Who knew there was a Virtual Skipper 1 and 2? If you did, then keep reading. If not, then you're like us. When we received VS3 we thought it might have been a Sims knockoff simulating Gilligan's Island. Now THAT'S a Sim theme worth developing! As it turns out, it's an intricately crafted sailing simulator that is so detailed that you can literally learn how to sail - if that's your sort of thing.

And it better be if you honestly want to play this game. Why? Because if you can't tell your port from your starboard, or the bow from the stern, well... you're going to feel like a fish out of water - so to speak. VS3 contains absolutely no tutorials of any kind. There's a "novice" mode that has a floating arrow showing you the best angle to the wind, but if you're more like us (Sailor-dee and Sailor-dum), it's not going to help much. Wanna know how to trim sails or tack correctly? Need to know what those terms mean before you learn how to execute them? Put your reading glasses on - you'll have to wade through the very extensive manual to find out.

Virtual Skipper 3 gives you four types of boats to sail: the 66 foot America's Cup Class (ACC), the 24 foot Melges 24, the Open 60 Trimaran and the 43 foot mono-hull offshore racer. Since the only sails, er... "sales" we pay much attention to are the one's at Best Buy, all of them were absolute nightmares to guide! Apparently the offshore racer is the easiest to maneuver (with the Trimaran being the hardest), but we found all to be equally difficult. So much so that the race (singular, not plural) took HOURS (yes, you read that right) to complete, only to finish last.

Races occur at a multitude of different locales around the globe, and since the Earth is covered by roughly 75% water, VS3 had a lot to choose from: San Francisco, Sydney, La Trinite and Porto Cervo are just a few you'll see while scooting across the shark-infested waters of the world. There's even a Tropical Map Editor that allows you to create your very own tropical island to sail to - kinda like a virtual Jimmy Buffet!

To further the life-like detail of this simulator, VS3 uses the International Racing Federation's rules and regulations. Unfortunately, if you don't know any of them (like us), you must find them online. They're not supplied with the game. After learning the finer points of the IRF's rules, you too will be able to jump online and race against other sailors in online regattas, team or private jaunts. Single player mode, which is really pretty sparse, allows one-on-one challenges (beat-the-clock format), short course races (also against the clock), or "fleet" racing with up to 8 other AI controlled boats. Considering this game was designed to be played online, the meager solo modes are understandable.

The thing that anchors (pardon the pun) this game, aside from the insane intricacies to sailing, is the graphics. This game is flat-out drop-dead GORGEOUS! The water - both in its looks and movement - are dead on accurate. In fact, we don't think we'd be going too far out on a main mast by saying it's the best ever created... and that includes the water physics in Far Cry. Which is as it should be - considering the ocean plays a pivotal role in the sport of sailing. The shimmering water and appropriate transparency reveal stunning seabeds teaming with life. Surface reflections are so incredible that the sun blinds you on occasion. Weather also plays a key role in the gameplay as the direction of the wind, also an integral part of sailing, changes. When a squall kicks up and the rain starts flying - look out! When the wind shifts, splatters rain onto your monitor and trickles downs the screen - you'd swear it was live and not a digital recreation!

As mentioned earlier, you can create your own maps, but the modding fun doesn't stop there! By using any decent graphics program like Adobe Photoshop, you can customize not only the paint scheme of your boat, but the sails as well! In addition, VS3 comes with the appropriate color schemes for several countries (such as the United States, Germany, England, Spain, Italy, and Australia). So feel free to pimp out your glide any way you want!

As we sail away, barking orders to our sea-faring mates to batten down the hatches and hoist the main sail, we leave you with these final thoughts about Virtual Skipper 3: it is an amazing sailing simulation and scores high marks for doing what it set out to do. Thusly, to gain any enjoyment from it you must sleep, eat and dream sailing; the America's Cup must be your Super Bowl. So if you're like us and would rather get from Point A to Point B in a jet boat, and don't know your America's Cup from a Dixie Cup, you'd be advised to chart a wide course to starboard... this is one poopdeck you'll want to avoid.