La Course au Large

The name roughly translates to "Open Sea Race". This is a sailing game where players decide on a course to run (St. Malo to Quebec, Lorient-Bermudas round trip, The Rum Route and others on the North Atlantic). Each player runs a boat and tries to be the first to finish the course. Winds will change from turn to turn, and players must adjust sail and attitude to the wind (i.e. course) according to the winds encountered. A unique mechanism is that players can master risks (incurred by carrying an inappropriate amount of sail in the prevailing wind conditions) by answering trivia questions about sailing. The questions come in 3 levels of difficulty; the correct answer allows to continue travel unharmed, a wrong incurs a penalty. Penalties can damage the boat, but each player has two repair cards to be used in case of emergency. The game board shows a map of the Atlantic Ocean from the equator to Newfoundland overlaid with a square grid. Certain currents and prevailing wind zones are marked and influence actual movement. Also on the map are obstacles in the form of completely blocked squares (ships, icebergs, large islands) and partly blocked squares (small islands).