there is a challenge begining today “SPI Dauphine” , the winner will have its name stamped on a boat in the next “Vendee Globe” and will have the oportunity to sail with a the profesional skipper Marc Emig on its Figaro2
click on the Event at the top-right corner :
http://vor2.com/
or go directly to the event page :
http://vor2.com/contest.php?ID=1
NB: you can change language at the top-left corner of the website
I finally got some time to play with 3D 
here are some WIP screenshot for the next release :
everything is built & rendered in realtime in full software : clouds, waves, reflective map, sun & moon with there real elevation/azimut and appearance…
should be probably online in a month
3D refound still in progress
=> 50km view distance : generated from topographic data, far coast are incrusted in skybox, near are rendered in 3D
=> full sky generation : including moon & sun
=> real clouds coverage
=> real time animated water + realistic reflexion (deduced from skybox)
here is a screenshot done near “Cap Horn”
full skybox texture generation is re-done in real time every n minute (HD 1024px generation took few seconds (2.5s) on medium computer, still need some optimisation to avoid hang on game)
Here are two videos off current WIP version 8)
Day :
http://www.youtube.com/v/ImQmH0FuI-s
An night :
http://www.youtube.com/v/J2I6X-q-rfY
nb: same location but different hours
22/05/2011 will start a race with 1500€ of prices to win
http://vor2.com/course.php?id_course=348
The race is 950 nm long, duration should be arround 8/15 days depending on skipper ability
Note that before this day we will put a new functionality online, the programmator enable to change direction or sails automatically based on two kinds of trigger : dates & gates.
Also a new boat has been modelised and will be available “Class 40” wich is one of the fastest monohull boat.
