Ah, the lure of the sea! Most of us have been tempted at some stage by the thought of having control of our own vessel and sailing off into a glorious sunset, with the spray on our cheeks and the wind in our hair. OK, for most of us that might just mean a pedalo on the beach at Fuengirola but developer Nadeo (which created the inventive Trackmania) has been trying to recreate that sense of power sailing for some years with its VirtualSkipper series.

The fifth incarnation, 32nd America's Cup, largely provides more of the same for aficionados of the sport, with some improvements in both the single-player and multi-player modes. If you know very little about sailing, there's a basic tutorial that will guide you through how to steer, tack, make allowances for wind direction and strength and practice your tactics for outwitting your opponents.

Once you feel confident enough, you can take the helm of any one of the twelve boats (including the Trimaran Open 60, the Offshore Racer and the Melges 24) vying for the chance to race against the defending champions of the America's Cup, Alinghi.

There are three levels of competition to choose from: Arcade, which is ideal for beginners and provides several helpful hints during the race; Tactical, which has less overt help and more reliance on regatta strategies; and Simulation, which is the full-on expert version where your navigation and nautical skills are tested to the max.

The duration of the races (and the pre-start times) can also be varied from five to thirty minutes, but beware that whatever your skill level when you enter the competition, there's no way of restarting if you foul up one race. If you feel you're not ready for the America's Cup, there are ten other sailing venues you can compete in, or you can use the edit facility to design your own course.

Although the detail of the boats, water and locations is sufficiently impressive to provide a reasonably lifelike simulation of the experience of sailing, the actual gameplay for beginners can appear quite tedious as you wait to round that distant buoy and find the winning line. There is a mini-map to help you navigate and to plot where your rivals are, but apart from zooming and rotating the camera angles with your mouse, the controls are keyboard-based and relatively simple.

It's in the multi-player area that most fans of the series will discover the longevity of this game, as they can customise their vessel and work their way up the player rankings by defeating worldwide opponents. Alas, still no spray in the face, though!

A fairly steep learning curve for newcomers to sailing and the gameplay may be too slow for some, but hardcore fans of the VirtualSkipper series will enjoy the chance to enter the most prestigious and challenging sailing competition in the world.