Lt.Leafblower

I get that many gamers just want to be able to fight a pitched battle in half an hour then leave, but surely it would be simple enough to have an adjustment setting to allow those who want either "full" or "quick game" levels of realism (for multi-player game invitations this is just stipulated for any who want to participate). I think the point is also well made that it's not a simple given that small boats were fast and big ships slow - very dependant on sea conditions. In heavy weather, a small boat is probably travelling several times the straight-line distance of a bigger boat since it tends to go over the waves more than a larger boat that will cut through. A good example of this is the Sydney-Hobart Yacht race. That is essentially a race between the "super-maxi" (super-large) yachts, while smaller boats cannot win outright but may be awarded a win based on handi-cap. For the purpose of this game, it may be good enough that frigates are significantly faster under strong winds but relatively smooth seas while SOTL are similar/marginally faster under heavier seas & winds.

Just to qualify - I was basing the observed speeds on the speed gauge/sail compass gadget at the bottom left of screens (unless that's meant to be wind speed?), rather than the appraent speed which obviously looks quite fast. Presumably Captains of frigates liked to brag about top speeds which may well have been achievable under ideal condtions but probably not most of the time.

Fair enough then, I guess. I'm sure the research was lengthy on this. There do seem to be general references to frigates achieving speeds up to 14 knots. I tried to find out what kind of speed the reproduction French frigate Hermione can achieve but either she hasn't been sufficiently at sea yet or it's just not reported anywhere. I know she was a bit of a bathtub, but Cook's Endeavour averaged about 3 knots. The Endeavour Replica averages 2.5 knots under sail and 5.0 under motor. Fastest speed ever recorded by the Cutty Sark (possibly the fastest tea clipper built) 17.5 knots.

I was a little to late to buy into the Alpha Release before the PayPal issue, so I've had to make do with jealously gazing at other people's videos instead, which is not a bad exercise as it turns out. Some of this is bound to have been covered, but I'm wondering if anyone else is under the impression that ship speeds seem to be a bit on the fast side too much of the time. From my reading, late 18th/early 19th C Ships-of-the-line spent most of their time at 3-5 knots and never more than 8-9 from (HMS Victory figures). I know smaller boats were much more manoeverable and probably a tad faster but there seem to be a lot of ships moving around at 14 knots a lot of the time. I understand the invention of sharp-ended clippers in the 19th C for trade allowed more like 15-20 knots top speed (and to out-run threatening naval vessels).