Sails, Why Raise them?

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    General question to other players from my experience in the game. A skallywag like myself and my crew of sea dogs loved to scan the horizon for other ships so we could get some "Donated" chests for our ship. Almost 90% of the ships that we came across had their sails up, anchored, with the bow of the ship facing the island. Because of this they would usually see us coming and start raising the anchor then run to unfurl the sails to get try to get away (No one gets away from my crew.) Why do ships raise their Sails/ leave them up?

    I understand that it makes the ship go slower so it's easier to sail in shallow water or to prevent damage in a storm. Is that the only reason? Is there something I'm missing as to why people do this? It doesn't take long to unfurl them but that's time that is invaluable to a ship trying to make a get away if they could spend that time turning the sails to the wind/raising the anchor. My ship would just turn hard and anchor with full sails to do a 180 and if we timed it wrong, oh well we repair the few holes and leave the lookout to keep an eye out for enemies and keep the sails catching the wind.

    Sorry if I answered my own question but it's been bugging me that people do this and I don't know for sure why.

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  • wTurok
    Founder

    Experienced players only use the sails to stop the ship because raising the anchor takes way more time than lowering the sails, the ship can turn easier and faster that way too so you can sail in whichever direction you want.

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @wturok Ok, I hadn't thought of just letting the ship idle with the anchor up, I'm looking forward to testing this strategy during this weekend's stress test

  • ShadowStrider 7

    @wturok Agreed. I never drop anchor unless I need a sharp turn. Other than that, it's all sail control @mrdestiny17

  • Feuerkrahe
    Captain
    Founder

    @wturok Usually what I do is lower the anchor, raise the sails, then raising the anchor. The ship will not move much at all (it will move, but its not noticeable), and all you have to do is lower the sails to get moving. Also, as you mentioned you can turn easier.

  • LIFEWCOKE
    Commander
    Boatswain
    Founder

    It is hard to say why some crews do that, as you described with the anchor down but the sails up. It could be a random crew where one guy wants to keep the anchor up but raise the sails and the rest just want to drop anchor. Or they could have been coasting to fast and decided to drop it.

    Personally, I prefer to only drop the anchor in an emergency. Sails up and anchor up in order to easily make a getaway if needed or rotate in place in order to keep the canons on target. I think a stopped ship is a dead ship unless it is an experienced crew who prefers that anchor route.

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    I do it to make the ship a little harder to spot from a distance. I also try to remember to hoist the anchor, point the ship away from the jagged bits in the water, THEN drop the sails.

  • wTurok
    Founder

    @mrdestiny17 It's easier to pull off with the sloop, but with a decent crew you can do it with a galleon too.

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @lifewcoke does the ship drift much? Or not at all? Sometimes our lookout goes AFK or if we don't have a chest yet all of us will go on shore.

  • hrknen

    @mrdestiny17
    Indeed, aside from occasionally raising them to make a quick sharp turn or partially raising them if you want to slow down for some maneuver, it is best to always leave your sails up.
    Most of the random crews I joined in the beta didn't have very good grasp of basics.
    One locked me in the brig when I threw the anchor down about 10 feet from going ashore on the island with the Voyage treasure they were seeking.
    Just going full tilt into the island. All sails down.
    I started just watching after that, it's probably going to take a few months before less new people are joining and the ones who did learn the ropes a bit.
    Doesn't help that my voice chat didn't seem to be working for me all beta and there is no text command for "We should probably decide on a plan to stop the boat in the next 5 or so seconds, boss."

  • duvelsuper2
    Marauder

    That's how you park the ship on outposts. Once you get use it you know when to raise the sails and it'll come to a complete stop at the pier.

  • LIFEWCOKE
    Commander
    Boatswain
    Founder

    @mrdestiny17 It does not if you have the wheel set to dead center. The gold spoke and rumble if your playing with a controller will let you know. If it isn't your ship will turn in a circle.

  • LogansDadToo
    Founder

    @mrdestiny17
    The ship coasts to a stop, once it's stopped it will not move with the sails raised. It will rotate on the spot if the ships wheel isn't centered though!

  • Im Axis Rahl
    Marauder
    Insider

    After stopping at an island I like to raise sails and raise anchor so I can rotate the ship in place. Aim for open water or the next island and adjust the raised sails to catch optimum wind. When it's time to go you just drop sails.

  • Dragotech123
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    Remember to put the wheel straight, 720 degrees for galleons, 360 for the sloops. This means from the very right to the very left turns of the wheel you need to do 4 complete spins for the galleons and 2 for the sloop.

  • SnowBodhi

    @mrdestiny17 The pure joy of the mechanics of sailing. I haven’t played enough yet to get really entrenched in strategy. Just enjoying the ride :)

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @logansdadtoo Great, thanks everyone for the quick responses! It's like having a word on the tip of your toung for two weeks now and y'all said the word no problem lol. If your crew was one of the ones we sunk in the closed beta, sorry. But as seeing everyone here knows this strat you guys are probably the one crew that actually sunk us, I forgive you if that was the case lol. See you this weekend!
    additional thanks to @SnowBodhi I figured that that was something people were doing (I did it solo to get into a PvE groove.)
    And @Dragotech123 for giving me those numbers for individual ships.

  • hrknen

    Did sneak up on a galleon parked with anchor up once, may have snuck on and lowered a sail before continuing on my way.

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @hrknen I wouldn't even be mad if that happend to me, i'd think of the reaction of another crew finding a drifting ship and whoever's joy it was to pull that off lol

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @logansdadtoo Last poke into your brain if you don't mind, do you think they might patch this out or keep the ship not moving with sails up in? Only reason to keep it in I think is that it was meant to be a mechanic, and the anchor for emergencies/pirates of the Caribbean turns.

  • Im Axis Rahl
    Marauder
    Insider

    @dragotech123 This took me way to long to figure out. The gold handle on the wheel will make a knocking noise (and vibrate on controllers) when it hits the center point. Super helpful for galleons.

  • Grievous32
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    @mrdestiny17 As a great captain in navigation when my teamate follow my orders, I can tell you why I prefer to raise the sails.

    Actually, when you drop the anchor, your ship will completely stop. By raising the sails, you still can turn right or left. When I fight against another crew, it's only play with the sails. We NEVER use the anchor but in the case we could hit a rock or an island. Completely raising the sails allow my crew and I to stop the ship and continue to fire with the cannon, turning our ship to always be in position to fire. If the other crew wants to hit crush us with his ship, then we lower the sails to prevent the collision.

    Sometimes when you follow another ship, you have to put your sails against the wind just to not catch it, allowing you turn better. In this case, when you finished to turn in the right direction, then you have to turn the sail in the wind to catch up the other crew.

    Of course, you need more people because there are 3 sails against 1 anchor, but if you have a good team, the way you control your ship will make you even better !

  • mrdestiny17
    Ship Mate

    @grievous32 Thanks for all the tips, combat is going to be a lot tighter now that we can work around some of those "Their going to ram us!" and "Why isn't anyone helping with the anchor?!?" it seems that with the sails controlling speed a crew member doesn't have to run across the ship to get to the anchor, rather find the closest sail. The more I think about these sail strats, the more I can picture my golden coffers full to the brim with gold!

  • LogansDadToo
    Founder

    @mrdestiny17
    As far as i'm aware this is a mechanic & is as it's supposed to be.
    So no, i don't think it will be patched out ;)

  • ShadowStrider 7

    @mrdestiny17 If you need some crewmates this weekend, I'm down for some fun!

  • RCSnipes100
    Lord
    Insider
    Founder

    @logansdadtoo I always assumed that the ship would drift if the anchor was not dropped. Good to know that it doesn't move. Weird, but useful. I generally only raised the sails if I needed to turn the ship in order to face away from an island.
    Thanks!

  • Lucid Stew
    Founder

    Did not know the ship doesn't drift with the anchor and sails up. Not a big fan of that. The sailing is not a detailed simulation by any means, but it's accurate enough that there should be some drift. Otherwise the anchor doesn't serve much purpose other than handbrake turns(also not a fan) and an enemy crew using it against you.

  • Wolff34
    Marauder
    Founder

    The really beautiful thing to watch is a ship that uses its sails to come into a dock, stopping right were the gangplank is in perfect alignment with the dock allowing the crew to keep their feet dry. No anchor, so no swing. Lined up for a fast sail out to sea. I enjoy doing that as much as anything in this game. It’s a constant change in raising one sail and then another in increments and using the angels to decrease the wind. Fun stuff.

  • SIERRA404

    @mrdestiny17 I know what you mean! I initially shortened canvas when pulling into port or dropping anchor at some uncharted isle. But then I realized that it impeded my ability to make a quick getaway, so I began leaving my sails trimmed and ready with my bow pointed seaward just in case someone happened upon me. That said, pulling in the sails while firing upon an enemy ship at anchor gave me more time to fire on them as my vessel moved more slowly with the sails up. Which was definitely a plus when sailing alone against a worthy (or not so worthy) opponent.

    That's my 2 Reals worth anyway!

  • Retto Elbaroda
    Master
    Founder

    I was doing it mainly in hope that it will make it less likely to be spotted.

  • Conal cuan
    Captain
    Insider

    I raised the sail to blend in with the background of an island a little better (If I was expecting to be on land for a long time), angled out to sea and no anchor. However, if I knew or was paranoid enough of an encounter, I'd leave the sail down and angled to the wind, raising anchor wasn't too much of an issue for me in the Sloop.

  • cwarrick66
    Insider

    i'd honestly prefer they get rid of the "anchor handbrake" c**p altogether. that, or make it cause damage to the ENTIRE front of the ship on both sides. that you have to patch up. if you were to drop a 6 ton anchor while traveling at full speed you'd tear your ship in half or it would pull the nose completely underwater.

  • avecrux
    Captain
    Insider

    @mrdestiny17 LOL. 180 anchor is new 360 no scope :D

    Raise the sails to sail slower, you can turn in place with raised sails, it took less time to lower sail than raise anchor.

  • lumpaywk

    I think this is more a game issue to be fixed! you should not be able to anchor with the sails up! it by rights should tear your ship apart. maybe add damage if done and if dropped at speed litterally tear a load of holes or even rip the ship in 2.
    its a joke this can be done esp the anchor turn.

  • Rattlegold
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    I do lower in various grade the sails because, yes, it helps to get near an island shore with a lot more of precision. It's like a game in the game to try to get better each time at docking my sloop. I also do it because it feels sloppy and careless drop anchor without lower the sails in advance. Being a solo sloop, it takes extra attention and work, but i feel even more "inside" this fantastic world.

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