How to operate the cog?

[GG Anderson]

Ahoy!
Im very new to this game & a big newb in sailing stuff

I really like the look of the cog and the aesthetics of aestrin, but i dont get the controls of this vessel.

From turning both the sails until what the triangular sail in the front ist for.
Is there like a guide out there that will teach me the basics?

Thanks in regards
Happy sailing

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by GG Anderson:

Ahoy!
Im very new to this game & a big newb in sailing stuff

I really like the look of the cog and the aesthetics of aestrin, but i dont get the controls of this vessel.

From turning both the sails until what the triangular sail in the front ist for.
Is there like a guide out there that will teach me the basics?

Thanks in regards
Happy sailing

I'll give you the "quick start" version. this assumes you have the default rigging and have not yet changed it.

the triangular sail is really your primary sail. it generates power for you, and can continue to do so relatively close to the direction the wind is blowing from. to use it, unfurl the sail, and move to the side of the ship that it blows to. the sail is connected by a line (rope,) to a winch on each side of the ship. tighten the winch it is attached to until you notice a "bite" into the wind. then tighten it about a quarter-turn more.

the square sail is for "bonus speed when you're lucky." mostly. it is almost never worth it to turn the square sails, i find it best to always leave them centered. this means you can only use the square when the wind is coming form some angle behind you.

the square is also useful for when you get "locked in irons," when the wind is blowing directly from your bow. you can unfurl the square to get a push backwards, which allows you to turn so you can catch the wind and start moving forward again.

you CAN tilt the squares to catch the wind from the side, but it's almost impossible to properly recenter the sail, and a square providing power from the side like that tends to tip you over, "cause reefing."

[ling.speed]

Someone better qualified should answer this later... but for now some basic rules:

Unless you are sailing downwind, the front staysail (jib) can be kept pretty tight - with its bottom free edge above the board (side of the ship). It will help the ship to maintain course, and balance against the main sail when the wind is from the side (beam reach).

Instruction on what angle to pick for the main sail is in the tutorial scroll. You do that by releasing the windward sheet winch (windward is on the side wind is blowing from) and letting wind rotate the sail.

You generally control both sails by adjusting just one sheet winch each, no need to mess with the other side winches, unless you want to prepare for upcoming turn or weather change.

I would also advise using windward winch for the staysail, just be advised that pulling it past the main mast will produce backward force if the wind is coming from the side or front. So dont tighten it all the way unless you want to go backwards.

Important thing to look at is how much wind is in the sails. If they float around and have wrinkles etc they are not helping. Try to point them or the boat so that they are nice and streached. In strong winds the speed at which you pull on the winches will vary too. The slower you can rotate them, the better the sail works.



Between all the starter ships Cog is the trickiest to sail upwind, and initially when you "tack" (zig zag against the wind, googlable) you can "gybe" instead, turning 270 degrees away from the wind (turning left to go right and vice versa). Tacking older ships wasnt easy as you need to furl (stow) the main sail and tighten the staysail to mast before turning, and it still can fail if the sea state is too rough or you are too slow at the controls. Gybe is fail safe method.

[ling.speed]

Originally posted by Thundercracker:

the square sail is for "bonus speed when you're lucky." mostly. it is almost never worth it to turn the square sails, i find it best to always leave them centered. this means you can only use the square when the wind is coming form some angle behind you.

I would agree generally... except in this case of starting configuration Cog. It definitely helps a quite a bit have the suqre working at an angle instead of furling it.

Since the mast is close to center it does not push the boat around. So while gains are marginal at best trying to angle sailing downwind, it does not hurt either.



But now this made me want to do speed trials, gonna check it tonight.

edit: yeah beam reach and close reach are definitely better with square at an angle. And close hauled with only jib is significantly slower than close reach with square and jib, so depending on where you go square can be good even upwind.

Didnt know turning the square would do so little to broad reach, as you say its definitely good to keep it straight... unless one expects a wind change, but the point stands yeah.

[Thundercracker]

thanks for going over it, ling. i did forget some key points, and you clarified some other things. things have also changed a bit since the last time i was in a default cog.

[GG Anderson]

I thank you both, ling.speed & Thundercracker, alot for your helpfull answers & tolarance for my missing knowledge :-) I will defenitly try out those tips & hopefully become a good captain of the cog!

[jason statham]

look at the bottom of the front triangle sail to get the angle, and just line it up with your square sail. the cog and the brig are my favorite boats because you can use the square sails to throw it in reverse terry