TYC Boatshow Closes

We want to thank everyone who took part in the TYC 2008 Boat Show that ran from december 2nd through the 11th. It was a lot of fun putting on again this year and it was a tremendous amount of work -- but it was personally rewarding to us.

The show ended abruptly which is unfortunate but I think in the large scheme of things we had a little over a week run which was actually more than last year.

The show was in the sim donated by disisme Misfity, she informed me (Tasha) December 12th that the gift was going to be withdrawn.

Personally I think it was a kick-ass boat show and the response from everyone but the smallest of a handful was nothing but overwhelmingly positive. The Tradewinds Yacht club have put two of these shows on now and the response from the public to this one was even greater than before. The boat builders made a great deal of money, and we couldn't be happier for them. I, Tasha, want to personally thank Liv who was one of our officers in this show and worked really hard in the background, RJ for all his help with the build and the preparations. Dis for her generous offer of a full sim (that isn't cheap) and who worked about as hard as I did helping people and being around during the show and the design of the marina. There was a couple of other people that deserve mentioning. Manul Rotaru put in countless hours working in the background for me advising on some of the lessor known boat builders and was continually submitting new ideas, he never wanted any recognition but as all of us in the boat world know, no one is more knowledgeable then he. Also Dildo Spitz's beautiful photography which can still be seen. I'm just amazed at her talent and I bow down to her in her art.

Mothgirl Dibou -- the Future of Sailing and the Flying Fizz 3

[12:03] Welcome all. I prepared a little speech for you. It's long. Lol But I'll do it fast. So pay attention.

[12:03] Mothgirl Dibou: I'd like to start with the Tako and Kanker Greenacre. It must have been hell to create those Tako's in a premature SL environment, where things that seem to work one day, would be useless the next. We tend to forget that in his days SL had limited possibilities. He was pioneering and he found solutions that somehow worked. Workarounds or compromises if you want. He would probably have developed our sailboats to levels we cannot imagine today, if he was still active in SL today.

[12:04] Mothgirl Dibou: We still use every solution he came up with in those days. With solutions i mean the way the sails handle, the way the boat heals, the way he used banking, the way we move the sheet, the way we use the camera, the commands raise, lower and moor. Let's be honest, all we really did was add a few features like windshadow, apparent wind and capsizing.

[12:04] Mothgirl Dibou: Things keep changing around us in SL. Over time, new scripting and rendering possibilities opened up, we keep having ideas of things we would like to improve about the sailing experience. We all love Kanker's scripts, they're great and they continue to serve us well, but I always felt we can do things differently, and even quite a bit better in some instances. So for me, when I was thinking of were to go from here, I wanted to leave this safe world and push out and beyond and create new footprints in the sand beyond where we are now and that means standing on our own feet.

[12:05] Mothgirl Dibou: To do that, let's think what we need to make a boat sail and forget everything we know about SL sailing as it is today. Not to throw away the heracy, but to move forward from where we all stopped, including me. Can you do that? Let's try. : ㋡

[12:06] Mothgirl Dibou: First, we need wind! We forget the present day wind with it's gusts and shifts that are the same wherever you are. So we need a good windsetter One that supports local variations to the wind, to make it appear as if it moves around islands And we need a new wind algorithm One that uses windshifts and gusts that travel over the world hitting one boat after another.

[12:07] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next, Current! : Owen's current model is very advanced, totally awesome if you ask me. It fills up an omission in the original SL design. But it is not yet available everywhere and not very flexible at the moment : In the meantime we need a workable model A simple one that we can change at the startline, but still supporting current flows around islands and fluctuations with water depth

[12:08] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next thing we need is Waves! The water in SL is completely flat Owen introduced waves in his ACC and I followed with my Trimaran and my Fizz But these waves are nothing more than a little bobbing around with no real effect In RL waves will set you back, they influence your steering, they can make you nose dive or capsize and can even make you surf on them. Waves are currently computed on every boat separately. But waves don't work that way. They travel. And they hit one boat after the other. So we need a setter and an algorithm for waves as well.

[12:09] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Surprise, surprise, all this is present in the new WWC setter today :-)

[12:09] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next thing we need is something really vital: Feel! When you sail a dinghy in RL, you feel the waves, you feel the wind and you feel your boat respond. In SL all we have is numbers to sail by. Everything is imaginary. So let's forget those. We need to make the boat move as it should. We need a moving mainsheet and also sheet for the jib and the gennaker. We need changing telltales, changing sailshapes, the lots!: In fact we need a boat where only the hull is fixed and everything else moves, changes shape or rotates around it.

[12:10] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: The Fizz has 31 parts, including the 2 avatars My new boat now has 22 moving parts, leaving only 9 fixed parts and even those move with the waves, the speed and the heel. And the good news is, I found a way to make these movements instantly, without lag, making the boat feel "Alive"!

[12:11] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next is balancing the boat: In RL you hike or use your trapeze and you play with the sheet. Balancing your boat is the most important thing when you're out there Without balance your boat will be slow, your rudder will hardly work and you cannot plane. So lets increase the effect of boat heel on boat speed in a realistic way and at the same time give the sailors the ability to adjust this heel more than they are used to. : We need an extra hike option, that is limited in use, just like your belly muscles.

[12:12] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next is the sheethandling: Kanker once decided that the tako sail would be optimal at 0.5 times the wind dir. We later changed this to 0.5 times the apparent wind but we still use this as a given fact, whereas it was only a compromise at that time. In RL, the sail angle is optimal when the air flow is optimal creating a pressure in the sail. And the airflow depends on things like sail shape, boat speed, disturbances and even boat heel. So if we forget the 50% rule and get rid of the digits, we need something to show this windflow. We should add telltales to the sails and get rid of the sheet handling in degrees. The sail/sheet only needs 5 steps: flapping, loose, optimal, tight, too tight. To not make it all too easy, the sheets for main, jib and gennaker should be separate. And this in turn gives great options for dealing with an inbalance between those three.

[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next is sail trim: In RL your boat will be terrible to sail if the sailtrim is not good. In the Fizz 2 I introduced sailtrim but we need to make it a vital part in sailing, with separate trimming for the main and the jib With visualization of the sailshape in the sail itself and with huge effects on speed, heel, wave handling and boat handling.

[12:15] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next is the speed: A boat should have a realistic speed. Right now we are in a circle making the boats faster and faster (I am guilty too) But at the same time we added something like apparent wind A boat that sails almost twice as fast as it should will have a smaller apparent wind angle This is why you cant sail much higher upwind than 50 degrees in a fizz 2

[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: We need to slow our boat down by about 1.8 times A realistic speed. And this new speed will make sim crossings a lot more smooth and get rid of the arcade game reflexes you need at the moment.

[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Next is windshadowing: In RL a boat can block your wind, but when you sail behind it, you will find that you are going slower than it and cannot sail as high upwind as it does. This is because you sail in it's foul wind. The wind is bend slightly by it's sails and has a lot of turbulence in it which disturbs the air flow in your sail. So we need to have both effects implemented, wind blocking and wind bending/disturbing.

[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: Also, the windshadow becomes much more important because the speed is much lower and the effect boats have on each other therefor lasts longer.

[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: Next is the view: We sail our boats as if they are helicopters. In RL you sit in the boat, feel the spray on your face, have a half blocked view by sails and crewmembers and you sit low on the water, giving you the feel of going really fast and fighting/using the elements We therefore need a camera angle that is lowered to the level of the RL eye. This way you can see the wave motion and you get a much better feel of what sailing is about. You cannot see the entire field, but with the slow speeds, you have plenty of time to steer when another boat is on a collision course We need a panoramic view to see the boats coming, but it will only be temporary and switch back to normal viewing after a few seconds.

[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: And last but not least: We also need a very good way to compute speed, heel and boat handling: Kanker once started with the formula: speed = windspeed * sin(boomangle) * sheet efficiency And that was basically it. : Our new scripts should compute
airflow in the sails
effect of one sail on the other
water displacement :
water drag ,
wind drag,
hull efficiency due to heel in 2 directions,
weight of the rig,
crew weight and their individual positions,
momentum of the waves
force and direction of the waves
sail trim
balance between the sails
rudder pressure
down force on the bow
lift due to heel and wind in the sails
planing velocity and max. hull velocity
lift because of hyrofoils underneath the boat (if there are any of course)
balancing effect and momentum of a keel (if present)

People sometimes ask me, what is the optimal angle to sail up wind? There should be no correct answer to this question anymore. Everything you do influences something else. What works for one is useless for someone else. Just like in RL.

[12:21] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: And all this.... All the things i just described, .... and much more, .... : are reality in the new Fizz 3 scripts.

[12:22] Bittersweet Lime: :-) where is the vendor?
[12:22] Orca Flotta: hoozaaa
[12:22] Justyna Huldschinsky: omg
[12:22] Charlz Price: WOOOOOT!!!!
[12:22] Nomad Zamani: yum yum!
[12:22] Liv Leigh: haha.. where s the vendor


[12:22] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: It is what I have been putting all my energy in since april this year. The scripts are completely configured with notecards that take variables like hull width, hull length, sail area, etc. and they are configurable for dingies, keelboats, hydrofoilers, traditional yachts and multihulls

[12:22] Talulah Nomura: .oO~*~ YeeeeeEEEEEEHAAAAAAaaaa!! ~*~Oo.

[12:22] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: They will be available for every boat builder on a commission basis.

[12:22] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: I hope to have the Fizz 3 ready in January, followed by a release of the universal scripts in February or march.

[12:22] Mothgirl Dibou shouts: All I can do is my best, it is up to you to embrace these changes or not :-) Thank you all for listening to me. ㋡any questions ?

[12:23] Liv Leigh: WOOOOOT!!!!
[12:23] Yuu Nakamichi: Hoooo!
[12:23] Nomad Zamani: And thank you for an outstanding effort, MG.
[12:23] Charlz Price: is it january yet?
[12:23] Orca Flotta: Moth, a question: can all this awesomeness be handled by ppl outside of the netherlands?
[12:24] Bittersweet Lime: haha

[12:23] Mothgirl Dibou: :-)

[12:23] Julia Ceres: will you be using a standard for crew weight or will our avi size and weight matter?

[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: at them moment i use a standard weight, but i think a realistic weight would be much better . it is easy to measure the length of an avi ? but if you prefer high heels on you'd be heavier

[12:25] Liv Leigh: so under certain circumstances we d need to actually sail with heels? even the guys ;)

[12:25] Orca Flotta: lol

[12:25] Mothgirl Dibou: lol, that would certainly help :-) : i said this to describe the problem with measuring height i am not sure about it yet for that reason

[12:24] Liv Leigh: with all the variables described in your story. can you tell us something on the handling? will it be like a jumbo jet with 150 buttons, a space shuttle or will it be not as hard as we fear

[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: no Liv, the handling will be much, much easier the commands are just a few : there are just 2 gestures needed and the rest is with the keyboard

[12:25] Bittersweet Lime: it is from mothgirl,. it will be god to sail

[12:25] Alisia Student: Is it possible for me to incorporate code into my motor yachts that will get input and react to the output of your windsetters for wave effects?

[12:25] Mothgirl Dibou: sure alicia

[12:26] Orca Flotta: but really, we all know what awesome connections you got in holland. will ppl with lesser quality internet connections be able to use it at all?

[12:27] Mothgirl Dibou: well, most of the server effort will go into the movement of the sails and such. all those things can be switched off in times of lag

[12:27] Liv Leigh: no orca.. in holland we still have cross Atlantic ping times which is a big disadvantage to Americans
[12:27] Orca Flotta: cool :)))
[12:28] Bittersweet Lime: oh come on - we have pings of 280+ in Europe - and what in the US – something like 50-80
[12:28] Liv Leigh: i have nothing below 150, ever
[12:28] disisme Misfit: 18 for me bitter :)
[12:29] Orca Flotta: my pings are always way over 600


[12:28] GeorgeW Carver: At the risk of speaking too soon - I'm wondering about the camera position. Because the arc of view is much narrower on a computer monitor than in RL, and because turning one's gaze in a different direction takes perceptively more effort, doesn't it make sense to stick with the idea of "unrealistic" camera angles - to say nothing of the lack of depth perception, as well.

[12:28] Mothgirl Dibou: yes George, that is a problem : i added a panoramic view for this reason it shows you the boat and its surrounding from above, but only for 3 seconds or so

[12:28] Nomad Zamani: I sail in mouselook nearly all the time.

[12:29] Bittersweet Lime: when the camera is nearer to the boat, you can sail slower and it will feel fast as well

[12:30] Nomad Zamani: Make it user-settable, I'd have thought.

[12:31] Mothgirl Dibou: user settable would make everyone sail in helicopter mode in no time and that would be an unfair advantage : you cant look at the race field from above in RL either

[12:31] Nomad Zamani: I'd still be in mouse look anyway. :)

[12:35] GeorgeW Carver: If you are new to sailing in SL, would it make more sense to start with what you are coming out with, or to learn the more established system (Tako) first?

[12:36] Mothgirl Dibou: no George it would definitely make more sense to start with this It has only 4 modes starting with steering only and working their way up. It is much more like RL sailing and lot less digits to try to understand


[12:34] Mothgirl Dibou: i think this was it folks
[12:34] Mothgirl Dibou: sorry it isn’t ready yet

[12:34] Orca Flotta: thank you Mothgirl!
[12:34] Bittersweet Lime: oh, that is great news, MG - thank you
[12:34] Mothgirl Dibou: but there will be loads of beta's around
[12:34] Alisia Student: Thank for the informative talk ;)
[12:34] Francois Jacques: Thank you.
[12:34] Liv Leigh: kk moth thanks
[12:34] Nomad Zamani: Tres cool, MG.
[12:35] Orca Flotta: Hoooo!
[12:35] Charlz Price: <<-------awaits January, thanks MG
[12:35] Orca Flotta: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! :D :p :D :p :D
[12:35] Justyna Huldschinsky: ㋡
[12:26] Julia Ceres: ty Moth : ))
[12:27] Talulah Nomura: ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥

Kanker's Tako a breif history of SL sailing

Owner of the SL group "SLSF"
http://world.secondlife.com/group/e176c7b1-8605-e4e1-8ac5-f3b3162f89c4

Kanker Greenacre, is the father of SL sailing. Born in 5/16/2003, he is a very early resident and helped develop some of the most fun Resident Projects in the early days of Second life. Back in those days, no one was ever very old then, ambient sound of SL wind was always much stronger than it is today, and as a person walked around the big empty world of SL (there was far less than 4,000 people online at any given time) you would hear the wind everywhere – a wind that actually was measurable and built into the game’s framework. Kanker came up with the idea of why not build a boat that actually uses this SL wind to power it – a sailboat in fact -- just like real life, that takes the wind and and the principles of angles and “lift” to power the boat.

So in June of 2005 he did just that, and came up with the Tako. Early tests and races showed the inherent fault of actually using SL wind. As we all know it spins like a top around the compass – very un-real-life like. So then he came up with Race Wind that would give some stability to races for all sailors, and if your going to have races you need a start-line, with a starting clock to keep track of boat times; and if you have all this with people using your boat, you need an SL group, so he created the SLSF (Second Life Sailing Federation) the very first group dedicated and devoted to sailing in Second life. To this day it is still one of the largest sailing groups in SL.

But its not enough that he made all these things, what’s so important to all of our fun was his incredibly generosity if his talent and his spirit. It was very important to him that he create a boat that was approachable and affordable to everyone in Second Life and priced it way below its true value. He did that with all his stuff, that I could tell. As the sport of sailing in Second life grew and other boat-makes were struggling with with developing similar scripts to power theirs, Kanker freely and openly shared his Tako script with other builders. All of the major builders barrowed heavily on his basic framework of code OR were heavily influenced by it even to this day.

We honor you, kanker, for being you and for setting the foundation for a lot of fun in SL

Nicholas Murdock's "The Pearl"

[18:16] Nicholas Murdock: Ok, first of all, thank-you very much for having me here. I started building ships in SL around 2006 I think. I was living on a yacht off a small island in SL and decided I'd like to try my hand at building a galleon. All coming from a mis-spent youth watching too many Errol Flynn films.


[18:18] Allie Tomsen: lol

[18:18] Nicholas Murdock: Abbetted by too many years as a swashbuckler in the SCA.

[18:18] GoSpeed Racer: not McHales Navy?
[18:18] Nicholas Murdock: Watched that too ;)
[18:18] Allie Tomsen: gilligan

[18:19] Nicholas Murdock: My earlier ships were a simpler galleon, a pirate Barq, and a large Spanish galleon with two full decks below the maindeck, and a two decks in the stern. then a couple of years ago, my wife was appearing at the World Science fiction convention in Annaheim.

[18:19] disisme Misfit: your wifes an alien???

[18:19] Nicholas Murdock: she's a fantasy novelist. We stayed one night at a friend's apt next to the Redondo Beach marina. There were a lot of trailers in the parking lot by the marina, and Felicia, our friend, said it must be a film shoot, that it was too much stuff for a video shoot. At supper, the waitress said to go around the back way, and we might see Johnny Depp, they were shooting Pirates 3 nearby. We walked around to the trailers, and saw a small crowd outside the fence near one trailer, where Depp was inside changing. We gave up waiting for him, walked around to the marina, and wow, there was the Black Perl silently gliding into the harbor. It was too dark to take photographs. The rear stern windows were lit up nicely, and then it did something no galleon should ever do. It stopped and backed up.

[18:23] Indigo Mertel: Indigo Mertel chuckles

[18:23] Nicholas Murdock shouts: It seems it's built on a barge. The masts end right past the mainsail spars, the rest being digitally put in.

[18:23] GoSpeed Racer: "It's only a model"

[18:23] Nicholas Murdock shouts: We all started yelling "beep beep beep" as it baked up.

[18:24] Nicholas Murdock shouts: We went back around to the trailers, and Johnny depp was at the fence now, trying to sign whatever people passed through the fence to him.

[18:24] disisme Misfit: so..of course..you passed your wife?
[18:24] GoSpeed Racer laughs

[18:24] Nicholas Murdock shouts: That's a picture of him, I took with my wife's camera. you'll notice his beard is still braided, that was his real beard.

[18:25] Quirky Torok: im glad to see depp has troble rezzing too

[18:25] Nicholas Murdock shouts: So, after some pics of him, off to bed, hoping to catch some shots the next morning as it sailed off. We're awoken at dawn saying it was heading out of the harbor, and we jumped in the car and started stalking the Black Pearl. We followed it as it headed towards Palos Verdes. At the lighthouse, I walked down the path to a whale watching point, and finally saw it anchored back up the coast some. So we headed off, and finally found the location where it anchored. We topped the rise to the palisades, and looking down, was the Black Pearl.

[18:27] Nicholas Murdock shouts: That's a picture I took from the palisades.


[18:28] disisme Misfit: ooh....nice work for a barge, huh?
[18:28] Allie Tomsen: beautiful!

[18:28] Nicholas Murdock shouts: you'll see on the port side, a large opening with people standing in it. That's where the loaded the equipment and people through from the small tender boats. naturally, I eagerly watched the movie when it came out, trying to figure where in the movie they filmed this part.

[18:29] Nicholas Murdock shouts: Now the Flying Dutchman is on display now at Castaway Cay, the Disney owned island in the Bahamas. I have no idea what ever happened to the Pearl, or if it even still exists. So, that was my inspiration. It took me about a year to do this. Not because I’m such a stickler for detail, but because I'm a very lazy builder. : In addition, I work full time as a network manager for a major university, so my time was limited. : And of course, there were times I was just sick of looking at the damn thing :)

[18:31] Alisia Student: feels your pain

[18:31] Nicholas Murdock: For instance, I'm supposed to be building a Venetian galley for a neighbor, but it's also coming slowly. I hoped to get it ready for the opening of Pirates 3, but missed it naturally. I finally had to just say, ok, that's it, no more, package and sell the damned thing. I call it the Pearl, as it's inspired by the Disney Black Pearl, but a bit different to make Disney Lawyers Happy, the true pirates of the Caribbean ;)


[18:33] Allie Tomsen: hahaha
[18:33] disisme Misfit: :)))

[18:33] Nicholas Murdock shouts: It's 50 meters long from stern to bow, mainmast height of 68 meters, and 10 meter beam. It displaces 625 prims, not including cannons.
[18:34] Nicholas Murdock shouts: I included a complete set of firing cannons for every cannon port, large ones for the main gun deck, smaller ones for topside and in the stern cabin. The stern lanterns automatically light at night. I use a rezz faux to make it easy to automatically setup.


[18:34] Foo Foden shouts: how many wenches come with it???

[18:34] disisme Misfit: lmao BYO wench

[18:35] Nicholas Murdock shouts: Wenches not included, but I can give you some landmarks if you need to rent some ;)

[18:35] Foo Foden is shocked you can rent wenches in sl

[18:35] Nicholas Murdock shouts: During long sea voyages, entertainment is provided in the barrel in the hold every night but Thursday.
[18:35] Nicholas Murdock shouts: thursday is your night in the barrel ;)

[18:36] Nicholas Murdock shouts: So, that's the story of how I was inspired to build the Pearl. It was a lot of fun, a lot of cussing, but I'm pretty happy with the final result. Are there any questions?

[18:37] Tasha Kostolany: are these found textures Nich or have you doen your own work with those?

[18:37] Nicholas Murdock shouts: All the textures were bought at Textures R Us. The shredded sails I had commissioned. As well as commissioning the cannon script I use.

[18:38] Alisia Student: does it rez with furniture normally?

[18:38] Nicholas Murdock shouts: There's no furniture included with it, except for the ship parts you see : I designed it so there was lots of head room below deck and in the stern cabin, so your cam view wasn't blocked. All of my ships are live aboards, so I try to make sure there's room to put your furniture in it, etc. I've seen my ships used as people's homes, as rental units in a sea of sinking ships, and as, ummm, houses where you pay for interesting things done to you ;)

[18:40] Tasha Kostolany: lol
[18:41] Alisia Student: ;)
[18:41] Allie Tomsen: smiles innocently
[18:41] Foo Foden: i see you've done a lot of research.... how many times i wonder
[18:41] Nicholas Murdock shouts: needless to say, i was never offered a discount despite building their place of business ;)

[18:43] Tasha Kostolany: what else do you think you will be taking on besides a ship for your neighbor?

[18:43] Nicholas Murdock shouts: Well, I've also built a castle, which I live in and sell copies of. That's been the only building so far. Galveston has two sims here, and the bought one of my barqs to try to use as a replica of the Elissa, an 1870's iron barq restored and berthed at Galvesotn, TX. So I've been doing some design research and may try to build an actual copy of the Elissa.

[18:44] Tasha Kostolany: <-- seen that in person and been aboard -- it's pretty

[18:44] Nicholas Murdock shouts: Yes, I was just down there in Sept. the week of Hurrican Ike. We were renting a beach house that week, and awoke on Thursday at 7 am to find out we had 2 weeks to pack and evacuate the island. I've also been on the replica of the Golden Hinde when it was in Galveston, so that's also a possibility at some point. but after the Venetian galley, I'll probably start looking at the Elissa again seriously.
[18:47] Tasha Kostolany: thanks nich for talking to us tonight I really appreciate and loved your build

[18:47] disisme Misfit claps
[18:47] Nicholas Murdock: Thank-you very much for coming tonight :)
[18:47] Allie Tomsen: ***** APPPPPPPLLLLAAAUUUSSSSEEEEEEE***********
[18:47] Tasha Kostolany: ㋡
[18:47] Alisia Student: ;)
[18:47] disisme Misfit: gret preso nick!
[18:47] Indigo Mertel: Indigo Mertel claps clap clap
[18:47] Foo Foden: cool build... have fun!
[18:47] Manul Rotaru: Thanks Nicholas!

[18:47] Nicholas Murdock: I'm offering the Pearl at a reduced price here for the show, and you can purchase from the vendor over there, with a cut going to the Show's cost.

Grey Blackadder's Clyde Puffer

[14:06] Tasha Kostolany shouts: everyone I really was thrilled when Grey accepted my invitation to come talk to us, his Puffer boat here is beautifully built. So without anymore tado I turn the mic over to Grey


[14:07] Grey Blackadder: First of all, I’d like to welcome everybody that has come here today/night/this afternoon and to thank our Boat Show organizers for making all this possible, and for giving me this opportunity to show off a bit. I think you will all agree that there is plenty to engage anyone interested in messing about on the water at any level here at the show.


[14:09] Grey Blackadder shouts: “The Millie” is my affectionate interpretation of one of a whole race of small steam driven cargo ships that plied their trade between the Islands of the West Coast of Scotland and the Firth of Forth in the East for most of the Twentieth century.



[14:09] Grey Blackadder shouts: “Clyde Puffers” provided vital supply functions to the islands off the West Coast of Scotland and beyond. Limited to 66 feet by the size of the locks on the Forth & Clyde Canal, the majority of “Puffers” were built either at Maryhill in Glasgow, or at the landlocked port of Kirkintilloch on the canal itself.


[14:10] Grey Blackadder shouts: They earned the epithet of Puffer from the early practice of exhausting the piston stroke directly to the funnel, resulting in a “puff” of steam for each stroke of the engine. Early designs had an open steering position, but the addition of a wheelhouse in the early twentieth century resulted in the characteristic appearance of the Puffer.

[14:10] Grey Blackadder shouts: The original Puffers were limited in range, relying on a crew of three, Master, Mate and an Engineer. Drawing plentiful boiler water straight from the canal they were largely restricted to the Forth and Clyde Canal itself and the river estuaries beyond. These were the so-called “inside” boats of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

[14:10] Grey Blackadder: The addition of a condenser enabled greater range over salt water, and larger “outside” boats of up to 88 feet with a crew of four emerged to service the Outer Hebridean islands. Having an almost flat bottom, Puffers could be beached to load and unload cargo in the absence of a pier, and were known to carry everything from coal, sheep, grain and whisky to and from the islands.

[14:11] Grey Blackadder shouts: In 1939 the Admiralty chose the traditional Puffer pattern as its VIC (Victualling Inshore Craft). Largely built in English yards and carrying only an identifying number (VIC 32 survives) these little ships saw service throughout the fleet, as far north as Scapa Flow in the Orkneys and were readily absorbed into the post -war Puffer fleet.

[14:11] GeorgeW Carver: That would be "Scotch"

[14:11] Love Markova: What did they burn to boil the water?

[14:11] Grey Blackadder: Coal, although they could raise a small trisail between the derrick boom and mast if they ran out of fuel

[14:12] disisme Misfit: woot
[14:12] GeorgeW Carver: Hm

[14:12] Grey Blackadder shouts: Economics, fashions and transport systems change, and the Puffers declined road transport began to dominate. A number of vessels still remain, notably the aforementioned VIC 32 which still offers cruising holidays in the West of Scotland, its capacious hold having been converted to cabin space.

[14:12] Owen Oyen: /when they went from freshwater to salt water, were they still limited to freshwater in boiler or did they tolerate the corrosion from saltwater?

[14:13] Grey Blackadder: freshwater only Owen
[14:13] Sacha Swindlehurst: i think the condenser was part of that>?
[14:13] GeorgeW Carver: [yes], That's why the y added a condenser

[14:13] Hia Anatra: these wouldn't be very good in rough water, would they?

[14:14] Grey Blackadder: actually they were quite Seakindly, low center of gravity and tub shaped

[14:14] Grey Blackadder shouts: “The Millie” was my second attempt at a “large build” and was begun about a year ago when I was hunting around for something to make after building a new flagship store for my in-world business. A “Clyde Puffer” seemed an ideal choice as the steel built, slab sided hull lends itself to construction with basic prims, although I very quickly came to find the 256 prim link limit an irritation, especially when trying to apply the level of detail I wanted in the final realization, and some of you may have spotted the necessary compromises.


[14:15] Grey Blackadder shouts: My initial approach to the design and construction was to make a model – a static “museum piece” that went as far as possible to record the actual vessel. This made sense on two levels, in RL, I am a reformed railway modeller, and I have spent much of my adult life working either in Education or in the Museum Service – so it’s sort of the way I think. The idea of actually “driving” The Millie only came when a friend of mine saw her and gave me a script thought might work. There then followed a crash course in vehicle dynamics and limitations and a planned collaboration with a very helpful and skilled lady programmer to get The Millie “into the water”.

[14:15] Grey Blackadder shouts: Subsequent to this, RL concerns have intruded and the project stalled about August, since which time I have been involved in a couple of other things. It is thanks to Tasha’s interest in [it and the sharp eye of Manul Rotaru who brought it to Tasha’s attention that ] “The Millie” is here today, and I must say that I am amazed at the many things people have said about “The Millie”.

[14:16] Grey Blackadder shouts: So what of the future? Clearly “The Millie” is far from a dead project, neither is she complete, so over the next few weeks I plan to review the both the “Rez and Sit” scripted component, - there are a number of assets in place for this, Crew Poseballs, particle generators for smokestack and wake effects etc, and the hull itself. I have learned a little more about building since I started work on the hull, and there are things that can be improved.


[14:16] Grey Blackadder shouts: The plan is to release a boxed version, probably in the New Year, comprising a Scripted Vehicle, an Attachment that can also be rezzed as a dockside model, and a collection of accessories to fling about. One of the key qualities of the Clyde Puffer was individuality and I plan to make the hull copy/modifiable so people can personalise their Puffers, and with that in mind, there will also be an owners Club.


[14:17] Grey Blackadder shouts: As for the next project, perhaps it is time to return to the sea. In the last year I have built a boatyard, a working watermill and a whisky distillery. I find recent developments in one-piece sculpted hulls really exciting, and have been toying for some time with the idea of a building a Fifie – one of the traditional lug-sailed fishing boats of the Scottish East Coast, but please, don’t hold your breath!

[14:17] Grey Blackadder: now, perhaps I can field any more questions?

[14:18] Grey Blackadder: possibly dis

[14:18] Hia Anatra: for us land-lubbers, what does "lug-sail" mean?

[14:19] Grey Blackadder: a lug sail ahs a supporting boom at the top that crosses the mast at an angle. they are awkward because you have to take them down to tack or gybe.



[14:18] disisme Misfit: are you gonna have a scripted version?
[14:18] Sacha Swindlehurst: what kind of scripting will you apply? will you use a hull that should be attached from inventory or some auto-attach like

[14:20] Grey Blackadder: scripting I will need tot talk to a specialist about

[14:20] Sacha Swindlehurst: ic.. you may find a few of them at the boat show :)
[14:20] disisme Misfit: Grey, pointside has a kit that will let you do an autoattach....


[14:18] Love Markova: where did your colour scheme come from?

[14:19] Grey Blackadder: colour scheme is based on photos of real puffers

[14:20] Grey Blackadder: the Group will be caleed "Friends of Millie" and will be live in 24 hours


[14:18] Grey Blackadder: certainly I'll sculpt the Fifie



[14:21] Owen Oyen shouts: On the RL boat, was the steering wheel vision blocked by smokestack?


[14:21] Grey Blackadder: yes it does Owen, though some were offset

[14:21] Owen Oyen shouts: /cool, it looks normal to be blocked



[14:21] Azure Blackadder: Why is the Puufer calledMillie?
[14:21] disisme Misfit: the captains wife :)



[14:21] Grey Blackadder: I wanted a a name that sounded authentic, and took my cue from "The Maggie" and at the time I was building her the real Millie came into our lives

[14:22] Tasha Kostolany shouts: "The Maggie" the movie was there a Puffer in that?
[14:22] aelwyn Fields: oh yes brilliant movie

[14:24] Sacha Swindlehurst: very nice boat :)
[14:24] Sacha Swindlehurst: thanks for the info
[14:24] Grey Blackadder: ty Sacha
[14:24] Tasha Kostolany shouts: any other questions for Grey?
[14:24] Hia Anatra: thanks, very nicely done!
[14:25] Love Markova: Thanks Grey, beautiful boat and nice talk

[14:25] disisme Misfit: its a flat bottom with raised keel grey?

[14:25] Grey Blackadder: a very slighht deadfall dis, enough to be able to beach safely

[14:25] Sacha Swindlehurst: it s cute i can t wait for the tiny version :D
[14:25] JED Dastardly: good job grey looks nice!
[14:25] GeorgeW Carver: Thanks, Grey
[14:25] Love Markova: lol


[14:25] Tasha Kostolany shouts: I think we all love it Grey and I personally really enjoyed hearing about the history of it I know everyone here did too, I'll get this posted at the website
[14:25] Manul Rotaru: Thatnks Grey, what a great ship!

[14:26] disisme Misfit: sculpting it.....would be fast...gimme a yell if you want any help on it


[14:28] GeorgeW Carver: How close to scale is the MILLIE, Grey?

[14:29] Grey Blackadder: not that far off 20m is about right

[14:29] GeorgeW Carver: So these craft were pretty small - just a few tonnes DW

[14:30] Grey Blackadder: it's the canal locks that limit her even the outside boats were limited to 88 feet because of the Crinan Canal

[14:30] GeorgeW Carver: What beam & draft?

[14:31] Grey Blackadder: honestly can't remember oh here: 18 foot beam and4 foot draught. That’s the VIC 32's spec

[14:32] GeorgeW Carver: I bet she'd roll like a mother in a seaway

[14:32] Grey Blackadder: it's a barge with attitude really

[14:26] Grey Blackadder: ty very much, everyone

[14:26] Grey Blackadder: oh and the distillery is real

[14:28] Tasha Kostolany: put a sign out that gives a landmark to your docks Grey every sailor would love seeing it

[14:26] aelwyn Fields: ty for the talk Grey Blackadder, beautiful build
[14:26] Sacha Swindlehurst purrs softly
[14:26] Sacha Swindlehurst: ^VV^^V^PuRRrSss^VV^^V
[14:27] Elisha Paklena: *purrs*

[14:27] Grey Blackadder: ty again

[14:27] GeorgeW Carver: Where is your shipyard? Is it in your picks?

[14:27] Grey Blackadder: nnear the Distillery George
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alfred%20Island/170/84/22

disisme Misfit talk - Apparent wind and the ACJ2.5

[12:00] disisme Misfit shouts: Wlcome to the 2008 Tradewinds Yacht Club boat show. I am dis, the sim patron, and one of the co-ordinating team behind this massive event.
today, I will speak to you about apparent wind, versus true wind....TWA and TWD

There are several boats on the market using apparent wind. But just what IS apparent wind? Apparent wind is the direction the wind SEEMS to be coming from...rather than the TRUE wind direction.... its like standing around the corner of a wall on a windy day...the wind hits you, all beint diminished, from a different direction from where it is really blowing from

Apparent wind on a boat, is affected by heading, and the speed of the boat..... heading meaning the head to wind angle..HTW


[12:04] disisme Misfit shouts: As you go faster, the wind SEEMS to be swinging more towards the bow of the boat....that is part of the physics of movement....you move in still air, you feel a breeze... While the fizz and trudeau boats have used apparent wind for a while...and the Jangars...sorry caf... most of these boats are light weight, big sails....
they accelerate fast to peak speed...

[12:05] Caf Binder: :-)



[12:05] disisme Misfit shouts: so you see the wind direction seeming change really quickly after you THINK you set the right course... that is because the boat accelerates quickly, and the apparent wind angle changes REALLY fast... The ACJ2.5 makes this all much clearer and obvious it is a big boat....over 70'..and while it accelerates REALLY fast, the transition in apparent wind is MUCH more obvious

[12:07] LiLing Qunhua: ahhhh

[12:07] disisme Misfit shouts: let say you are starting with a Head to wind of 40 degrees...standing startsails should be set to what? anyone?

[12:07] Fooh Ling: 20
[12:07] Quirky Torok: 20
[12:07] Glorfindel Arrow: 20
[12:07] LiLing Qunhua: 20

[12:07] disisme Misfit shouts: right....
[12:08] disisme Misfit shouts: in a True wind boat..like a tako.....you would set it at 20, and have optimal performance I call those the sit, turn, set, sit type of boat you sit there and do pretty much nothing till its time to turn again if you have a constant wind

[12:08] LiLing Qunhua: lol

[12:08] disisme Misfit shouts: in an apparent wind boat...that is NOT the case yes..yuou would start at 20.... but as the boat starts moving, holding the EXACT same course, the wind angle lowers


[12:09] disisme Misfit shouts: ((not cutting an pasting here..this is totally ad lib))

[12:10] disisme Misfit shouts: soon, you see the wind angle...TWA....is at 20, NOT 40... the TWD..true wind direction is still at 40 you started with sails at 20....but now the apparent wind is at 20...what’s gonna happen?

[12:11] Kaylin Bechir: you stop
[12:11] LiLing Qunhua: stop?
[12:11] Glorfindel Arrow: slow
[12:11] Quirky Torok: panic
[12:11] LiLing Qunhua: haha
[12:11] Kentrock Messmer: Open a beer.



[12:11] disisme Misfit shouts: you will slow, or reach a terminal velocity far less than the boats capability so you need to trim your sails in as you go faster.... trim back to 10..... you are now at 20 TWA...sails at 10...what happens?
[12:12] disisme Misfit shouts: the boat speeds up

[12:12] LiLing Qunhua: you go faster?

[12:12] disisme Misfit shouts: what happens when the boat speed up?

[12:12] Charlz Price: you win
[12:12] Quirky Torok: usually crash :(
[12:12] Glorfindel Arrow: TWA lowers





[12:12] disisme Misfit: hahaha , yes TWA lowers

[12:12] Gordon Goodrich: <---sir crash-a-lot
[12:12] Sana Bebb: =^.^= ****** =^.^=

[12:13] disisme Misfit shouts: so you are now with sails at 10...TWD still 40....TWA is 14.... trim.....trim...trim.... trim your sails in...: with TWA at 14..your optimal sail position is 7 trim them in....you speed up.....your TWA comes down....

[12:14] disisme Misfit: trim again....

[12:14] disisme Misfit shouts: at some point, you WILL reach a terminal velocity with the ACJ2.5 on a TWD of 90 and 21.3 knots...that terminal velocity is WELL in excess of 26 knots

[12:15] Glorfindel Arrow: I was wondering...you never get to zero then...lol

[12:15] disisme Misfit: no glor... if you leave your sails at 20 at the start.... and dont trim in...what will happen?

[12:15] Charlz Price: you get passed

[12:16] disisme Misfit: very quickly

[12:16] disisme Misfit shouts: what happens is...the boat accelerates....it gets to a point where that is peak performance ...the sails will luff, and the boat will slow. then the sails will stop luffing...and you will speed up again....

[12:16] Kentrock Messmer: How many have been sold?

[12:17] disisme Misfit shouts: half a dozen in the past 12 hours

[12:17] Kentrock Messmer: Total?

[12:17] disisme Misfit shouts: they were only released yesterday kent, launched here..

[12:18] disisme Misfit shouts: now...with the ACJ2 being a little slower to accelerate than the small boats using apparent wind to date.... you find yourself trimming it progressively...



[12:18] Kentrock Messmer: So are you going to have class racing?

[12:18] disisme Misfit: hopefully kent

[12:18] disisme Misfit: as you trim...it goes faster
[12:18] disisme Misfit: trim more..faster...
[12:19] disisme Misfit: this boat is a ferrari...NOT a chevy....

[12:19] LiLing Qunhua: YAY! (yay!)
[12:19] Fooh Ling: YAY! (yay!)

[12:19] disisme Misfit: a tako, bless kankers soul, is a chevy, sit, turn, set, sit

[12:19] LiLing Qunhua: and a wonderful chevy it has been, too

[12:19] disisme Misfit: this boat gives you back...10000 times over, what you put INTO it just like a Ferrari : you work it and RACE with it...it will be FAST if you sit, turn, set, sit.......it will bite you

[12:20] LiLing Qunhua: hehe

[12:20] disisme Misfit shouts: the same rules apply with the fizz, trudeaus last 4 boats... the KA, T20, leetle cat and Tahiti II work them.... they will play WITH you, not against you : you will be utterly amased how fast you can make a tahiti II go... of course...ann ACJ2.5 is going to go past like a freight train... but.....its got a spinnkaer that a Tahiiti can live in

[12:22] disisme Misfit shouts: as an aside on apparent wind.... apparent wind does NOT affect wind shadowing your shadow is cast downwind on TWD TRUE wind direction you block the air to a downwind boat...NOT neccessarily one that is 180 according yo your sail settings it is TRULY downwind the ACJ2.5 will shadow a boat up to 60 meters away the further azway, the less shadow. most boats shadow for 20 meters...

[12:24] Kaylin Bechir: will the 2.0?

[12:24] disisme Misfit shouts: no..the 2.5 only..this is new the AC boats have such massive sail area...20 meters was rubbish and laughable on a jangars...faaaantastsic... on a boat with sails you can hold a hangars race on....it was silly 60m of wind shadow is about right for a boat with sails that are...what..10 stories high?



[12:26] Jane Fossett: hans zinnemann claims the ACA1.6 shadows 75m
most boats shadow for 20 meters...

[12:26] disisme Misfit shouts: it doesn’t jane.....
[12:26] Jane Fossett: I couldn't show that either
[12:26] Jane Fossett: I got 20-34
[12:26] disisme Misfit shouts: it shadows a) in the wrong direction...and b) only on a beat....and nothing like that distance
[12:27] disisme Misfit shouts: right..me too...27-29m
[12:27] Jane Fossett: 20-24


[12:26] disisme Misfit shouts: ok....I will wrap it up with a reminder.... we did a LOT of testing on the ACJ2.5 shadowing... Please wait while your notecard is delivered. it shadows 7.5 degrees from mast centerline TRUE downwind and for 60M the shaodw AT 60m, is about 50% what it is at ..well..fender scraping distance after 60m, it is gone the downwind shadow and speed effect is astronomical

[12:28] Jane Fossett: is that realistic
[12:29] Caf Binder: still 50% at the 60 m limit?

[12:29] disisme Misfit shouts: get a boat 50m in front of you on a downwind spinnaker run.....
[12:29] disisme Misfit shouts: yes caf
[12:29] disisme Misfit shouts: and he will almost stop

[12:29] Jane Fossett: and 61 is 0%
[12:29] disisme Misfit shouts: right jane most work that way... with most its full shadow at 20, and 0 at 21 this level and range of shadowing, along with TWA, puts a whole lot of strategy into your sailing now in a big, fast boat

[12:30] Jane Fossett: not the T20 series or the Jangars

[12:30] Caf Binder: if i recalll... :) ive done around 20% at limit
[12:30] disisme Misfit shouts: shadowing on those boats is lovely jane...


[12:30] Glorfindel Arrow: dose the area of effect get smaller too, as it gets farther away??

[12:30] disisme Misfit shouts: no..ti gets wider 7.5 degrees from mast center line Glor
[12:31] disisme Misfit shouts: this give a lee bow affect...
[12:31] disisme Misfit shouts: I Think 7.5 to windward is a little harsh... and would prefer it to be 5 to windward, 10 to leeward... but its not possible with code limitations

[12:32] Caf Binder: (Well I expect we will soon have a standard on that for all boats to follow, if wanted)

[12:32] disisme Misfit shouts: right caf...that will be great in mixed boat classes..

[12:32] Caf Binder: 2009 promises :)

[12:32] disisme Misfit shouts: as to performance of the ACJ....the Apparent wind effect makes this boat SLOW on a beat compared to the ACA... at 28 TWD, it is 12 TWA and about 12 knots sails at 6 : but the polar on the ACJ2.5 swings DRAMATICALLY move to 31 TWD....boat speed is at 14.4 move to 38......boat speed is 17.7 that is based on 10m/s TWS (true wind speed) the boat likes to get off the wind..... get it to 90 TWD....48 TWA.... the boat is doing well in excess of 26 knots WITHOUT spinnaker : this boat will NOT perform under spinnaker anywhere under 130 degrees TWD


[12:35] Quirky Torok: is that going to affect sim crossings?

[12:36] disisme Misfit shouts: well...good question the boat is almost 200 prims lighter than an ACA33 out of the box, vehicle and hull are 10-2 prims 102

[12:36] disisme Misfit shouts: scripts are hyper efficient...I have beta tested this boat for months and NEVER had a sim crossing crash

[12:37] disisme Misfit shouts: I have crashed for SL stupidity reasons...but not on a boundary


[12:37] Kaylin Bechir: how does it compare to a 2.0?

[12:37] disisme Misfit shouts: 2.0....would be slower on a beat....actually..slower everywhere
[12:37] disisme Misfit shouts: oh.... actually 2.0 is faster on a run under spinnaker

[12:38] Kaylin Bechir: yay!

[12:38] disisme Misfit shouts: the ACJ2.5 is VERY pedantic about trim and keel adjustment on a spinnaker leg yes...keel adjustment... you can trim the keel for upwind and downwind get it set wrong....and watch everyone steam past

[12:39] Quirky Torok: oh jeeze more trim i can get wrong :(

[12:39] disisme Misfit shouts: like I said..this boat is VERY much a ferrari...

[12:39] Clay Ellison: lol

[12:40] Kaylin Bechir: how do you trim the keel?

[12:40] disisme Misfit shouts: you have to carreess it and DRIVE it its .1cb...centerboard command

[12:40] Kaylin Bechir: thanks

[12:40] disisme Misfit shouts: Its a boat that makes you SAIL it...not sit in it... very VERY like the T20 you HAVE to sail that boat.... or take lessons in reverse parking

[12:41] Glorfindel Arrow: lol
[12:41] Kaylin Bechir: hehe

[12:41] disisme Misfit shouts: the ACJ2.5 wont actually go backwards .... very well... but I HAVE reversed it out of berths.. that I Went into at 26 knots under spinnaker....

[12:42] Kaylin Bechir: haha

[12:42] disisme Misfit shouts: anyway... TWA..... your in a boat using apparent wind...trim that puppy your in an ACJ2, popping the spinnaker with another ACJ2.5 behind you.... time to start THINKING... cos they are gonna shadow your ass

[12:43] disisme Misfit shouts: any questions?

[12:43] Charlz Price: mod rights??

[12:43] disisme Misfit shouts: full mod sails and hull sails are single texture, by UUID in a notecard

[12:43] Kentrock Messmer: Skipper note card?

[12:44] disisme Misfit shouts: err...good question..... I Will say 'no' but could be wrong I am pretty sure thats a no where do you find info on the cb commands?

[12:44] disisme Misfit shouts: oh one thing I find really interesting... on the ACJ2.5 there are blue and orange crew positions : there are 2 orange balls.....one is the main trimmer, the other is the jib / spinnaker trimmer...

[12:45] Contra Koba: does the boat come with gesture pack?

[12:45] disisme Misfit shouts: no contra, but they are pretty easy to setup..similar to ACA gestures : if a passenger SIT on one of those positions..... the orange ones.. the skipper loses control of those sails so if someone sits on the jib trimmer balls.... that person OWNS those sails

[12:46] Kentrock Messmer: cool

[12:46] disisme Misfit shouts: the jib and spin someone sits on the main trimmer ball...that person has that sail the skipper CANNOT override them

[12:47] Kentrock Messmer: Can you hide the pose balls?

[12:47] disisme Misfit shouts: yessir.../1hide I just tell pepple to get the hell off....

[12:47] Contra Koba: so skipper and 3 person crew would be optimal for realism eh

[12:47] disisme Misfit doesnt play well with others..haha

[12:48] Kaylin Bechir: is the 2.5 a new version of the 2.0 or a new boat?

[12:48] Kentrock Messmer: Is the spinnaker shape modable?

[12:48] disisme Misfit shouts: skipper and 2 person...jib and spin are the same trimmer
[12:48] disisme Misfit shouts: no...
[12:48] Contra Koba: ah I see now
[12:48] disisme Misfit shouts: its firkin ugly isnt it....it should be wider..

[12:48] Kentrock Messmer: Yes
[12:49] Kentrock Messmer: Any chance of that happening?

[12:49] disisme Misfit shouts: lemme tell ya tho..it s big enough to get in the damn way....
[12:49] disisme Misfit shouts: not likely...
[12:49] Kentrock Messmer: Hmm

[12:49] disisme Misfit shouts: I betad this boat at beta 4... over a month ago... and it was vastly less buggy than the ACA is in its retail version.. : since then there have been 6 beta mods... most of those were on my insistence... features, rather than bug fixes... wording changes in messages.... a visual signal you were being shadowed... and the last one, made on the morning before release... was to reduce the Min HTW from 38 to 28 so you guys that raced me yesterday.... in your 22 degree sailing ACAs.... realise you were racing my beta 10 boat...

[12:52] disisme Misfit shouts: NOW I Can go 10 degrees higher on the wind...
[12:52] disisme Misfit shouts: your ass is mineeeee muahahahaaaaaaa
[12:53] disisme Misfit shouts: I was winning races with the ACAs having a 16 degreee HTW advantage guys... : this ACJ2.5 is FAST Ask glor what its like to hit a 90 degree TWD with an ACJ2.5 behind him?

[12:54] Glorfindel Arrow: yeah, she just steamed on by...lol

[12:54] disisme Misfit shouts: I think the term was "holy shit"

[12:54] Glorfindel Arrow: yep

[12:54] disisme Misfit shouts: so if you wanna RACE an AC class boat..... the aCJ2.5 is the go...


[12:55] Kaylin Bechir: will it compete in the ACA class?

[12:55] disisme Misfit shouts: if you wanna set and forget and get shadowed while your windward....ACA33 until it get numbers, I Think it will . . . . shit... you...the girl who spoke... : lol

[12:55] Kaylin Bechir: ha!

[12:55] disisme Misfit shouts: that is up to the race directors... each director will call it themselves... just make sure you ask first cos they WILL toss your ass out if you go ripping up their lovely ACAs as time goes on, ACJs will probably outnumber ACAs at the ACA races...lol and I think we should lean on MTW to get them into sail on... big boats..big sails..big spinnakers

[12:57] Kaylin Bechir: is my 2.0 going to be upgraded or do I have to buy another?

[12:57] disisme Misfit shouts: good question... no idea...

[12:58] Kentrock Messmer: Any boat show floor model deals? hehehe

[12:58] disisme Misfit shouts: surely she should offer a discount at least I bought that one already kent

[12:58] Kentrock Messmer: Dam!

[12:58] disisme Misfit: never got too many ACJ2s,: I Think I got...13 now..LMAO

[12:59] disisme Misfit: kachink....let the sales begin....

[12:59] disisme Misfit: the sails..did I mention... single texture?
[12:59] Quirky Torok: sold separately? not a cut up like the ACA

[12:59] Kentrock Messmer: Is there an ACJ group?

[12:59] disisme Misfit: yes, if you speak fluent Japanese kent

[13:00] Kaylin Bechir: hahahaaa
[13:00] Kentrock Messmer: not

[13:00] disisme Misfit: I Will ask sarah and max to move on that... I think we have numbers enough to probably host an ACJ2.5 race.... so if you get one, you wont be out there on your own... plus you get to shit on some ACAs... which is always fun...

[13:01] Kentrock Messmer: Now now Dis..lol

[13:01] disisme Misfit: haha

[13:01] disisme Misfit shouts: I will be asking for the location of sail templates I know they exist, because I have them

[13:02] LiLing Qunhua: thank you disi .. was great talk ... learned a lot
[13:02] Kaylin Bechir: Bravo! -- Cheers! - Applause!
[13:02] disisme Misfit smiles
[13:02] Glorfindel Arrow: thanks Disi
[13:02] disisme Misfit shouts: thank you all for coming...
[13:02] Katrinna Okelly: Thanks.
[13:02] Quirky Torok: /claps
[13:02] Kentrock Messmer: Dis you are a great saleswoman.
[13:02] disisme Misfit shouts: haha...
[13:02] disisme Misfit shouts: thats why I got all these clothes..
[13:03] disisme Misfit shouts: I am a bigger sucker for good hair
[13:03] disisme Misfit: ka chink

Owen Oyen - Working Sailboat in the OS Grid

[9:00] Owen Oyen shouts: Hello, Folks. I am Owen Oyen. Nice to see all of you with whom I am friends and nice to meet all of you I don't yet know. First, a thank you to Tasha, Iza, Disisme, Liv, RJ and any other AV involved with the very hard work of putting this great SL event together. This is a beautiful venue. [ feel free to applaud and :) ]
[9:00] Gemma Vuckovic: speak up, we cant hear at the back

[9:01] Owen Oyen shouts: I was asked to prepare a talk for the sailing community gathered here today on various subjects of interest to SL and virtual sailing. As I paste it, ask questions at any time. You'll be in my chat buffer. I'll try to catch them all either as I'm pasting or after I'm done pasting. If I do neither, yell. Loudly.



[9:01] Owen Oyen shouts: I build the ACC racing yacht in SL and I introduced it in its 1.0 version about 18 months ago. She was the first boat in SL with a wind shadow and the first boat with a wave motion model. Let me stop myself just a moment here to recognize . . . that this is a situation relevant to the famous Sir Isaac Newton quote "If I have seen a bit further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants." My modest contributions to SL sailing follow in the footsteps of Kanker Greenacre's first SL boat. My contributions also would be of little significance were it not for the attraction to sailing derived from the artistry of Jacqui, Verkin and any other sailboat artists who predate me in SL and who . . . I will regret neglecting to mention later.

[9:03] Owen Oyen shouts: Since ACC 1.0's introduction, about 8 months later I introduced rev 2.0, which is parked for show here at this boating event. She, like 1.0, conforms in all dimensions to the IACC 2007 Rules formula. She has a refined wind shadow (the original was somewhat brutal), she has a randomly timed sail damage feature on her that requires a crew member to go aloft and do repairs in order to restore full racing performance, and she responds to tidal current, which I will discuss in a moment.

Owen Oyen shouts: First, I'd like to describe something new going on in another virtual world, namely OSGrid (Open Source Grid, www.osgrid.org). I am not an OSG zealot or recruiter and I'm not going to talk about OSG itself. Instead, I will talk about a sailboat there. That boat was built to provide folks here with options amid the recent pricing upheaval, but this talk is not about sim pricing. It's about boat features and only about boat features. The OSG boat introduces some new approaches to virutal sailing.



9:05] Owen Oyen shouts: Making a sailboat is no longer quite the big accomplishment in virtual worlds that it was when Kanker Greenacre started, but there is one thing different about OSGrid that makes a sailboat challenging there. Namely, OSG is young, and there are no LL vehicle functions implemented (yet). The boat builders here know what that means and what a problem that presents. The usual way of generating simulated propulsion for a virtual world boat, the way that Kanker Greenacre originally did it, is not available in OSG.

Owen Oyen shouts: I hear typing clicks . . yes OSGrid is Open Source sims, outside SL with some talk underway about connecting the grids, but I will leave OSG talk to others

[9:07] Owen Oyen shouts: This forced me (no pun intended) to find a workaround. The key equations for it are on a poster here beside me to my right. They are not complex or revolutionary and I'm obviously giving them away. They involve raw physics, bypassing the standard Linden Lab motor parameters of the ll functions. And . . . for you boat builders, they . . . the equations . . . result in code that is likely to use fewer instructions per second (aka lag) than the llSetVehiclethisorthat appproach. It is an approach to making virtual sailboat propulsion in a different way than usual. I'll pause here a moment so the poster can rez for everyone.

[9:08] Owen Oyen shouts: anyone NOT see the poster yet?

[9:08] Liv Leigh: i don t see you even owen lol

[9:08] Tasha Kostolany shouts: (Larz will be talking further on OS Grid this coming Sunday)

[9:08] Liv Leigh: i see a big grey ball with your name tag
[9:08] Owen Oyen shouts: I'm not worth seeing Liv, but I'll wait a few secs for the folks to see the poster

[9:09] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: Suffice it to say, Owen knows how to make a boat sail by using a pure physical simulation





[9:09] Orca Flotta shouts: if you can't see Owen or the poster you're obviously on some crappy SL viewer :)

[9:10] Owen Oyen shouts: I am sure there are other vehicles here in SL using this kind of technique, but sailing has very special requirements and aspects that other vehicles do not encounter, so this is likely somewhat new for sailing. It will certainly require effort to embrace llSetForce (and llSetTorque to turn) should you wish to. I presently use llSetForce to implement tidal current on the ACC -- and yes, I know the wiki says you can't use llSetForce with "vehicles". I did anyway. It has worked fine for 9 months with no unpleasant side effects at all.

[9:11] Owen Oyen shouts: If you're bored, we're already past the 1/2 way point, so hang in there


[9:11] Owen Oyen shouts: There are some pictures here beside me of the OSGrid boat, and also the iceboat variant we have prepared there.





Bri Hasp has made a pretty ice sim and Hiro Protagonist has laid out some racing buoys in his water sim. About 35 boats have been distributed by the OSG 0L vendor over the past 2 weeks and hopefully people are having fun, despite various Beta issues. Note that all the propulsion is in the ugly yellow prim, and the attachment boat frame (made by Hiro) can be anything any boating artist wishes it to be. Sail commands are documented and publicly available so sails can be rotated.

[9:12] Owen Oyen shouts: arggg, forgot to get iceboat pics, they are at OSGrid sim Sailing, an ice sim, if you visit

[9:12] Owen Oyen shouts: Before I shut up, one more thing. Tidal current. About a year ago Soro Dagostino suggested to me that an AV named seonaid McLean had an idea for sailing and wanted to talk about it. Tidal current in SL was her idea. Not mine. What we did was map the terrain of selected sailing areas, port the terrain map to Scotland (seonaid's home) and we then ran a fluid dynamics model against that terrain to predict how RL water would flow on a race course. This current model is dependent on the terrain of the shorelines, a predefined direction of predominant flow (which will eventually be time of day dependent) and the sim seafloor shape. The numbers are not "faked".

[9:13] Owen Oyen shouts: SL boats equipped with the protocol transmit their position and velocity to the model in Scotland. The model presumes a certain number of seconds will elapse for the transmission to and from Scotland and based on that number and boat velocity vector, we project the boat's position ahead to where it will be when the numbers from Scotland arrive back in SL. We inform the boat of the tidal current at that locale and the boat's scripts respond to it and slow the boat down, speed it up, or push it sideways. Just like RL. haha Scotland has very strong tidal current and seonaid persuaded me that 4-6 knot current in Manning Strait would be fun. She has proven to be correct.



[9:14] Pensive Mission shouts: not for sailors who can't go faster than 3m/sec

[9:14] Owen Oyen shouts: haha Pensive, you'll get better
[9:14] disisme Misfit: the boat might not tho...

[9:14] Owen Oyen shouts: Tidal current maps are available here:

[9:15] Nomad Zamani: I'm from Scotland in RL, and I *have* sailed backwards while making good way through the water. ;)

[9:15] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: some boats just shouldnt be sailed in some bodies of water
[9:15] Frank Marder shouts: try the detroit river

[9:15] Owen Oyen shouts: Sailor's Cove Northern Race Courses
http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=croppedsccurrentmapiq6.jpg

[9:16] Owen Oyen shouts: Ppl, please, boats were made to go FORWARD

[9:16] Owen Oyen shouts: Mowry Bay Course
http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chartimagewithtextoq4.png
[9:16] disisme Misfit: ahuh..its like a tiger moth with a 60 knot headwind....
[9:16] disisme Misfit: hovering at full throttle
[9:17] Owen Oyen shouts: All the maps just pasted are *SL*
[9:17] Owen Oyen shouts: Please note, we DO intend to support the same feature in OSGrid. There is a slight advantage there in that all sim terrain.raw files are easily available, so no tedious mapping process is required.

[9:18] Owen Oyen shouts: The ACC is equipped with this scripting. So is Mothgirl Dibou's Fizz, and her new current approach I am told can interface with the tide model, as her previous Fizz did. The protocol for communicating with seonaid's server and receiving the real time tidal current numbers is free to any boat builder who wants to use it. We are doing this for fun and there is no business model. If you enjoy it, IM seonaid and thank her. Since we started tidal current support . . . over a period of 9 months now, I think seonaid's server has been offline for perhaps a total of 15 days. She fixes things when they go wrong. It's been reliable. When her server is not there, the boats just sail with 0 current. This has been rare.

[9:18] Liv Leigh takes another pic of owen the grey

[9:19] Owen Oyen shouts: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for
[9:19] Owen Oyen shouts: Time for me to shut up. Thanks for your polite attention.
[9:19] Owen Oyen shouts: Questions?

[9:19] Liv Leigh: thanks!
[9:19] Nomad Zamani: Thank you, Owen. :)
[9:20] Caf Binder: Thanks
[9:20] disisme Misfit: everyone, lazarus is loitering in the background here..he is an OSGrid admin and will be presenting on it this sunday

[9:20] Tasha Kostolany shouts: give us a second to think of some questions Owen
[9:20] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: GREAT JOB, OWEN!!
[9:20] Frank Marder shouts: and thank for for clarifying issues about the osgrid.com
[9:20] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: osgrid.org

[9:20] Owen Oyen shouts: Waiting a bit, and there ARE permissions there, but they require thought. Others will address this

[9:20] disisme Misfit: Can I make one point to everyone here.....
[9:21] disisme Misfit shouts: yesterday it was discovered that there had been a change made on OSGrid that rendered the boat physics...dysfunctional......
[9:21] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: LOL that has already been corrected
[9:21] disisme Misfit shouts: to OSGrids credit, that change was backed out overnight....
[9:21] Liv Leigh: you re too efficient
[9:21] Owen Oyen shouts: That was fixed this morning, Dis, in case folks from this talk visited
[9:21] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: not backed out - fixed
[9:21] disisme Misfit shouts: this is something you will NOT see Linden Labs EVER do
[9:21] Kalle Lannock: So bugs are fixed overnight compared to never by LL ;)
[9:21] disisme Misfit shouts: ok...fixed..same thing, really :)
[9:22] disisme Misfit shouts: Lindens have a "oh..thats bad luck" support methodology....
[9:22] disisme Misfit: OSGrids responsiveness is... immeasurably ebetter



[9:22] Owen Oyen shouts: I am not here to trash LL. The OSG response to the error yesterday was great

[9:23] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: I dont want to trash LL either - this couldnt have been done without their generous contribution of their proprietary network protocol specifications

[9:23] Liv Leigh: what do you think your findings in os grid could mean ported back to SL?

[9:24] Owen Oyen shouts: Liv, good question. The llSetForce formula SHOULD help boat builders build lower lag boats, even if they don't use llSetForce. The velocity setting feature / technique really saves time tweaking settings to get a particular speed at a particular polar angle
[9:24] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: <== is Hiro Protagonist on OSGrid, and one of several OSGrid admins [9:24] disisme Misfit shouts: I'd like everyone to put a quick note of their thoughts about this presentation in a notecard and send it to me [9:25] Liv Leigh: so we can safely say you reinvented the sailboat? [9:25] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: reengineered? [9:25] disisme Misfit shouts: jiggered with? [9:25] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: ripped and reconfigged? *GRINZ* [9:26] disisme Misfit shouts: frikked around with? [9:26] Owen Oyen shouts: No, Liv. I invented a way to work around limits, and someone else would have done it the same way had they been there. It is NOT SL quality of sailing, but . . . it's a lot cheaper [9:26] Liv Leigh: it s always been emulated physics yes [9:26] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: like anything, it can (and will) be improved over time [9:26] Liv Leigh: ic, but.. i reckon it does offer us a long-term perspective in making boat scripts mroe efficient? in os grid but also here 9:27] Lazarus Longstaff shouts: the thing that broke steering briefly was a fix that is already ten new steps in the right direction [9:27] Liv Leigh: allowing more boats, larger boats, whatever [9:27] Owen Oyen shouts: possibly, Liv, I think you can cut down on some things in SL vehicles and less load on CPUs is less lag [9:27] Liv Leigh: or just better sim performance [9:28] Owen Oyen shouts: Okay, thank you all for coming. I must return to RL. Thanks to the great venue set up by the boat show team, too. Everyone Have Fun!! [9:28] disisme Misfit: oh..and Owen....I look like this in your honor today....you expected a clothes change x 4....so I tossed a skin in for fun [9:28] Tasha Kostolany shouts: THANK YOU OWEN, YOUR THE BEST [9:28] Owen Oyen shouts: bye all [9:28] Owen Oyen is Offline [9:29] disisme Misfit: poof..gone [9:29] Sillygirl Beningborough: thanks! [9:29] nobuko Criss: WOOOOOT!!!! [9:29] xnobuko Criss: (ja->en) WOOOOOT!!!!