Nine down, one to go! Line-up for live 2021 eSailing World Championship Final takes shape after thrilling PlayOff battle

An exciting nine-month season came to an end this weekend (1–4 October) with the eSailing World Championship PlayOffs where nine out of the ten places for the Live Final were decided!

Heading into the final weekend of the season, three of the four automatic spots had already been awarded following week-long regattas earlier in the year. The America’s Cup Champion, Rocco Guerra (MCES rock) from Italy, secured his spot in March and the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series was won by Tristan Peron (UOL Asere) of France in June.

When the eSailing World Championship rankings closed in September, Arthur Farley (VIT Arthur Farley) from Britain was top of the leader board and secured his seat at the final.

He said, “I am really happy to have won my spot in the eSailing World Championship Final after being ranked number one player in the world rankings 2021. Lots of races and time but it all paid off! My focus is now on eSailGP Grand Final, eSailing Nations cup and the World Championship Final!”

The last spot in the live eSailing World Championship Final on 6 November will be up for grabs at the eSailGP Final on 15 October.

That left 747 players in the eSailing World Championship PlayOffs battling it out for the remaining six places in the ten-player final, scheduled to take place live on 6 November.

A total of 1982 races took place in three classes throughout the PlayOffs, with each player racing an average distance of 1220 nautical miles in the virtual waters of three iconic sailing venues! 49er players raced in San Francisco, Nacra 17 in Sydney and the J/70 in Rio de Janeiro.

21 countries were represented in the PlayOffs with players from Portugal, Greece and Japan qualifying for the final for the first time.

Francisco Melo (Chico), currently part of team Portugal in the eSailing Nations Cup tournament, finished first in the PlayOffs, said the racing was “Very tough with always two or three top players in the race. It is not an easy course, a lot of shifts but I was feeling very comfortable in the J/70 and managed to qualify! Now onto the finals!”

Greece’s Yannis Kokonias (Grr-9) proudly became the first Greek eSailor to reach the final. Afterwards he said, “Everything was decided after only one or two races in a series of up to 20. I am satisfied to achieve my target of qualifying with the fewest races and continuing to play fair as I have tried to do all season.”

The winner will receive $10,000 USD from Virtual Regatta. The eSailing World Championships was an immediate hit with gamers, attracting 170,000 unique players from 74 countries in its inaugural year. Now in its fourth season, more than 250,000 players have taken part as the competition draws to a close.