If it were as complex as it actually was just to sail a square rigged ship, I am afraid that we would all be far out of our depth. When it comes to weather and sail to fight a battle we would all be hopelessly lost.

Most people don’t know the difference between a sail and a sheet let alone know when to take a reef in one and may be pressed just to name the masts. You might consider your self expert if you can tell a stay from a jib, not even when to apply them.

Naval Battles in computer games need to be simple. If you think of the years it took to gain the sailing knowledge we would all loose. But then again, they would never be able to build an AI…