Novice Sailing
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The Novice Sailing section is designed for those who are just learning to sail. At this stage we want sailors to understand how the sailing world works, rather than understand specific sailing techniques. To that aim, this section will include the following topics:
The Wind
Top | Speed and Acceleration ↓
In order for sailing ships to move they must have wind. As you may have noticed when sailing around the Caribbean, wind only blows in one particular direction at a time. While this direction will change (usually about once every 15 minutes), the strength of the wind is always the same.
Sailing upwind (towards the direction the wind is blowing) is bad. However, depending on your ship sailing with the wind directly behind you (running) also may not be the best angle. Each ship sails differently, and checking the Wind Indicator is an easy way to see what angles will work best for your ship.
Surrounding your ship is a Wind Indicator, which shows you which direction the wind is coming from and how that affects your particular ship.
- To show the Wind Indicator, on the Toolbar click on the Options button
. The Options window will appear. - On the Options window click on the Preferences button. The Preferences window will appear.
- Click on the Interface tab.
- To show the Wind Indicator, click the Show Ship Wind Indicator button.
On the Wind Indicator are three colors: green, yellow, and red:
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| The Wind Indicator around your ship. Try to keep your ship pointed toward Green. |
- Green (fast)—if you point your ship toward the green part of the Wind Indicator, you will go much faster than if you were pointed toward the yellow or red part. In general you should try and keep your ship pointed toward this section. (Although, keep in mind that the green is broken up into sections, and your ship will go a different speed when pointed at each section. See the description of Best Point.)
- Yellow (slow)—if you point your ship toward the yellow part of the Wind Indicator, you will go slower than if you were pointed toward the green part, but much faster than if you were pointed toward the red part.
- Red (slowest)—if you point your ship toward the red part of the Wind Indicator, you will go much slower than if you were pointed toward the yellow or green part. If at all possible you should avoid pointing your ship into the red. Depending on the ship, turning through the red might be considerably slower than simply turning a longer distance through the green.
Speed and Acceleration
↑ The Wind | Top | Open Sea Sailing ↓
Each ship has various stats that affect how it feels to sail it. These stats can be found on any Ship Deed. You can look at any Ship Deed by checking in the in-game Help:
- On the Toolbar click on the Options button . The Options window will appear.
- On the Options window click on the Help button. The Help window will appear. You should be looking at the Home page of the Help menu.
- On the Help window scroll down and click on Ship Deeds. You will now be presented with a list of most every Ship Deed in the game.
- To find out more about a particular Ship Deed simply click on it.
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| Stats of a Dolphyn Ketch. The section that pertains to sailing is circled. |
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| This is essentially a speedometer for your ship. It shows how many knots your ship is doing. |
Notice the Sailing stats of the Dolphyn Ketch. To determine how a ship will feel, two of the most important stats to understand are Max Speed and Acceleration:
- Max Speed—this stat is a little deceptive. Essentially this is the fastest your ship can sail without class bonuses, outfitting, skills, etc. (all of which can make your ship exceed this Max Speed). Also, your ship will not usually travel at this speed. Your ship will feel slow even if the Max Speed is high, but the Acceleration is low.
- Acceleration—the higher a ship's acceleration, the faster the ship will feel. A ship with an Acceleration value at or around 1 will feel very slow. A ship with an Acceleration value of 3.5 and above will feel quick. Ships with high Acceleration values can turn more frequently and make more mistakes in combat.
A ship with a Max Speed value of 15 and an Acceleration value of 3 will feel faster overall than a ship with a Max Speed value of 17 and an Acceleration value of 1. The ship with the higher Acceleration value is able to ramp up its speed much faster, making the ship far more maneuverable and resilient to any errors its captain makes.
Open Sea Sailing
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| The yellow arrows circled on this World Map indicate currents. If you sail over the currents, your ship will receive a speed boost. Also, you can only see currents that are nearby; currents not nearby will not appear on your World Map. |
↑ Speed and Acceleration | Top | Sailing Terminology ↓
Sailing on the Open Sea is much different than the sailing that is done in combat. While many of the details we discuss in this guide are relevant to both types of sailing, many details are a bit different when sailing in Open Sea.
- Speed—while a ship's Max Speed in combat might only be 16 knots (kn), its Max Speed on the Open Sea could be 60 kn. Acceleration will also be different on the Open Sea. Because of these differences, your ship may still go at a decent speed even when it's pointed in the red (upwind).
- Be alert in Red Circles—we discuss Red Circles (AKA PvP Zones) in-depth in conquest guide, but essentially Red Circles are areas surrounding ports where Player vs. Player battles take place. When sailing through these areas stay alert for opponents and try to keep your speed up by maneuvering as little as possible. If you have a higher speed, attackers will have a harder time catching up to you.
- Currents can give you a speed boost—sailing through the Open Sea can be time consuming, so we recommend looking out for currents (see the image to the right for more information on what currents look like). If you sail over currents your ship will get a bit of a speed boost for a little while. In order to keep this boost, you should continue sailing within 90° of the direction the current is pointing. That is, if the current is pointing northwest, then you can sail northwest, west, or southwest. Sailing over additional currents will restart the timer for the speed boost.
Sailing Terminology
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| This diagram shows the wind (blowing in the direction of the red arrow) and the terminology associated with positioning a ship in relation to the wind. |
Because sailing is a unique activity, our normal language doesn't quite fit. That is, we don't generally talk about turning to face 90° from the direction that the wind is blowing, unless we're referring to sailing. For this reason you may find sailing terminology useful when learning sailing techniques or when describing maneuvers to other players. Here is a list of common sailing terminology:
- Upwind—in the direction from which the wind is blowing; the red area on the Wind Indicator.
- Luffing—a very narrow angle between Close Haul and Upwind, at the very edge of sailing Upwind.
- Close Haul—at the edge of sailing upwind. The Close Haul angle is different for each ship (varying from 30 – 50°).
- Beam Reach—perpendicular (90°) to the wind.
- Broad Reach—the wind is coming from behind the ship at an angle; located between Beam Reach and Running (specifically 135°).
- Running—wind is coming from directly behind the ship.
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