From Japan to SL

  

Made a long cruise from Blake Sea toward the west with Kitto on her yacht Loonetta. This yacht is said to be made with the great care to reduce CPU time ensuring the best possible SIM-crossings and low lag. During our long sailing, there was no trouble in the crossing. Also this yacht supports 32 passengers with individual animations, but the manual does not recommend that many for SIM-crossing. I bought it immediately. She is a bit chubby but a bright spark, but that is another story. The subject this time is the mysterious island on the right.




There was a fancy island and we took pictures, but the island on the right was not seen by Kitto and Lan on board. I thought it was due to the difference in viewing distance. It may be difficult to make such a landscape with overhang, so I decided to come back to see more detail.




But next day, I found that there is no SIM where the island was. There is a case where three-dimensional landscape is prepared for background, but does it disappear overnight? Or was it a fata morgana that only I was able to see…



  

From the west side of Satori to the north-east corner of Nautilus, a long course passing through about ninety SIMs. Someone made a SIM on the coastal waterway private, and now it is impossible to make a full circle of a continent, but the inland sea of Nautilus is more flexible in selecting courses and has varied scenes.




An island as the starting point. I tried this course with various yachts but every time I was logged out around the strait in the inland sea. So I used a buggy boat that is small and good in stability and steerability. Also this one has good speed.
Start: from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tuulikki/26/194/22




An island near the goal. There is a free REZ area. The sea is dead end some distance ahead. The cautious outward voyage took about 30 minutes but the shooting homeward was about 15 minutes. The points not to drop when crossing SIM borders might be to release throttle and rudder to make coasting at the border, and to slow down when passing strait. But it is exhilarating to speed at the maximum of 130km/h while feeling thumps every time crossing SIM border. Since the buggy boat is too small for picture, I brought out an ocean racer, a new model from WildWind. I will try again with this.
Goal: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Leoming/208/64/22




There are many yacht race courses set in the inland sea of Nautilus and many buoys were set. Titanic is also on the way. On the east there is Blake Sea that is famous as yacht racing site. The white SIM on the right of the letter Blake Sea is Hollywood SIM that has a large yacht club. I will introduce two islands with free REZ zones. There will be many yacht races held here so please be careful not to interfere with other racers. The waterway toward east may be the longest straight course in the SL. I rode a jet-boat to try the maximum speed but I dropped out soon.
1: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nautilus%20-%20Symacom/38/53/23
2: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blake%20Sea%20-%20Half%20Hitch/119/45/22

  

A waterway from Corsica to Nautilus that is situated on the west of the intercontinental sea. It was hard to find an island that has REZ point on Corsica side, so I used a harbor with free REZ zone.
Start: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Baitoushan/211/236/22




The course is simple, but with a yacht, I was dropped out on the way and could not complete it. A motor cruiser may be easier due to simpler control. Also it has more speed.




The trouble is SIM-crossing. Normally it causes a slight jerk but sometimes the yacht jumps up or submerges. In most cases it returns to normal state but there will be a case that keeps flying.




Another issue in addition to the SIM-crossing is to strand. This is at another course where I sunk. Only the fly bridge is above the water. The only way out was to re-log.




The goal is the same island that was introduced last time. If there are some other guests, it had better not to sail into the bay. This island is good for starting point of coastal water ways or a base for playing yachting.
Goal: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kenosaki/147/186/22




This is another route on the East, Both start and goal are marina with Rez point. This course is monotonous, so it is recommended to use motor cruiser and enjoy docking at the target port correctly.
Corsica：http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oryx/68/26/22　




The goal is also a port that has free REZ zone, that is a newly opened shop of Dee Jones she said it is OK to use the pier for REZing yachts. This is good for relay point in the coastal water way. There is also an air strip on the building.
Poet at Nautilus：http://slurl.com/secondlife/Grelod/161/162/22　




There are only these two waterways between Corsica and Nautilus. There is longer route in the south of Nautilus. I will try it next time.

  

Looked for sea areas for outer sea sailing. Since yachts in SL are ‘coast only’, it is impossible to sail out of the blue line (there is no SIM.) This is the North end of Nautilus continent where we live. This is a part of ‘Coastal waterway’ prepared by Linden and there are several public rez points.




The start point is a small island. This point can be used as a goal but a bit poor for the target. When sailing, you can set the wind yourself or use natural wind (SIM wind). If you use yachts by WildWind, the commands are ‘wind lock’, ‘wind dir’, and ‘wind spd’. For example, /1 wind dir 0, /1 wind spd 10, etc. SIM wind is slow and lull sometimes, but it could be also interesting to sail waiting for the wind.
Start: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vipiteno/39/41/21




It is only about eight minutes sailing, but it is exciting when the target island comes in sight and crossed the final SIM border without incident. There is some seaside-SIM that is off-limit or causes freezing, so it had better not enter the red lines in the top picture. The goal island is an island open for public and the facilities are free to use. It could be good for a date spot… Other free yacht rez point can be found by searching with “boat rez”.
Goal: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kenosaki/147/186/22




Total view of the Nautilus continent. The arrow shows the above course. Our houses are on the west side. The course at Kazumi’s pier that was introduced last time is in the inland sea seen on the left. The Nautilus continent was the fifth land. At the first time, it had many water surfaces for sailing and shoreline SIMs can be passed freely by the courtesy of the residents, but recently many places became landfilled or off-limits. Although it is called ‘continent’, the width is only about 30 SIMs wide, less than 8km that is about half size of Izu-Ohshima.




The continents of SL. There is no SIM in the blue area in this map and it is impossible to enter. Moving from a continent to another one is only possible with the right four SIMs and left two. I will challenge it next time.




The SL world. The white ones are the continents shown above. There are many independent SIMs scattered on the left. What does the dark area that I eclosed with blue lines? Is it reserved for future SIM setting? The width of the total area is about 300km that is as same as the Kanto Plain. The world could be considered small, but it is amazing to imagine that it is equicalent to make all cities, houses, and fields in the whole plane realistically modeld.

  

The Trenza Yacht Club that has been inactive for a while opened again by the courtesy of the land owner. At the same place before, practice meeting is held every Wednesday. At this time there is no buoy set and the course is only to go around an island, but it is easy and good for members who have not sailed for a long time or a new person who would start yachting.
SIEN: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SIEN/137/90/22




Another place is in front of a pier of Kazumi who kindly set the start line. The course is to go around two buoys set by Linden, a kind of outer-sea sailing. Going out is tail wind with spinnaker opened. Coming back is against wind that requires several tacking, but you can enjoy unconstrained sailing through the wide open sea. It will take about eight minutes at leisure, bit it will be a success if you manage to complete the course since there are many SIM-crossings. Since shipwrecks pertain to outer-sea sailing, please enjoy troubles also.




At the Kazumi’s pier, Club Juliana’s T group is required. On the left behind the sea plane there is seashore of Hisanori’s home where Trenza Yacht Club members can rez yachts.
Kazumi’s Pier: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Publius/58/29/22　



The buoy is large and easy to be seen from far away, but do not misjudge the distance.




It is joyful to race in a restricted course but it is also enjoyable to sail in an expanse of sea. If we are accustomed ourselves to SIM-crossing, let us challenge the intercontinental sailing.

  

Except the bugs, the cruising was enjoyable. Here is the sea opposite side of my gallery area, a nice residential zone.




A shore with large waves. This yacht was not affected by the wave and passed through it without any swaying.




Passing the SIM border is still a trouble. The yacht was stopped in a public sea when crossing a border. Medi tried to get back with motor on, but we were ejected to other place with nothing but sea and moon. Map showed that this is out of any SIM. This time we were together. Only two of us on a yacht under moonlight. This could have been more romantic situation…

  

Trenza Yacht Club was closed as of the end of August. The sea is now under rearrangement. Thank the owner for letting us use it for a long period free of charge. There was only a single SIM but it was possible to set a strategic course around a beautiful island. I had meant to shoot a picture with putting as many yachts as possible around the pier or shore, but it was impossible due to auto-return setting. Instead, I run around with a cruiser. This is toward the starting line where we work hard to get speed, but it is easy with a power boat.




The pitch-black one is WildWind JB33 that was said to be the fastest boat in SL. It boasted that it could pass a SIM within two seconds, which means 460km/h! Power boat racing could have been joyful, such as a race with jet-ski…

  

After finishing eight mini-races for two months, the final race was held on August 25. There were six entrants. It was too bad that there were many persons who was not able to come due to RL work or who did not have time for practice. All six yachts started in a single race.




This is at the third buoy. Blues showed wonderful catch-up in the running stage, gaining wind by positioning directly behind Max, and got ahead. But he resulted in the left side and Max took the inner side. Max also make shadow over Blues in the following abeam stage. It might be different result if Blues took right side when he passed Max. But Max is really a veteran and got the grand prize in a breeze. Xpyoda and Eiki, Botan and Mediadream were also making close battle to the last moment.



The Trenza Yacht Club will be closed at the end of August. Thank you, the owner for letting us use this beautiful sea, and thank you Botan, for managing everything!
  

There are only three mini-races left for Trenza Yacht Club. Some of you still have a time to increase the speed. Since I will not attend the main race, I will open my HUD button setting. Please use it as reference and try to get more speed.

The below picture shows abeam (side wind) sailing from the red buoy. The speed is a bit faster than the wind. Turn the blue buoy keeping this speed as much as possible. If you get more than 7m/s after the turn, it will be good enough. I think raising centerboard too early at the blue buoy makes the yacht drift and may lose speed.

At the running stage (follow wind), keep the wind angle at around 170, and make a jibe once toward the purple buoy. After the jive, adjust the spinnaker angle by using page up key. I hit the key twice.



One of the important things to maintain speed is not to make any mistake. The below shows my button HUD setting. Since the HUD is copiable, you can make exclusive HUD for this course as many as you want. You can set any layout, so please make the best one you like.

My setting is based on:
--Investigate the best sail angle for each section and set the necessary number on buttons to get the number directly.
--Set buttons in sequence to meet the course layout.

1 is for red buoy，2 for blue, 3 for purple, and 4 for yellow buoy turning. Each one should be touched clockwise accordingly. The buttons are set in a layout as the course shape, so there will be few mistakes. A little trick is to set spinnaker on two buttons.

　1. At the red buoy, while changing direction with arrow key by left hand, touch ‘sheet 25’, ’spinnaker’, and ‘spin 7’ in order by right hand.
　2. At the blue, while changing direction, touch ‘sheet 37’ and ‘spin 73’. After getting on the straight line, touch ‘centerboard’.
　3. At the purple, start from ‘centerboard’ and touch buttons clockwise.
　4. From the yellow to the red, do not change the sail angle and concentrate in keeping wind angle (yacht heading) and selecting suitable tacking timing.

Since the sail angle change will be accumulated, it is necessary to put it back if you make small adjustment on the way. The spin angle will be set to zero when it is extended, so any adjustment up to yellow buoy will be reset.



The top buttons of ‘sheet 20’ and ‘sheet 18’ is only for my starting because I have to set the start line by myself, and to get the necessary sail angle for start, 25 (for speed) or 23 (for efficiency) instantly. These buttons can be used for acceleration or tactics at start.

In spite of these efforts, my best lap is 1:45 and behind that of Max by more than 5 seconds. There should be more efficient lines or tactics to get speed. Also there will be other yachts around you.
Let us enjoy practicing!
  

Let us see some more rules at starting.

At the last mini-race, Max Starostin swept the sea. He said he had practiced seriously.
The results of his three races are:
　Start　　Lap　　Goal
　0:00　　1:41　　3:31
　0:00　　1:41　　3:29
　0:00　　1:42　　3:29

The goal time is also hot, but it is amazing that the all three starts are at 0:00.
It should be very accurate since he speeded up from far away.
It seems that the battle at the start line will become harder, so let us practice a bit more about starting.

The Rule 4 said that the leeward yacht should not change the course toward wind beyond the proper course to block the windward yacht.



Rule 6: During the countdown (before the start), the leeward yacht can change the course freely toward the wind (to luff).

Only before the start, and only when there is a space for the windward to change course, the leeward yacht can luff freely. In that case, the windward should avoid the leeward. It means that the leeward can block the windward during the countdown.

If other yacht is not moving, it is OK to stop next to it or in front of it. But not to collide. ‘Right side preference’ and ‘Leeward preference’ are both effective also during the countdown.




Checked several ways of positioning as starting tactics.
　A. To start at the start line.
　B. To start from the pier or the island.
　C. To start from right side of the start line and cut in.
　D. To accelerate from far away and pass yachts near the start line.



A. To start at the start line
Stop the yacht in front of the line and start moving a few second in advance. Possibility of flying is small, few chance to be blocked by other yachts, and possible to block others, but it takes time to get speed. So this method is not effective except there are many yachts doing the same. For instance, if four or more yachts are lined along the start line, yachts behind are difficult to pass.

B. Stop the yacht by bumping into the pier or island, and start moving about 20 seconds before the zero. It is easy to set the position and to get speed, so this could be recommended for beginners. The drawback is that someone can get in front of you to block.

C. To start from the right side of the start line
It is easy to pick up speed, but you should avoid a yacht on your left and there is a danger to make flying.

D. To accelerate from far distance
The way that Max used last time. Getting speed at abeam (side wind) and jump into the start line passing other yachts. It could be possible to gain speed with using spinnaker. This is cool but difficult. You should avoid yachts in front of you and there is a danger to be in the shadow when passing leeward.

Max’s time is wonderful, but he said he is using ISDN, so there could be some delay that makes chances for us.
The key factors to get speed could be:
　1. To find out the best line and timing for spinnaker and centerboard use.
　2. To keep the sail angle precisely. (half of the wind for sail, wind minus 90 for spin)
　3. Never make mistake in operation
　4. To make the picture quality and avatar clothing as light as possible.
　5. Do not touch SIM boundaries.

Max is using F-keys for command preset, but Button HUD will do the same.
Let us practice to get below four minutes at least!