Required reading for every captain in the Brethren. The wind is older than any flag and obeys none of them — it must be read, not commanded.
Vessels You'll Sail
Brig. Two masts of stacked square sails, a jib forward and a spanker aft. Your starting vessel. Quick on a beam reach, agile in stays, a five-pellet bow burst and two cannons per side (fore + aft) for the broadside. Every voyage starts here.
Brethren Frigate. Three masts. After four islands liberated, the dockyards refit your brig into this. Two more cannons per side — four broadside guns total per side, same per-ball damage as the brig — twice the hull, slower to come about. The trade is in agility.
Vessels You'll Fight
Royal Navy Brig. The Crown's standard patrol. Same two-mast rig as your starter, two cannons per side. Spawns as the island guard around any unclaimed Crown island and attacks on sight.
Royal Navy Frigate. Heavy escort. Three masts, four guns per side, double the patrol brig's broadside weight. Defends Crown Cove at the heart of the archipelago and the most fortified satellite island.
The Two Factors That Decide a Vessel's Speed
Final thrust per frame is the product of three things:
thrust = sailLift × sailExposure × windStrength × 85
Wind strength is fixed for the voyage. Of the three factors, only the first two are under a captain's control:
- Point of sail — the angle of the bow relative to the wind's source.
- Sail exposure — how much of that wind actually crosses the canvas (set by the trim slider).
Both terms multiply. A perfect heading with a slack sail gives only half the speed a perfect heading with full trim does, and vice versa. The two must be solved together.
Point of Sail
The angle between the bow and the direction the wind is coming from. Approximate power values:
| Point of sail | Angle off wind | Relative power |
|---|---|---|
| Dead upwind ("in irons") | 0° | 0.08 — barely steerage |
| Pinching | ~30° | ~0.32 |
| Close-hauled | ~45° | ~0.61 |
| Close reach | ~60° | ~0.89 |
| Beam reach | 90° | 1.00 (peak) |
| Broad reach | ~135° | 1.00 (peak) |
| Running (dead downwind) | 180° | 0.55 |
Counter-intuitive but real: running dead-downwind is slower than reaching across the wind. On a run, the sail acts only as a drag device. On a beam or broad reach, the sail behaves as an airfoil and generates lift — substantially more efficient.
Equally counter-intuitive: pointing close to the wind is brutally slow on a square-rigger. A brigantine cannot honestly sail closer than ~60° off the wind. Anything tighter than that pays a steep tax — at 30° the captain is barely making ground.
Sail Trim
Sail trim is the angle of the yard relative to the apparent wind. Defined as:
sailExposure = |sin(windLocalFlow − sailAngle)|
- 0% when the yard sits parallel to the wind. The cloth flutters useless ("luffing").
- 100% when the yard sits perpendicular to the wind. The sail bellies, full power.
The optimal sail angle is the wind angle minus 90°, expressed in the ship's local frame. The wind compass at the top right combined with the trim slider on the side give a captain everything needed to find that angle by eye.
Read the cloth. Trim until the cloth shape on screen looks fullest and the sail-fill arc on the slider matches the wind. A flapping, flat sail is a luffing sail — losing the full multiplicative term.
Sailing Doctrine
Reaching Top Speed
- Steer to a beam reach (90° off wind) or a broad reach (~135°).
- Trim the sail perpendicular to the wind. Watch the cloth bulge.
- Both factors multiply. Half the answer is no answer.
Reaching An Upwind Target
- A vessel cannot sail directly into the wind. The no-go zone is roughly ±30° from the source.
- Tack in zigzags at close-hauled (~45° off wind). Each tack costs a beat of speed but it is the only way to make ground upwind.
- Each "TACK" or "JIBE" the activity ticker prints is a real wind-line crossing.
Reaching A Downwind Target
- Avoid running dead downwind. Speed caps near 55%.
- Jibe in long broad-reach legs (~135° off wind). The total distance is longer but average speed is nearly twice the dead-run — the broad-reach captain arrives sooner.
Reaching A Target On The Beam
- Sail straight at it. The bow is already on the fastest point of sail.
Combat At Sail
- Stage upwind, attack on the beam. Sit upwind of the target, then turn down to a beam reach for the run-in. The beam reach delivers top speed and puts the enemy on the broadside, where the cannon mounts fire. A brig lays down two balls per side; a frigate lays down four — each ball at the same per-shot weight, the upgrade is the count, not the punch.
- Avoid approaching dead downwind. Speed will arrive slow, the bow guns are weak (a five-pellet burst at short range), and turning to break off becomes awkward.
- Disengage by turning through the wind. A clean tack returns the vessel to a beam reach in the opposite direction. A botched jibe in a low-wind moment leaves a captain stalled.
- Crown Cove sits at the world's center. The approach demands a beam-reach line where possible — the tack to take is dictated by whichever way the wind is blowing at the moment of the assault.
Stackable Speed Multipliers
| Source | Effect |
|---|---|
| Farm island claims | 1 + 0.15 × (sailLevel − 1) thrust per level |
| Grog Barrel pickup | ×1.4 thrust for 30 seconds |
| Powder Barrel pickup | No speed effect — affects cannon damage only |
| Trident of Poseidon (Cursed Cargo) | ×1.2 thrust for the voyage |
These buffs stack with the underlying point-of-sail × trim model. A fully-upgraded ship with a Grog Barrel active on a beam reach is the absolute peak — the right moment to pick fights or charge Crown Cove.
Quick Reference
- The wind compass (top-right HUD) shows where the wind is coming from.
- The sail slider (right edge) sets the yard angle from 0° to 180°.
- The speed gauge (top-right HUD, in knots) is the live read on trim quality.
- The activity ticker prints TACK when the bow crosses the wind line and JIBE when the stern crosses it. Real terminology, real triggers.
Fair winds.