Sailing a galleon properly

@selfizz said in Sailing a galleon properly:

Hello fellow Online-Sailors and Pirates

I had a chance to play the sea of thieves beta the last couple days and I really enjoyed it. I first jumped in with a friend and I think the sloop is pretty straight forward when it comes to sailing. As long as you're not in a fight its easy to sail especially with a 2-man crew. Look at the flag on top, set the sails angle accordingly and control the speed with the sail length. Oh and I probably should mention I have absolutely no idea/knowledge when it comes to sailing.

Now,... I also tried the galleon and to get it moving is quite easy. Although good crew-coordination is certainly helpful. I came to wonder if there's any real-life sailors or ship enthusiasts on this forum who can explain the three-master a little better to me. To go as fast as possible you'd set all the sails to full I assume. But I came to wonder if there's any benefit in using just one or two of the sails, and the reasons behind it so I came up with a couple questions; Some of my thougths to the questions maybe false so please don't hesitate to correct me if my assumptions are in fact wrong.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew? Does that even change anything? Pull the rear sail up when heading straig* Under what circumstance would you just use the main/fronht with the wind so the main sail gets more wind and only use all three when the wind comes from the side?
  t/rear sail?
  For example, when maneuvering between rocks, is it best to just have the front or rear sail down? Same goes for fights, easier to turn? I've never been in a storm during the beta but I was wondering if your sails can get damaged during it if you don't pack them up? I'd assume not, although that would be a nice thing to implement with rags to repair the damage.
• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Does it make other sails inefficent?
• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  I was fiddling around with it and experimenting a little bit but unfortunately I ran out of time in the end to complete this. And I found that whats working pretty well is, to prearrange one of the smaller sail before turning to where it should point after the turn and let the crew manage the two others while turning to follow the turn.

I'd really appreciate if anyone with better knowledge of proper sailing could answer these and give me a little crashcourse. Maybe there already is a thread for this and I just couldn't find it so a link would be appreciated. I do realise that this stuff probably doesn't matter all that much in the game, although I'd really like it if it did. It would be great fun to have a game that actually teaches you to do something that also would work in real life.

Greetings
Selfizz

Hello Selfizz. I didn't have the real experience to sail on more than an yacht, but I can help and answer your questions regarding my knowledge and my passion that I share for the golden age of Sailing.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew?
  Normally when sailing on a large ship like a Galleon, the rear/aft sail was only used when they were trying to reach the top speed of the current ship. For example when chasing another ship or running from one. Also there is a so called counter sail that returns the wind in order to help the ship sail into it. It will decrease the speed drastically, but sail nonetheless.

• Under what circumstance would you just use the main/front/rear sail?
  From my game experience, I never lower the rear sail except one of the two reasons I mentioned above. I find the speed with the front and main sail to be just perfect for cruising and it allows me to maneuver the ship regardless of the condition of the waves. Also, if using all the sails and approaching an island you have to consider taking actions for reducing the speed in time or you will end up hitting the island or needing to drop the anchor and stop the ship with all the sails lowered, thus breaking immersion of the game.
  It's always best to have the sails as raised as possible in the storm and just leave the waves handle the ship. Basically in the storms there are very high winds and any ship that was caught with the sails lowered, would have been thorn apart and the winds would have just break the masts. In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired. So, just raise the sails, keep it at very low speed as to be able to maneuver the high waves and try to not let the waves hit you from the side. Make sure you take them forward on. Just have your crew pull up as many buckets of water they can and let the storm pass. Usually, the direction of the wind is also the direction of the storm, so trying to run from it would only prolong the time of the storm as you will just remain in it everywhere it goes.

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  *It surely does. When you turn the sail in the direction the wind blows you need to find the perfect position where the wind is the most efficient. Just pay attention to the white lines that pass through them. You will notice that when you angle them correctly, you will hear a sound and see the sails blow further in the wind. You need to always keep close attention to them, because the slight change of the wind or angle in the direction you are sailing will just revert the sail back to the initial position. This is a great tactic in order to obtain the optimal speed and chase or escape a ship easily. It's the most efficient using a sloop which many players don't understand, thus complaining a lot on the forums that the sloop it's not balanced properly. I escaped 2 Galleons with it, so it just required tactics and a bit o sailing marksmanship in order to do so. *

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Yes it is. Having the front and rear sails aligned properly but the main not for example, will just slow your ship by not obtaining the optimal speed.

• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  There is no difference if you point the front sail let's say to starboard (right) and want to steer to port(left) or just angle it to port in order to steer to port, because the sails are only used for drag. In order to turn the ship more efficiently, I recommend raising the main sails almost completely and leave the front ones lowered, you will lose speed, but also drag so when steering the helm 720 degrees in any direction and banking the rudder to max will just force the ship to almost turn in place. Think of it as a drift with a car where you just block the rear wheels and turn the steering wheel at max.

I hope you will find my advice based on the experience I have aiding you in sailing a ship like a marksman, but also in becoming a feared Captain of the seas. Cheers!

@faramous said in Sailing a galleon properly:

@bobyslick said in Sailing a galleon properly:

@selfizz said in Sailing a galleon properly:

Hello fellow Online-Sailors and Pirates

I had a chance to play the sea of thieves beta the last couple days and I really enjoyed it. I first jumped in with a friend and I think the sloop is pretty straight forward when it comes to sailing. As long as you're not in a fight its easy to sail especially with a 2-man crew. Look at the flag on top, set the sails angle accordingly and control the speed with the sail length. Oh and I probably should mention I have absolutely no idea/knowledge when it comes to sailing.

Now,... I also tried the galleon and to get it moving is quite easy. Although good crew-coordination is certainly helpful. I came to wonder if there's any real-life sailors or ship enthusiasts on this forum who can explain the three-master a little better to me. To go as fast as possible you'd set all the sails to full I assume. But I came to wonder if there's any benefit in using just one or two of the sails, and the reasons behind it so I came up with a couple questions; Some of my thougths to the questions maybe false so please don't hesitate to correct me if my assumptions are in fact wrong.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew? Does that even change anything? Pull the rear sail up when heading straig* Under what circumstance would you just use the main/fronht with the wind so the main sail gets more wind and only use all three when the wind comes from the side?
  t/rear sail?
  For example, when maneuvering between rocks, is it best to just have the front or rear sail down? Same goes for fights, easier to turn? I've never been in a storm during the beta but I was wondering if your sails can get damaged during it if you don't pack them up? I'd assume not, although that would be a nice thing to implement with rags to repair the damage.
• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Does it make other sails inefficent?
• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  I was fiddling around with it and experimenting a little bit but unfortunately I ran out of time in the end to complete this. And I found that whats working pretty well is, to prearrange one of the smaller sail before turning to where it should point after the turn and let the crew manage the two others while turning to follow the turn.

I'd really appreciate if anyone with better knowledge of proper sailing could answer these and give me a little crashcourse. Maybe there already is a thread for this and I just couldn't find it so a link would be appreciated. I do realise that this stuff probably doesn't matter all that much in the game, although I'd really like it if it did. It would be great fun to have a game that actually teaches you to do something that also would work in real life.

Greetings
Selfizz

Hello Selfizz. I didn't have the real experience to sail on more than an yacht, but I can help and answer your questions regarding my knowledge and my passion that I share for the golden age of Sailing.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew?
  Normally when sailing on a large ship like a Galleon, the rear/aft sail was only used when they were trying to reach the top speed of the current ship. For example when chasing another ship or running from one. Also there is a so called counter sail that returns the wind in order to help the ship sail into it. It will decrease the speed drastically, but sail nonetheless.

• Under what circumstance would you just use the main/front/rear sail?
  From my game experience, I never lower the rear sail except one of the two reasons I mentioned above. I find the speed with the front and main sail to be just perfect for cruising and it allows me to maneuver the ship regardless of the condition of the waves. Also, if using all the sails and approaching an island you have to consider taking actions for reducing the speed in time or you will end up hitting the island or needing to drop the anchor and stop the ship with all the sails lowered, thus breaking immersion of the game.
  It's always best to have the sails as raised as possible in the storm and just leave the waves handle the ship. Basically in the storms there are very high winds and any ship that was caught with the sails lowered, would have been thorn apart and the winds would have just break the masts. In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired. So, just raise the sails, keep it at very low speed as to be able to maneuver the high waves and try to not let the waves hit you from the side. Make sure you take them forward on. Just have your crew pull up as many buckets of water they can and let the storm pass. Usually, the direction of the wind is also the direction of the storm, so trying to run from it would only prolong the time of the storm as you will just remain in it everywhere it goes.

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  *It surely does. When you turn the sail in the direction the wind blows you need to find the perfect position where the wind is the most efficient. Just pay attention to the white lines that pass through them. You will notice that when you angle them correctly, you will hear a sound and see the sails blow further in the wind. You need to always keep close attention to them, because the slight change of the wind or angle in the direction you are sailing will just revert the sail back to the initial position. This is a great tactic in order to obtain the optimal speed and chase or escape a ship easily. It's the most efficient using a sloop which many players don't understand, thus complaining a lot on the forums that the sloop it's not balanced properly. I escaped 2 Galleons with it, so it just required tactics and a bit o sailing marksmanship in order to do so. *

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Yes it is. Having the front and rear sails aligned properly but the main not for example, will just slow your ship by not obtaining the optimal speed.

• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  There is no difference if you point the front sail let's say to starboard (right) and want to steer to port(left) or just angle it to port in order to steer to port, because the sails are only used for drag. In order to turn the ship more efficiently, I recommend raising the main sails almost completely and leave the front one lowered, you will lose speed, but also drag so when steering the helm 720 degrees in any direction and banking the rudder to max will just force the ship to almost turn in place. Think of it as a drift in the car where you just block the rear wheels and turn the steering wheel at max.

I hope you will find my advice based on the experience I have aiding you in sailing a ship like a marksman,but also in becoming a feared Captain of the seas. Cheers!

Excellent post. That's really helpful.

Glad to help. :)

-To escape a Galleon in a Sloop sail into the wind.
-To catch a Sloop into the wind in a galleon you must shoot men into the sea ahead of the enemy sloop to board her.
Just thought I'd add that

@burtlangoustine said in Sailing a galleon properly:

-To escape a Galleon in a Sloop sail into the wind.
-To catch a Sloop into the wind in a galleon you must shoot men into the sea ahead of the enemy sloop to board her.
Just thought I'd add that

Taking into consideration that he was asking for a more real and experienced advice, shooting men from cannons it's not that helpful. It may be fun, but not what he really needed to know in the first place.
Regarding the sailing a Sloop into the wind, it is true. The Galleon takes a real handicap if it's forced into the wind. Although the Sloop was designed lighter to maneuver more easily, the bigger the ship is, it uses a force called Hull Drag, thus catching speed faster than a smaller and lighter one. Also the number of sails helped regardless the weight.

@bobyslick said in Sailing a galleon properly:

Hello Selfizz. I didn't have the real experience to sail on more than an yacht, but I can help and answer your questions regarding my knowledge and my passion that I share for the golden age of Sailing.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew?
  Normally when sailing on a large ship like a Galleon, the rear/aft sail was only used when they were trying to reach the top speed of the current ship. For example when chasing another ship or running from one. Also there is a so called counter sail that returns the wind in order to help the ship sail into it. It will decrease the speed drastically, but sail nonetheless.

• Under what circumstance would you just use the main/front/rear sail?
  From my game experience, I never lower the rear sail except one of the two reasons I mentioned above. I find the speed with the front and main sail to be just perfect for cruising and it allows me to maneuver the ship regardless of the condition of the waves. Also, if using all the sails and approaching an island you have to consider taking actions for reducing the speed in time or you will end up hitting the island or needing to drop the anchor and stop the ship with all the sails lowered, thus breaking immersion of the game.
  It's always best to have the sails as raised as possible in the storm and just leave the waves handle the ship. Basically in the storms there are very high winds and any ship that was caught with the sails lowered, would have been thorn apart and the winds would have just break the masts. In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired. So, just raise the sails, keep it at very low speed as to be able to maneuver the high waves and try to not let the waves hit you from the side. Make sure you take them forward on. Just have your crew pull up as many buckets of water they can and let the storm pass. Usually, the direction of the wind is also the direction of the storm, so trying to run from it would only prolong the time of the storm as you will just remain in it everywhere it goes.

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  *It surely does. When you turn the sail in the direction the wind blows you need to find the perfect position where the wind is the most efficient. Just pay attention to the white lines that pass through them. You will notice that when you angle them correctly, you will hear a sound and see the sails blow further in the wind. You need to always keep close attention to them, because the slight change of the wind or angle in the direction you are sailing will just revert the sail back to the initial position. This is a great tactic in order to obtain the optimal speed and chase or escape a ship easily. It's the most efficient using a sloop which many players don't understand, thus complaining a lot on the forums that the sloop it's not balanced properly. I escaped 2 Galleons with it, so it just required tactics and a bit o sailing marksmanship in order to do so. *

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Yes it is. Having the front and rear sails aligned properly but the main not for example, will just slow your ship by not obtaining the optimal speed.

• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  There is no difference if you point the front sail let's say to starboard (right) and want to steer to port(left) or just angle it to port in order to steer to port, because the sails are only used for drag. In order to turn the ship more efficiently, I recommend raising the main sails almost completely and leave the front ones lowered, you will lose speed, but also drag so when steering the helm 720 degrees in any direction and banking the rudder to max will just force the ship to almost turn in place. Think of it as a drift with a car where you just block the rear wheels and turn the steering wheel at max.

I hope you will find my advice based on the experience I have aiding you in sailing a ship like a marksman, but also in becoming a feared Captain of the seas. Cheers!

Ahoi Bobyslick,
Thanks very much for the good answers. A lot of this helps me understand sailing a bit better. Very helpful stuff.

In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired.

I didnt even know that was a thing. Good information and sure a useful tip. Thanks!

Off-topic: How did you quote with the dropdown? I didn't find any formatting option for that.

Cheers!

@mich2mars said in Sailing a galleon properly:

In game, the less sails you have, your turn radius will be smaller.
Also sailing with or between the waves help with aiming (canon and guns) and you can even have holes in top part of the hull, water won't leak in as the ship doesn't bob up and down.

This might be very helpful when fighting a sloop. Thank you! I had trouble getting them on my broadside for more than a couple seconds.

@selfizz said in Sailing a galleon properly:

@bobyslick said in Sailing a galleon properly:

Hello Selfizz. I didn't have the real experience to sail on more than an yacht, but I can help and answer your questions regarding my knowledge and my passion that I share for the golden age of Sailing.

• Is there a reason to not use all the sails at certain times, except making life easier for the crew?
  Normally when sailing on a large ship like a Galleon, the rear/aft sail was only used when they were trying to reach the top speed of the current ship. For example when chasing another ship or running from one. Also there is a so called counter sail that returns the wind in order to help the ship sail into it. It will decrease the speed drastically, but sail nonetheless.

• Under what circumstance would you just use the main/front/rear sail?
  From my game experience, I never lower the rear sail except one of the two reasons I mentioned above. I find the speed with the front and main sail to be just perfect for cruising and it allows me to maneuver the ship regardless of the condition of the waves. Also, if using all the sails and approaching an island you have to consider taking actions for reducing the speed in time or you will end up hitting the island or needing to drop the anchor and stop the ship with all the sails lowered, thus breaking immersion of the game.
  It's always best to have the sails as raised as possible in the storm and just leave the waves handle the ship. Basically in the storms there are very high winds and any ship that was caught with the sails lowered, would have been thorn apart and the winds would have just break the masts. In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired. So, just raise the sails, keep it at very low speed as to be able to maneuver the high waves and try to not let the waves hit you from the side. Make sure you take them forward on. Just have your crew pull up as many buckets of water they can and let the storm pass. Usually, the direction of the wind is also the direction of the storm, so trying to run from it would only prolong the time of the storm as you will just remain in it everywhere it goes.

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  *It surely does. When you turn the sail in the direction the wind blows you need to find the perfect position where the wind is the most efficient. Just pay attention to the white lines that pass through them. You will notice that when you angle them correctly, you will hear a sound and see the sails blow further in the wind. You need to always keep close attention to them, because the slight change of the wind or angle in the direction you are sailing will just revert the sail back to the initial position. This is a great tactic in order to obtain the optimal speed and chase or escape a ship easily. It's the most efficient using a sloop which many players don't understand, thus complaining a lot on the forums that the sloop it's not balanced properly. I escaped 2 Galleons with it, so it just required tactics and a bit o sailing marksmanship in order to do so. *

• Is there a disadvantage when having a sail down which isn't aligned properly?
  Yes it is. Having the front and rear sails aligned properly but the main not for example, will just slow your ship by not obtaining the optimal speed.

• Does it matter where you point which sail at certain times?
  There is no difference if you point the front sail let's say to starboard (right) and want to steer to port(left) or just angle it to port in order to steer to port, because the sails are only used for drag. In order to turn the ship more efficiently, I recommend raising the main sails almost completely and leave the front ones lowered, you will lose speed, but also drag so when steering the helm 720 degrees in any direction and banking the rudder to max will just force the ship to almost turn in place. Think of it as a drift with a car where you just block the rear wheels and turn the steering wheel at max.

I hope you will find my advice based on the experience I have aiding you in sailing a ship like a marksman, but also in becoming a feared Captain of the seas. Cheers!

Ahoi Bobyslick,
Thanks very much for the good answers. A lot of this helps me understand sailing a bit better. Very helpful stuff.

In SoT you only increase the chance of being struck by lighting and force the planks to break from the hull if the ship was damaged and repaired.

I didnt even know that was a thing. Good information and sure a useful tip. Thanks!

Off-topic: How did you quote with the dropdown? I didn't find any formatting option for that.

Cheers!

I'm glad I could help.
The drop down appears if you quote then write a long, long paragraph, as I did :P. Basically it happens automatically.
As for the answers and replies, I just used the embedded text editor. The forum is really well made. Like the game. Just perfect.

@bobyslick Surely the relevance isn't the actual practice of real sailing, more, what works practically in the computer game.
For instance, you can pull the sails into the worst imaginable position yet thats not affecting your minimum speed one tiny bit. I call it the onboard engine, silent but steady, regularly faster to straight-line it to Islands than tacking in the wind like reality.
Having said that, the more realistic they make the sailing the more better the game will be going forwards, because, who doesn't like sailing, right?

@burtlangoustine said in Sailing a galleon properly:

For instance, you can pull the sails into the worst imaginable position yet thats not affecting your minimum speed one tiny bit.

Right! Try doing so chased by 2 Galleons. I think you will surely notice the difference.

@burtlangoustine
In fact, I was curious about both, real sailing and how it is implemented in SoT. I'd imagine when you sail a real ship and sails are set wrong it's actually worse than if you just pulled that sail up. But I'd expect in SoT it doesn't make a difference. Meaning Aft-Sail wrong handles the same as aft-sail up. Of course the best option would be to set it in the correct position if you go for speed.