Selecting A Course

The first sailing course is now displayed. The prevailing wind is described at the bottom right. You will also see the following objects on the chart:

Red buoys ... buoys which you must round in a clockwise direction
Blue buoys ... buoys which you must round in an anti-clockwise direction
Black objects ... hazards: rocks, sunken trees, wrecks
Yellow objects ... sand banks

Press SPACE and the next course appears. When the course you want is displayed, press ENTER. You may now select the number of laps. The message "Number of laps 1" appears. Press SPACE to change the number of laps to 2. Keep pressing SPACE until the number of laps you want is displayed. Then press ENTER to choose that number. While you are learning to sail, one lap should be sufficient.

There are five courses in all. You can check them by studying the chart.

Your Speed Indicator

At the left of the screen is your speed indicator. When you are moving a bar appears; this shows your speed. The higher the bar, the faster you are going. The small pointer to the left of your speed bar shows the maximum speed that you could achieve if you were to get your sail trim and balance for the wind direction exactly right.

Balancing The Boat

To see where you are on the course, press E. The clock is suspended and the screen shows a chart. The small purple boat marks your position, the small black boat marks the position of Black Streak (levels 4-6). (If both the opposing boat and you are close together, the position of only one of the boats is shown.) The buoy you must head for flashes. To continue, press E (or any of the above keys) a second time.

If you collide with buoys or Black Streak then you incur an immediate 5 second time penalty. For 5 seconds, your dinghy will be immobile.

If you hit underwater obstacles (eg. sunken wrecks, sand banks) or if you capsize or veer into a bank, you sink and you cannot continue with your course. Press SPACE to start again.

The course ends when either the computer boat or you have successfully rounded the last buoy on the last lap. You must round each buoy in the correct direction. Red for clockwise, blue for anti-clockwise. (You have not rounded the buoy until the message "You have rounded the buoy" appears.) If you were racing the computer then the result of the race will be given.

Game Controls

SPACE - Cycles through options, ENTER - Chooses an option

Rudder:
O/P - Steers the dinghy anti-clockwise/clockwise

Sails:
N/I - Pulls in/lets out the sails

Balance:
Q - Moves helmsman into the centre, W - Moves the helmsman out
C - Looks to port, V - Looks to starboard
E - Displays the chart

CAPS-A - Restarts the program

Selecting level of difficulty:
Level 1 - you steer the dinghy
Level 2 - you steer and trim the sail
Level 3 - you are in full control; you steer, trim the sail, and set the balance
Levels 4-6 are a repeat of the first three levels except this time you race against the computer boat

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