Sailing question.... Plus Pirates Rocks!

[GtoRA2]

Ok question, I have been playing pirates and you can not sail into the wind directly but you can at at ange sail into it.


So is this because the sail is acting like a wing and producing lift to push the boat through the wind? If not how does it work?



Great game btw, highly recomend it.


I only wish you could be more evil, you know kidnapping sacking towns and burning them etc.

[Nash]

The most logical is when the wind pushes on your back, and you just let the sails out to catch it. Called a 'run'.

When it's pushing on your side (even from the front), you pull the sails in tight to your boat so it's like the wind is hitting a wall. The keel sticking out the bottom of your boat stops you from getting pushed in the direction of the wind. But it's a huge force, and has to do something. So since the front of the boat is smaller than the back, the boat moves forward. Called a reach or a beam reach, and it's the fastest point of sailing.

[Elfie]

Originally posted by GtoRA2
Ok question, I have been playing pirates and you can not sail into the wind directly but you can at at ange sail into it.


So is this because the sail is acting like a wing and producing lift to push the boat through the wind? If not how does it work?



Great game btw, highly recomend it.


I only wish you could be more evil, you know kidnapping sacking towns and burning them etc.

You can attack the towns. Your crew becomes infantry and you have to fight the towns garrison outside the town. You dont get to torch the town though.

It is a great game, I have to wait for a patch cuz it keeps crashing on me.

[lasersailor184]

Nash, WRONG!  WRONG WRONG WRONG!  Actually, mostly wrong.


Ok, you have an airplane wing.  Because the wind takes longer to get around the top, you get high pressure on the bottom.  This creates lift.

But Sails aren't solid wings.  It's like they are the top edge only.  Now the wind should be hitting the sail just so it's parallel to the angle the front edge of the sail would make.  This redirects the wind around the sail quickly.  This creates lift much like an airplane wing.  However, this lift isn't perpindicular to the sail, it's pointing forward a little.


Now we talk about simple vectors.  If you're headed down wind, you only have two vectors.  One forward vector which is the result of the wind pushing you.  One aft vector which is a small amount of drag.

Now, if you rotate the sail around so the sail's force vector is pointing forward, the boat wants to move in this direction.  So this is when we stick in a keel.  This keel counteracts the lateral force from the sail.  So you have a bunch of vectors.

Fsail is the force that the sail is pushing on the boat with.  You can break this up into components of vertical and horizontal companents #1 and #3.

(Assuming bow of boat is straight up)
1.) Force from the sail to the left.
2.) Force from the Keel to the right.
3.) Force from the sail straight up.
4.) Force from the boat dragging straight down.



Now, #1 and #2 perfectly (should) counteract each other.  So the boat moves forward with a little bit of drag.

[Nash]

Hmm... that all basically sounds like a confusing way of saying what I said.

[GtoRA2]

LOL well thanks for the semi Clerification, so it is somewhat like lift generated by a wing?



I know you can take a town with troops. But you cant pillage rape and murder then burn it to the ground.  It is a pirate game right hehe?


I love getting a Frigate, 32 guns semi fast........ fun stuff.

[Red Tail 444]

I'm not sure about all that, but what I do know is the sail shape also determines direction.

Course sheets will definitely prevent you from sailing upwind, so if you have a standard 4-rigger or barque, you have to beat to the wind, meaning setting a course as closte to your intended direction, then tack over to the alternate direction.

With the Jib, stasail, mainsail, etc, yuou can sail closer to the wind w/o need for too much tacking exercises. Seems like a fun game...

[takeda]

Yes, the sails are like wings. fore-and-aft sails are easier to set up in order to generate forward lift when going upwind than square rigged sails, which are designed to act more like "reverse airbrakes" instead of wings.

In any case, when most of the wind force is pushing you sideways , the keel is there to diminish sideways drift or "leeway", but the drift is always there and  you have to account for it (i.e, you dont really end up where you point your bows, think crosswind landing).

Another interesting point is that running directly before the wing tends to be a bad idea, as your aft sails will cut the wind from reaching the fore ones. So it's better to have the wind coming from your 5 or 7 o'clock. If the wind goes straight into your desired course, you end up tacking too.

I'll stop now my parroted 'lubber explanations about sailing, but this is fun to play with:
http://home.wxs.nl/~pdavis/

[lasersailor184]

Modern day boats sail a little bit closer then 45degrees off of the wind.  The closer you get, the slower you will go up to a point where you aren't getting anywhere.

Back then, they could sail up to 75-70 degrees off the wind.  In fact, there was once a viking ship that was trying to escape.  He sailed at 60 degrees off of the wind and got away.  When they later caught him, they tried and executed him for Witchcraft, citing that particular incident.

[Saintaw]

Lasersailor, thank you for my new wallpaper!

[Nilsen]

I think you got the answer you were looking for by the above posters Gto, and some beautiful artwork by lazersailor ...

So no need for me to basicly repeat what has been said.


bye bye

err..

harr!!

[Shane]

yeah, i've spent the last 2-3 weeks playing it... had to buy it since i had the original way back when and loved it.

you can sack towns... 2 ways...  1. land a bit away and march in.. 2.  bombard the town while at sea (use space bar) until it's sufficiently pissed off to allow you the attack option when you sail into the harbor.  also sometimes when yuo successfully sack a town it may allow you to change it's nationality... doesn't have to be your own.

I love finding and upgrading one of the brig-types...  they own frigates...

also, the later you hold off your famous pirate hunting (not their buried treasures)... the more loot you'll get from them when you actually do defeat them.

[GRUNHERZ]

Radich is a Croatian name...  How come some Norweigian ship nas it? Whats the story behind the namesake?

[Nilsen]

Ship is named after a norwegian with that name that donated money to a foundation back in 1884. It was buildt as a training ship in 1935.

The ship got famous world wide after "starring" in the move "Windjammer"

http://www.radich.no/eng/pgs/historikk.html

[rshubert]

Originally posted by GtoRA2
LOL well thanks for the semi Clerification, so it is somewhat like lift generated by a wing?



I know you can take a town with troops. But you cant pillage rape and murder then burn it to the ground.  It is a pirate game right hehe?


I love getting a Frigate, 32 guns semi fast........ fun stuff.

It is EXACTLY like lift generated by a wing.  A sail is nothing more than a horizontal wing.