play the game again. This time she joins an online race. There are 8 people sailing in her race - from all over the world. There is one more person from NZ ( Auckland ), but also someone from Japan, an older lady from Perth and guy from Sydney. She comes 7th in the race, but at least she beat the Sydney guy.

Fast forward October, Jessica gets e-mail from her MarineVerse account. Her local Marakura Yacht club is organising an Opening day of the Summer Sailing next week. She is unsure, but there is also an online VR info session tomorrow. She joins the session, gets to know a local sailing coach and gets comfortable with an idea of attending the Opening day. She literally can’t stop talkingabout it, so her parents take her to the club. The Opening day goes well. VR sailing is fun, but THE REAL thing is so much better. The instructor she is sailing with lets her steer for a bit and is surprised to see how well is she doing, given she just told him its her first time sailing.. “I may have sailed in VR before,” she says.

Jessica joins the club and enrolls in her first course. After each weekend class, she gets assignment to practice at home in VR mid-week. Coaches love it, as they can see how students are performing with their home assignments, giving the coach a clear idea what to focus on during the next class (and who needs the most attention).

Next weekend, the