Here you will find some advice about the most used keys. Click on the animations to play.
zoom in/out
Z and X are the most popular keys. You usually use your left hand on the Z and X keys to ZOOM in and out.
These keys work the same if you have a boat or not. When you don't have a boat (when you are a watcher) you can CLICK with your mouse
in the field to center that position in your screen.
When you've got a boat the screen will center on it, tracking you wherever you go.
Sail control, trimming and easing
SailX is about Tactics and not about handling. The control of your sails is mostly automated and your ONLY options are to either:
* Have your sails perfectly trimmed for the point-of-sail of your boat, or
* Completely ease your sails to try to generate the least power as possible.
This is done using the SHIFT key, pressing ONCE will toggle between SHEETED IN and SHEETED OUT. You will see the boom changing positions on your boat
and also a change of how your boat is drawn.
Take into account that a boat with sails eased will NOT move upwind and if you try to tack the boat will end in irons. You will usually only
ease sails during the pre-start to avoid being over the start line.
Take also into account that when running (with the wind pushing you) if you ease the sails it does not make a lot of difference, your boat will keep running!.
Changing your course, rudder control
Like with the sails the controls used to change your boat's course are quite simple: you can make your boat go UP (closer to the wind, luffing) and DOWN (away from the wind).
And you use the UP and DOWN keys. .
These rudder actions will slow down your boat and you should ONLY use them sparingly:
* during pre-start sequence to get a good starting position,
* when rounding a buoy,
* to avoid other boats or obstructions and
* when you have overlaid the next mark
The less you use these keys the better. They are dangerous because using UP and DOWN will fix the boat's course as it will disengage the auto-pilot.
Your boat is always drawn with some green lines. These lines show you the best possible courses (upwind and downwind, starboard and port), these courses maximize your
VMG and are where you need to steer to be fastest.
The most common error is to repeatedly press UP key and point your boat's bow to the wind. Your boat is in irons then. You will have no power, or steering... Use DOWN to go under
the green line and build some speed again.
The auto-pilot, sailing optimal angles
SPACE BAR engages the autopilot. When you tap the space bar your boat will smoothly go to the closest green-line course and will stay there
if wind shifts. You use the space bar going upwind and also running. Because it's fast!. It is where your VMG is max and it's like staying 'on-the-groove'
sailing by your sails' telltales.
If you use UP or DOWN keys your boat will disengage the auto-pilot, remember to press the space bar again when you are done with your course
alterations.
There is no reason not to sail on autopilot when possible. You will notice your boat is NOT on autopilot because a dotted orange line is shown plotting your
fixed course. When you are on autopilot your course will stick to the green lines.
You can also use the space bar to recover from irons but it is much quicker to hold the DOWN key.
Tacks and Gybes
A tack is a special manouvre to make your boat change your course passing thru the wind direction.
You tack when going upwind to zig-zag your course to the mark.
A tack with a real boat consists of many individual tasks that have to be completely coordinated. SailX boats complete a perfect tack with just a simple ENTER keystroke.
Be careful! and remember these advices:
* don't tack (don't press ENTER) if your boat is stopped or is going very slow, you need some speed to complete the tack,
* don't tack with your sails eased, a boat requires power to tack,
* don't press repeatedly the ENTER key, you're telling the skipper to tack repeatedly and the boat will end in irons and stopped.
.
The tack will finish with your boat on the green line (auto-pilot) engaged.
Pressing ENTER your boat will tack IF SHE IS SAILING ABOVE A BEAM REACH. If you press ENTER when your boat is running (under the beam reach) a Gybe
will be completed.
The gybe will make your boat automatically change from one side to the other of the wind finishing on the other green line.
Crash Tacks and Gybes
Sometimes you will need your boat to quickly tack or gybe. A quick action is not a perfect controlled manouvre but there are those times where a
crash has to be avoided by all means.
Instead of pressing ENTER you double tap the ENTER key.
Crash tacks and gybes are not good for overall performance.
Penalty turns
You will, eventually, break some rule of sailing.
Because your boat touches a mark, or because you have some contact with other boat.
In all these cases SailX rules engine will analize the incident and assign a pending penalization to a boat: the boat's name will start flashing.
Boats that break rules can (must!) exonerate the foul making 360s. In SailX we've decided that just ONE 360 will make do.
Your boat completes an exonerating 360 by doing a tack and a gybe or a gybe and a tack in consecutively.
To special keys are there to help you: O and Q, by pressing one of them your boat will complete a 360 clockwise or counterclock wise.
When completing the spin SailX will take away the flashing condition but if you don't spin soon your boat will be DSQed in compliance with the Sailing Instructions.
Warning: before you do an exonerating spin you have to get clear of other boats. While spinning your boat has no rights!.
Completing a race, the course
The animation shows the standard SailX course for fleet races.
It is a two laps race with (2) offset legs and (1) downwind gate.
Notice that the downwind gate is NOT part of the course in the 1st upwind leg and in the last downwind leg. Notice also that (for fleet races) windward buoys are always
rounded leaving the buoy on the port side.
The course for other SailX formats can be different. Match Races are completed on a course with no offset while team races follow a very specific course.