Sailing a ship
Taking the helm, setting the sail, steering by the wind, and what happens when you run aground.
At the helm
Walk to the helm (a Cog steers by the oar over its stern, a Sloop by the tiller over its stern rail, a Carrack or a Caravel by the wheel) and the prompt offers it. One person steers at a time; anyone else aboard rides along.
- F
- Take the helm, or let go of it.
- W
- More sail, one step per press: backing, furled, half, full.
- S
- Less sail, one step per press. Backing the sail moves you slowly astern.
- A D
- Hold the rudder over. A ship turns only while it is moving.
- Space
- Trireme, at full stroke: sprint (the ramming run).
The wind
The wind slowly changes direction over the day, and every ship feels the same wind. A sail gives between 40% and 100% of the ship's speed depending on where the wind comes from: best with it across or behind you, worst heading straight into it. The helm line under your HUD shows the point of sail and the share you are getting. There is no tacking to learn: you can always make way, just slower upwind. A trireme is rowed: its stroke setting is not a sail, and it ignores the wind entirely.
| Ship | Top speed | Berth |
|---|---|---|
| Cog | 7 m/s (more than three times a swimmer's pace) | Any pier |
| Sloop | 8.5 m/s, and the quickest to turn | Any pier |
| Carrack | 8 m/s, slower to turn and to gather way | A Shipyard |
| Caravel | 8.5 m/s, but slow to turn and to gather way | A Shipyard |
| Trireme | 7.5 m/s rowed in any wind; a short sprint to 11 m/s | A Shipyard |
Shallows, shores and bridges
Each ship draws its own depth of water. In the shallows the keel drags and the ship slows; drive the bow hard aground and it will only back off into deeper water. A ship cannot go on land, and a wall or a quay stops it dead.
Low-masted ships pass under bridges. A Cog or a Sloop strikes its mast when its sail is furled, so furl to pass under a low bridge; a tall-masted ship cannot pass at all.
Ships belong to nobody
Once launched, a ship is like a siege engine: whoever stands at the helm sails it. Its sail wears the arms of the guild that launched it (plain canvas if the launcher had none). A ship left with nobody aboard for 5 minutes is lost, and a ship is also lost if its stretch of sea empties of players and closes down.