Movement is the most confusing part of
sail to many. Ships can head in 8 directions:
0 0 0
b b b0 b b b 0b b
0 0 0
The stern of a ship moves when it turns. The bow remains stationary. Ships can always turn, regardless of the wind (unless they are becalmed). All ships drift when they lose headway. If a ship doesn't move forward at all for two turns, it will begin to drift. If a ship has begun to drift, then it must move forward before it turns, if it plans to do more than make a right or left turn, which is always possible.
Movement commands to
sail are a string of forward moves and turns. An example is “l3”. It will turn a ship left and then move it ahead 3 spaces. In the drawing above, the “b0” made 7 successive left turns. When
sail prompts you for a move, it prints three characters of import. E.g.,
move (7, 4):
The first number is the maximum number of moves you can make, including turns. The second number is the maximum number of turns you can make. Between the numbers is sometimes printed a quote ('). If the quote is present, it means that your ship has been drifting, and you must move ahead to regain headway before you turn (see note above). Some of the possible moves for the example above are as follows:
move (7, 4): 7
move (7, 4): 1
move (7, 4): d /* drift, or do nothing */
move (7, 4): 6r
move (7, 4): 5r1
move (7, 4): 4r1r
move (7, 4): l1r1r2
move (7, 4): 1r1r1r1
Because square riggers performed so poorly sailing into the wind, if at any point in a movement command you turn into the wind, the movement stops there. E.g.,
move (7, 4): l1l4
Movement Error;
Helm: l1l
Moreover, upon making a turn, the movement allowance drops to the lesser of what remains this turn and what would be available when going in the new direction. Thus, any turn closer to the wind will generally preclude sailing the full distance printed in the “move” prompt.
Old sailing captains had to keep an eye constantly on the wind. Captains in
sail are no different. A ship's ability to move depends on its attitude to the wind. The best angle possible is to have the wind off your quarter, that is, just off the stern. The direction rose on the side of the screen gives the possible movements for your ship at all positions to the wind. Battle sail speeds are given first, and full sail speeds are given in parenthesis.
0 1(2)
\|/
-^-3(6)
/|\
| 4(7)
3(6)
Pretend the bow of your ship (the “^”) is pointing upward and the wind is blowing from the bottom to the top of the page. The numbers at the bottom “3(6)” will be your speed under battle or full sails in such a situation. If the wind is off your quarter, then you can move “4(7)”. If the wind is off your beam, “3(6)”. If the wind is off your bow, then you can only move “1(2)”. Facing into the wind, you cannot move at all. Ships facing into the wind are said to be
in irons.