IMHO the VOR teams made a decision to get to the scoring gate of E58 the fastest to get points.
If they wanted to they could have sailed the exact same course we did but they would probably not get as much points since they would cross E58 later than if they sailed straight at it.
I really think that if they sailed the same course of the winning virtual boat they would be a lot closer to the finish (shorter distance sailed).
Our weather does change only every 12H but I think that cancels itself out really since we keep both the good and bad winds longer than in reallife.
(Going as far south as they did was a safer option though with all the piracy going on lately).

I had a lot of fun this race, hope the next one is just as good.