PREV UP NEXT Olympia: The Age of Gods PBEM (May 4 1999)

4.3.2.2: Sails

Sails permit a ship to use the wind for propulsion, cutting down greatly on the number of sailors required and sometimes providing the speediest of travel. With sufficient sail, a ship can cross Olympia's wide oceans as fast as the wind can blow.

Each unit of hull may mount a maximum of 3 sails. Each sail requires one sailor to tend it, up to a maximum of 100 sailors. A sail uses up 500 units of a ship's capacity.

Adding sails to a ship requires the Add Sails [9614] skill. Each addition sail added to a ship requires 1 wood [77] and 10 workers and takes 3 days. To add a sail to a ship, the shipbuilder should enter the ship and issue the order:

use 9614

At the conclusion of the command, a new sail will be added to the ship.

To remove a sail from a ship, the shipbuild should enter the ship and issue the order:

use 9618

Removing a sail requires 10 workers.

Sailing a ship at normal speed requires two fully-staffed sails per unit hull. For example, sailing a 3 unit hull ship at normal speeds requires that the ship have 6 sails and at least 8 sailors (2 to man the hull and 1 each for the 6 sails).

Each additional fully-staffed sail per unit hull cuts a ship's travel time by two days. For example, a 3 unit ship with 9 fully manned sails would cut its travel time by two days, crossing a 4 day ocean province in just 2 days.

Conversely, if a ship has less than two full-staffed sails per unit hull, it will add two days of travel time. A ship with less than one sail per two units hull cannot move at all.