Brazilian sailors reconnect through Virtual Regatta

It was just another random online regatta in Virtual Regatta for Jose Godinho. Nothing was unusual about the digital boat race, until the Brazilian received a peculiar message from one of the dozen other players after finishing the round.

"All of a sudden I see this other Brazilian player with the gamertag ThinkingHard," Godinho said. "I had no idea who it was."

Godinho, who works as an online English teacher in Brazil, didn't recognise the name at the time, but the other player knew who Godinho was. He was excited to see his old friend in a familiar environment.

"He said, "Jose, is that you?" Godinho recalled. "It's Samuel! From Ilhabela!"

The other Brazilian was Godinho's childhood sailing coach, Samuel Solano, who had helped him cultivate his passion for being out on the water when Godinho first started sailing at age 12. The two lived in Ilhabela, an archipelago and city four miles off the coast of São Paulo.

"He was my pupil in 2012," Solano, who has been a sailing coach for more than 10 years, said. "I was his first teacher. I taught him all the basics of sailing."

The pair's close relationship

Godinho had taken a step back from sailing once he turned 15, but he instantly dove into Virtual Regatta once a friend introduced the game to him years later. He almost felt like he was back on the water in Ilhabela whenever he set sail in Virtual Regatta.

While Solano and Godinho lived close to one another in Brazil, the chances of them getting randomly matched together in an online regatta in 2021 wasn't high. The game helped them reconnect as they communicate while playing often now. They even both made it to the finals of the Olympic Esports Series in Singapore.

Solano – who is now one of the highest ranked players in the world within Virtual Regatta – became Godinho's coach once again.

"Now we just communicate through Virtual Regatta, through the game," Godinho said. "He actually taught me a lot of stuff in the game so I guess I have to thank him for me being here. I got a lot of tips from him."

The two Brazilians sailed against one another and nine other finalists on 24 June as part of the finals of the Olympic Esports Series final. Godinho qualified for the final medal race, finishing fourth.

"I consider myself a mentor to him, in this game and in sailing," Solano said. "I think I taught him a lot of tricks and techniques. I transferred my virtual sailing knowledge to him. He is very clever, so he can absorb all the information quickly.

"I think of him as a little brother."