Summer means sailing, and I've had my fair share of RL sailing these past five weeks. That's why I thought it would be fun to check up on SL, and it was. Look what I found:
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| That's a Sjogin |
My First though was: Hey, - finally a followup to Beccas beginner boat, - the now famous baby sloop; I looked closer and the Megin came to mind. Then I googled Sjogin, and it turns out this is a pretty close replica of the RL Sjogin, which in turn is a close cousin of the Megin.
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| Nice craftsmanship |
Obviously it will sail and quite nicely, if I may say so. The hull, rig and sails are all well crafted with a sweet attention to detail. I can feel the urge to just take off and sailaway, but let's check out a few things first. There's a click menu with poses and what nuts.
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| Weekend? |
It's not a big boat, but there is room for a couple on a romantic weekend. Or just me reading a book while the waves gently splashes on the hull. There is a special sound in this type of boat, because it is a clinker. I suppose the built in sounds could reflect that. Ok, a tiny lamp woud be nice for night reading. Check out how Balduin had that back in 2011 in his beautiful Bolero.
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| Sails, telltales and all |
Sailing is easy. Standard commands work but there is also a hud. No need for that when you can get real feedback. The sails flap when in irons, and the telltales almost work like real telltales. Almost. They don't move up and down quite as expected. They really should be in the first third of the jib, as that's where the wind enters the sailarea. Details, details. Oh, and it seems there is no wind-indicator. A windex might look silly on a boat like this, but a vane from the top of the mast would probably look both pretty and good.
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| Sunset sailing |
Sounds are ok, but the speed has no impact on the sounds. Sadly. I thought I heard a bit of Flying Fizz sound at some point, but I was not able to steer or trim in order to produce the sound again. Strange. However, a look inside the boat reveals it is not a Fizz sailing engine. It does not look like a BBK sailing engine either. Perhaps it's a homegrown... dunno. Will find out.
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| Time to dock |
The sailing seems fine, but the rudder is bit slow. Wakes are nice. Heel seems fair, and there is balancing, which is supernice. Trimming is fine and responsive, but something strange happens when tacking. Sometimes the sail stops working. Maybe it's just me. I will give it a decent sailing test sometime soon.
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| Cute thing |
For now I'll settle with very cute, well made sailing "thing" with loads of nice details. The Sjogin definately deserve to be taken to sea for a few adventures in the virtual seas of SL.
PS: There is a dude on Instagram sailing boats like this in RL. Check the "SailingCraftsMan". You can hear that special clinker-sound there.
