I thought Sloop was quicker?

@saltysiberian
The boats vary in what they excel at, however, here is a brief explanation. The sloop is fastest when sailing against wind. Galleon is fastest with wind. I believe the Brig is a balance of both. If you intend to run while slooping, going against the wind is your best option. However, be aware of a little known sailing quirk. When sailing against the wind, for some reason or the other, having your sail angled perpendicular to the wind direction will cause your ship to go faster than say another sloop having sails angled to either side.

I and others refer to this as "Set Sails to Stupid."

@nabberwar I've always said "square" but yours is funnier. And I have a follow-up question...

At what point does it become more effective to put sails all the way to either side? Is it just off the wind, like a close-hauled vessel in real life, or does it not take effect until you're sailing perpendicular to wind direction? Basically, having sails "set to stupid" is fastest upwind until you reach what angle?

@cddegarmo
No idea of at what angle the wind it starts to matter. Others might, maybe @Galactic-Geek might. All I know is at direct perpendicular you will see a noticeable speed difference compared to those who don't do it.

@limbicfanatic Interesting. I will definitely be testing some of these scenarios. Glad to see that, if this can be trusted, each ship has an advantageous situation in terms of speed.

Curious about the head crosswind, though. Between two sloops, which would be faster? A sloop with the sails as shown in the diagram, or angled to the left like the brig and galleon?

@cddegarmo
If you want to get the fastest speed out of the sloop at all times, the default sail setting (i.e. set sails to stupid) should be used any time you can't catch wind with the sails (i.e. the sails don't billow). This is only true for the sloop. For the brig and the galleon, you must get much closer to a straight headwind before it becomes beneficial to set sails to stupid.

Any time you can cause the sails to billow by angling the sails, that will be the fastest speed for that given wind direction. This is true for any ship, not just the sloop.

It should also be noted that the sloop only becomes faster than the brig and the galleon when you are sailing into a straight headwind. As the wind angle shifts slightly, the brig and galleon will be faster if their sails are angled properly. However, the agility of the sloop allows it to change direction while still maintaining proper sail angle much faster than the brig and galleon.

@glannigan the deadly sloop can hide behind rocks and await their prey especially in the Wild.

Galleons should only be feared when proven to be a competent crew. For the most part galleons are pretty easy, while the sloops prove to be almost unsinkable as they can bucket to safe waters.

@glannigan said in I thought Sloop was quicker?:

Sloops are a cowards weapon!

Real men sail Galleons.

Sailing a Sloop is like cruising around Martha’s Vineyard as a Kennedy.

:)

I like me little nimble craft :)

edit: All just a bit of banter :)
Personally I like the Sloop life, and Galleons... well they keep me on me toes.