the top 3 places.
Mangina-PYR's intermediate rankings
Cape of Good Hope: 540th
Cape Leeuwin: 288th
Cape Horn: 142nd
Ecuador: 12th
Les Sables-d'Olonne : 1st
