Kanker day

The other day was Kanker day, - celebrating the invention of sailing in SL. This is really too geeky for my blog, but Kanker Greenacre built the first boat in SL, the Tako, and so the SL Sailing community marks this important day on the 16th of May.

Me looking at all the Takos at TYC

I was not around when the Tako was built - back in 2005; In fact I never even met Kanker, but I sailed the Taco a few times. Compared to modern boats, I don't really find it interesting as a sailing simulation. Wrote a bit about it here; Nevertheless, in its day the Tako was close to a miracle, and most boats are still based on the Tako.

Takos at Tradewinds

Here's a better view. Behind me you see different custom Takos. I am told it was quite a big racing class. I suppose, now it has been superseeded by more modern boats such as the Flying Fizz, the Q2m, Bolero, ACA, Leetle Cat and many more.

Me and Balduin talking historic boats

Above you see me and Balduin of Bolero Fame talking historic boats. Today we have lots of yacht builders, yacht clubs, cruisers, races, RDs and hangarounds. All thanx to the Tako. Go see the full coverage of Kanker day at Tradewinds Yacht Club. Link to the right.
My next post will be purely about sailing. I promise.

Sailing in a Tako-shell

I finally tried a Tako. Everybody talks about the Tako, because it was the first boat to cruise SL waters. Kanker built the first Tako in prehistoric time, around 2006 I think, whereby he invented sailing in SL. Kudos for that. I guess the Lindens didn't see that coming. Anyway, I thought I'd have to try it eventually. Raced in a Tako 2.3 once. That wasn't very realistic. This time I tried a 3.2.

Me, my Tako and Jonathan at Tradewinds.

The 3.2 is better. Much better. It has sounds, wake, bow splash, a rather nice hud giving angles of wind and sheet in a graphical way. There is also a wind indicator at the top of the mast. It sends out little cloudy blimps, - blurps of fluffy stuff. Not very realistic, and overall - somehow - the Tako doesn't quite give me that feel of realism. The hull is made from prims. From certain angles it looks like a lego boat. From other angles the Tako can look pretty good. You can see the "legos" on the side of the boat, if you look carefully on this photo:

Me and a friend in a Tako somewhere in Blake.

Downwind speed is low, - even with the spinnaker up. Very strange. It handles sim crossings pretty well, and the stability is good. It has mouselook sailing too, but the sails are flat like pancakes, so no need to look at them unless u wanna get ur smiley upside down. Oh, - and I gotta sit in SB side. There is no hanging, no balancing, even when it heels badly. Above it looks ok, but here...

Me getting my butt wet in Blake.

Very unnatural. It is - in fact - a little difficult to define, what is missing to give that feel. I think it is a combination of things. The single position, the non balancing, the flat sails, the unworldly wind vane, but most of all the linearity of the boat. It seems to move far too calm and predictable. That - to me - makes it too easy to handle and a little bit boring.