Hudless J-class sailing

A few days back ZZ asked if the Maia can be sailed without a hud; I answered yes. Maia comes with a nice hud, but she also has key features known from RL such as compass, luffing and a windex. Here's a few images to support it.

Well trimmed sails won't flap

First up there's the flapping. Racers like telltails because they give an early warning of non-optimum airflow. However, it is perfectly possible to cruise and race without telltails. Just pick your course. Let out the sails till they flap, and then sheet in untill they stop flapping. The hud will help you find and stay at the point of optimum sailtrim - as will telltails; However, when you are cruising, no-one pays attention to that last half knot of speed. They care about the freshness of the lime in the GT and the spectacular view...

Compass

When you are at the wheel, there's a compass right in front of you. Look down a bit, and if you are one of those ppl with huge boobs, you're in trouble. Me, I can see the compass just fine, and yes it does rotate... or rather the compass stays still while the boat rotates. Oh, and note there's no cupholder, so you gotta steer with one hand while balancing your soft drink with the other. (or just don't drink and drive ;-) 

Windex tells you apparent wind direction

Up the mast is a pretty little helper-thingie. It is the well known windex that more and more boat builders now seem to include, and that i soooo nice. No more texthuds needed. Just look up and you know the wind. Just like a real boat. 

Heeling tells you windspeed

But it doesn't tell the windspeed, and there's no meter saying how strong the wind is. True. No need for a windspeed readout. That you must figure out yourself from the heel. Once the sails are trimmed, she will heel over according to windspeed. The boatspeed will - ofcourse - also be affected by this.

Downwind winging

That's really all there is to it. It helps a lot if you have a basic understanding of windangle versus sail angle. Downwind the wind hits the sails with a 90 degree angle and simply pushes the boat. Upwind it is a different story. Upwind the sails are almost aligned with the wind creating low pressure on the back of the sail essentially pulling the boat forwards. Just one more thing... the Maia is big. Craig spent some time making it sail like a big boat. She is not a dinghy. It will take a while to adjust course or turn her around.

It's J-day again

Another giant sailing beauty hits the waters of SL...

Maia

It's Ktaba's latest creation: The Maia. Words cannot describe this fantastic piece of virtual sailing art. It has to be seen and experienced in action.

Details

There's like a billion details. Wires, ropes, winches and what's nuts, and since it's wooden it creaks like an old tree bending in the wind.

Woohoo

It's a fantastic machine. It's a magnificent ride. Thanx Craig. This is your best so far.

That J-boat

I guess by now most SL sailors are aware that - after many iterations and refinements - Craigs magnificent J-boat finally hit the shelves. Orca was there at the launch event, and she wrote about it a couple of weeks ago. Check it out here. You get Craigs own words, so it's just a bit biased. Just one tiny bit. The J-boat itself is anything but tiny.

A small j with a big J inside

This picture shows how the J-boat is delivered. It comes in a nice little J-shaped box, if there is such a thing. Though the J-boat is in no way inflatable, the entire full sized boat is inside this little one. My immediate thought was: If only this had an RC option  we'd have a ball. Besides, it would fit the virtual waters nicely. Sizewise that is. But let's unpack...

A small j with a big J on the side

Here it is in all its magnificense and magnitude. Huge is the word, though I've seen bigger boats in SL. This tanker was pretty big, and the aircraft carrier was even bigger. However, they aren't nearly as much fun as a sailboat, a working sailboat. The J-boat coes with main, two headsails and spinakker, so there's work to be done or it won't move an inch.

Live aboard it's not

True engineering is about sacrifice. The J-boat sails really well. It comes with full WWC support, so theres waves and current to take in to account when racing. What's been sacrificed is the interior. It's simply not there. Essentially the J-boat is a daysailor. Still it works great for mooring and relaxing in a secret bay. Thinking big thoughts. From where I sit in the above picture the mast top is visible up among the clouds. Allmost.

Down south with a friend

But it's the sailing that makes the J-boat interesting. It works great as a cruiser, and there are so many details that many of these will have to wait till another post. Sailors will immediately notice all the lines, sheets and stays are working. This may not influence the sailing experience directly, but it does have to do with the immersiveness. The illusion of sailing simply gets better from all these details.

The "Rock-shot"

We sailed south for a while - pretty much in silense - as we were so impressed by this huge ship sailing, heeling, rocking, luffing and much much more. It's truly amazing what Craig did here. After a while we reached the middle of the Blake Sea, and ofcourse we took the must have "Rock-shot" rounding the Fastnet Rock. So many Kodak-moments in the Blake Sea, hehe. Or is it called jpg-moments these days?

Going back up

After the "Sharp-Tooth Island" my friend left to do stuff in RL; Duh. I was left to do the harsh beating back up north by myself, and here I am approaching NYC from the south-east. It's a good thing I was wearing my sweater, cause the NYC area is covered with wintery-white snow. Brrrr. As if the RL snow isn't enough, hehe. No, really... the snow looks pretty. And cool... and cold...

Ahoy

Over at the westside og NYC at least the trees are not covered with snow. Perhaps that's the first sign of spring? Dunno. These last two pics show some of all those beautifully made sheets and stays. They are fully functional in-as-much-as the running stays are loosened and tightened according to trim and boom position. Well, - to me fully functional would mean that I could decide the tension and adjust it according to windspeed, but that remains a feature of the future. For now we'll have to do with this, and right now it is pretty unique.

J-news

Something is cooking in Craigs brewery. It's huge, it's fantastic and now it is also sailable plus it has a couple of features, which I've never seen before in the virtual waters of SL. Check this out, and tell me what you think you see:

Craig Ktaba's J

Huge sails, fantastic hull, sheets, stays and running stays all over, giant windex that you can actually see from the deck, but that isn't really it, is it? There's something else that's different from just about any other boat I've ever seen in SL. I know, it is hard to see the details, but this boat is so big that it hardly fits inside a picture. I can zoom out, yes, but that leaves all the fine details unrevealed. SL itself isn't really able to show all the fine work in one picture. Not even if I set graphics to super-ultra high.

Helmsman view

Here's what it looks like from a helmsman perspective. Note the woodwork. That deck looks sooo silky smooth you just gotta go feel it. Even close up it's supersmooth like few other boats. Despite the huge size, this boat is slowly coming alive. The first time I sailed her she was kinda quirky. Slow reacting and moving like it was doing a break dance. It took many seconds for a keypress till anything happened.

Smooth sailing

That's changing now. The sheets are still a bit slow reacting, but hey... a sail this size isn't close hauled in three seconds anyway. However, the interesting thing is the steering. The steering is reaching a point of livelyness where it is fun to sail this. I begin to believe this boat, when it rezzes and says: WWC enabled. Let's race! Except there are no telltails, so how can we trim the sails?

Inshore

Imagine eight of these giant boats doing inshore racing in the souther parts of Blake. That would make for some interesting situations with loads of rules being yelled across the water, hehe. Scandinavians will probably know the famous Tjörn Rundt. If not, google it and see the fun of 400 boats doing "rock slalom".

Navigator, where art thou

I know I'd wanna have a navigator that I trust more than a hundred percent, but let's get back to the boat... Check the shot above! See those lines there, - hanging loose? Those are running backstays. They're loose on the leeward side to let the sail adjust, and they're tight to windward. It's messy, but it's needed with a mast this size, or it will go overboard.

Look up to trim!

Here's a look up those giant sails. Yes, they will luff when not in trim. There's a visible luff and ofcourse there's a sound. Note the running stays on this - the windward - side are tightened. Also, note the windex up there. Yes it is visible, and yes it works just as you'd expect it to.

What is that?

But let's get back to the surface. What is that thing there at the bow? Is that... wake? Real bow wake?

Is that like real bow wake?

It sure looks a lot like real bow wake. It sounds like it too. I am not entirely sure what Craig is doing here, but is is definately something else. Something exciting.

A real boat

So let's do a recap. So far we have a boat that looks amazing. It has sheets, and running stays plus a working windex. It has bow wake that looks way better than anything else I've seen inworld, and it has WWC... and now it also feels alive like a real boat. This is starting to look like a real sailboat simulation. A really exciting one...

That J-boat

About that J-boat I spotted a few weeks ago... Last time I only looked. This time I sailed it around the Blake Sea, and it was a some sailboat-trip. This huge boat actually sails. Here it is again. The virtual J-boat moored at Tradewinds:

Moored at Tradewinds

Old (virtual) salts will be able to tell from this picture, that this is going to be something special. It's obviously high precision, high quality work. Loads of details are in place. Loads of details are still missing. For instance that block there on the side, it seems to be missing the other half of the rope going back up. That's only a tiny detail.

It's tall

Here's one big detail. Not only is the boat huge, - it is tall. Taller than most things actually. Check that view up the mast. Three sets of spreaders. Backstays, checkstays, babystays and what not. This is one of the tallest bermuda-rigs I've seen in this virtual world. Rene's Hanuman is the other one. If there is a windex somewhere up there, I sure can't see it without binoculars.

In fact it is very tall

Here's another shot to give you an indication of the size of this thing. The Tradewinds lighthouse barely measures half the height of this mast. Make no mistake. This is not a static object. This baby sails by the wind. It will carry just over 7500 square feet of sail. The Laser has a measly 76. Let's get going.

Under sail

Heading south with a sunset coming up. The woodwork is spectacular. Here's a view from the cockpit. Look at that wooden flushdeck. Huh! Don't you just need to go feel it? I am telling you: It is as smooth as silk. Let's have another view at it from higher up.

Top view

Here's the classic photo taken from the top spreader. Note the sheets and all the other lines going up and about. Also, note the height... You definately don't wanna fall off from here, and if you do, you wanna make damn sure the boat is heeled over, so you hit the water. Even then, you are in for a hard hit.

Inshore cruising

I sailed down south to get a couple of good pictures. I had this idea about a certain lighthouse being shorter than this mast. This being a Beta version, I wasn't sure I'd make it, but yes... All the way to Blake, round that lighthouse and back to Tradewinds. No crash, no simcross problems, just sailing.

So who's taller?

Ofcourse I am talking about the Fastnet Rock. It is huge. It is spectacular. I often go there while testing boats. Maybe I should surprice myself and take another route. Next time. Bear with me this time. Turns out the Fastnet Rock isn't that big after all, hehe.

Beauty and...

When sailing a J-class it seems everything else is tiny. On my way out of the Blake Sea I ran into this itty bitty Loonetta cabin-cruiser. Talk about different designgoals. Speed versus comfort. Classic versus modern. Long and sleek versus short and fat. Not that the Loonetta is bad. It is just one of those modern boats with less-than-classic lines.

Sunset

I cruised around for a couple of minutes more. Enjoyed the sunset. Then I turned north to get back to Tradewinds. What a sailboat. Phew. I mean, the Ten is pretty. This J-boat here, it is totally amazing. I wonder if anyone can see just which real J-boat this is supposed to look like.

Spyshots

So I was sitting at the dock watching the sunup at Tradewinds... It was early - way too early - and I was kinda sleepy. I must have blinked or dozed off... cause all of a sudden there was a ship out there. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like it came out of nowhere.

Not a bad way to start the day, huh?

And it wasn't just any ship. This was a rather big sailboat. A yacht actually. Couldn't really figure out what it was. Needed to get closer. I launched my zodiac and sailed a bit north to hide behind the island. After a few minutes I landed out there and climbed up the island to see this:

It's still there...

Now that looks like a J-class to me. It seems there's noone around. The island is deserted and the boat looks deserted too. Let's see if I can sneak down the right side of the island and get a better shot from behind a tree or something... 

Definately a J-class yacht

Yay! It's definately a J-class. Doesn't look like the ones we already know. The woodwork is beautiful, and look at all those ropes. This has got to be a new mesh J-class. Noone around? I'll get out there and have a closer look:

Woohooo

I barely managed to get this shot. I right clicked and got the name of the builder. Not unknown. Not unknown at all. Then it poofed. No warning or anything. Sometimes SL works in mysterious ways, but who cares as long as this boat comes to life. What a boat. Phew. 

What's a Hanuman anyway?

A few days back I got a call from ElMegro. He invited me for a ride in a Hanuman. I wasn't quite sure what it was, and googling didn't make it much better; Wikipedia says Hanuman is the Monkey God. Duh! It helps alot to google for Hanuman Yacht: Then it becomes clear that it's a J-Class yacht.

The Hanuman Yacht from ReneMarine

This one is the Virtual Hanuman from ReneMarine. Some yacht, huh! It's big. In fact it is way bigger than these small pictures are able to show. Hmm... Let's have a close up with something in the back; Just to give you an idea of the proportions...

Proportions

That's more like it. Now the Hanuman looks like a small yacht, hehe. She's 42 meters of super classic beauty with an extreme overhang. The waterline is just under 28 meters. Talk about old school design. This baby has to heel to go anywhere near maximum speed.

The tiny RM20 in the back

It turned out we were in a race against another beauty from ReneMarine, the RM20 from ReneMarine. I didn't quite catch the name of the handicap rule. The RM20 is much smaller but still kinda big. Not huge, but big... at least in the virtual waters of SL. The shot above shows ElMegro and me in the Hanuman with the itsy bitsy RM20 in the back.

Smooth sailing

Despite her size, she sails quite well. I guess its due to the ReneMarine sailing engine. Usually, virtual boats this big have problems updating fast enough. The smoothness is replaced with cranky, stuttering moves. Kinda like electric boogie. That makes the sailing experience uninteresting. Not so with the Hanuman.

Blue water cruising

She's definately a sailor. Probably a little too big for the virtual waters as they mostly offer inshore sailing. The Hanuman feels at home out in the open; Blue water cruising or long distance racing seems to be more  her game. There is another problem with the size. Silly technical limitations restrict the amount of details on moving objects in this virtual world.

Full speed ahead

The differences between a real boat and a virtual replica can be few on a small boat. On a bigger boat, compromises must be made. At least when using the technology available at the time, when the Hanuman was built. Today, we're getting used to new levels of details as seen on the Oceanic and the VO70.

Tall ship?

So, the virtual Hanuman sails surprisingly well. She's lively and fast. She looks great under sail too, - especially from a distance. The sails themselves are also well made, and the woodwork looks great. The interior is also nice. In fact this is probably the best J-Class available in SL. Still, I am not overly enthused by this fabulous build. Why?

In the cockpit

Somehow the virtual Hanuman doesn't quite have the sleek elegancy of the real thing. Whether it's the proportions or technical limitations I dunno. The deck and the interior is well made, no doubt. It is just that the the real thing has sooo many more details. To me the virtual Hanuman appears too clean cut. She is still a fantastic build, but seeing the real thing... oh my... Perhaps the virtual world isn't quite ready for this type of Yacht??

PS: Check one of Rene's latest builds with amazing details;

Runaway J

Just sat on the pier at Tradewinds; Thinking about all the new boats coming out these days. Balduin called. We talked about the  updated Cotton Blossom. It's sooo nice. I'll post my notes with some pictures in the foreseeable future.

What a fine ship.

All of a sudden a J-class sailed past. Took a closer look, and whoa... there was noone at the helm. It read Columbia somewhere on the side of a skylight, but otherwise there was no ID. Looked it up and found an article about it at Trudeau's website. Apparently it is a live aboard model. A really nice one.

Pretty and majestic.

Maybe I should have a closer look at the Columbia some time. Would be nice to have a bedroom  slightly bigger than the Bolero. Well, that will have to wait. Right now I need to test the updated Cotton Blossom. It is bigger than the Bolero, but since it's a racer, there's no berths.

Wonder if it clears that next island.

The Columbia... what a dream boat. Lil big for casual cruising; She's not built for crossing the Atlantic either. Built for speed. Wauw! Gotta run... need to call the coastguard about the "Runaway J" out there before someone gets hurt.

J-Class relaxation

Logged in to get some sunshine. The RL weather continues to be grey and rainy. By chance I met this guy out to test his boat, so here we are, - sailing across the Blake Sea. Winds not too strong. Perfect opportunity for me to get some sun.

Me on a J-Class from Trudeau

Besides, I never sailed a J-Class in SL before. It was kinda nice. The sails are flat like a pancake though. Too bad. Such a pretty boat, otherwise. I guess an update will take care of that.

Coconut Island? Nope, Windlass...

After a while we reached the southside of Blake. Sandy beaches with palmtrees began to pop up everywhere. Just what I needed. Set relaxation to one hundred percent, take off the helmet (!) and enjoy quite the opposite of Extreme Sailing. Ahh... those dreams... 

Relaxation set to 100%

On a day like this, Second Life ain't too bad. In fact, the weather in SL is usually a tad better than in RL, but enough talking... there is RL racing to do. After all they said the sun would pop out later today. Thanx for the ride, Ravin.

If you're a sucker for classics, you might wanna check the Bolero, the Trudeau One and the Folkboat.