Accountant sails faster than Sailor of the Year!
Skipping the 60ft Trimaran -Team Vodaphone, Sam the Kiwi Accountant remained relatively cool, calm and collected. Especially considering he was sitting on the side of a helicopter! Yep, that’s right, skippering from a helicopter.
He used his phone.
Well, maybe not his phone, but A phone from Vodaphone, who made a sailing game for Android earlier in the year based around the concept. In the game, you are the skipper of Team Vodaphone, and your task is to race around a course in the fastest possible time. Wind speeds are taken from real world conditions in New Zealand, so to win the competition Sam kept his eye on the beacons and played when it was howling.
The move paid off, because here we see him sailing the REAL thing from a phone, and going up against Aussie Sailor, Jimmy Spithill who just so happens to be Sailor of the Year in 2014. The pair participated in a time trial event, both sailing by using left/right commands on the phone.
In the end, it was the inexperienced Kiwi that won. He says it was all the practice playing the game, but Jimmy Spithill took it graciously, acknowledging the fact that it wasn’t as easy as he thought!
Perth, WA
