Sail Simulator 4 Specifications

Stentec is proud to present a new version of its well-known Sail Simulator. In Sail Simulator 4 you can sail and navigate on your computer just as you did in previous versions. You can even team up with a friend to crew a boat. In addition, Sail Simulator 4 takes full advantage of the power of the latest PC’s to make simulated sailing an exciting experience. Sail Simulator 4 is a program that will continue to fascinate you. A perfect link between your boat and your computer.

The developers of Stentec Software used Borland Delphi 4 and Microsofts new DirectX technology in programming the new Sail Simulator 4. The support of hardware acceleration of graphics and sound gives the new Sail Simulator 4 a sense of reality that equals modern computer games.

The full-screen simulation gives you an impressive view on the selected boat and sailing area. This is a major improvement compared to Sail Simulator 3.0. Because of the standard Windows menu structure and interface you will feel familiar with the program very quickly. A clear online Help and manual will answer the most frequently asked questions. And through a direct Internet link you can contact our support site to get help or to download future updates.

The instrument panel contains all necessary board instruments, such as compass, log, depth sounder, wind speed and direction meter and GPS receiver. In addition you can also open a navigation window with a map of the selected sailing area. On this you can draw a route with waypoints. When the GPS is switched on, your current position will be plotted on the map.

Sail Simulator 4 contains a very realistic and dynamic simulation of the waves that will give you spectacular sailing. The height and length of the waves depend on the wind strength. You hear and see the beating of the hull on the waves and the spray of your planing boat.

Because the wind cannot be felt, we made it visible by wind particles, a kind of snowflakes, which move along with the airflow. You can switch this option on/off. Wind noise is included in version 4.2i.

You can steer your boat with the mouse by moving it from left to right with the left mouse button down. On the boat the helm or steering wheel moves correspondingly. Sail Simulator 4 also supports a joystick and of course the special Sail Simulator Control Unit with a real tiller and slide control for the main sheet. Because Direct Input hardware acceleration is supported, you will get extra fast response of the control unit and the joystick.

DirectInput also offers support for a Force Feedback Joystick. With this you can feel the force on the helm and main sheet. This makes sailing very realistic. You just feel when you ease the helm and when you sheer off. Computer sailing is now almost possible with your eyes closed. For slow computers this option can be switched off.

The ships in Sail Simulator 4 do not only look better. Because of improved aero- and hydrodynamics they also behave more realistic. For every boat the hydrostatics and the wetted surface of the hull are calculated more exactly and real-time as well. The important ‘forced mode’ part of the wave resistance is also better defined. The wave system of the boat indicates how fast you sail and if you are already planing. During planing, the water under the bow sprays away. The flat wake behind the boat gives a real feeling of speed.

A number of newly defined ships will make Sail Simulator 4.0 even more complete as its predecessors. The following ships are available in the first version: Laser, Soling, Valk, 10m Sailing Cruiser, Flying Dutchman and Optimist. You can download more ships from sailsimulator.com.

Depending on the selected sailing area and the date and time you will see daybreak, day, twilight or night. Upto 5 cloud layers can be selected. You can define the type and height your self. The clouds have a height-depending speed and direction, conform the earth rotation. When you are at the Northern Hemisphere and you face the wind, you see the clouds coming to you from the right.

You can also adjust the visibility from a few hundred meters (fog) up to some 60 kilometers. In good visibility ships and land in the distance are plotted partly under the horizon due to the curvature of the earth.

Sail Simulator 4.1.2 will be shipped with 3 sailing areas: Ile d'Ouessant at the West coast of France, Vierwaldstatter See in Switserland, and 1 area especially designed for the build-in sailing course for beginners. You can download more sailing areas soon from sailsimulator.com. More sailing areas will become available for downloading or on CD-ROM.

A very interesting new feature of Sail Simulator 4 is the possibility to output NMEA sentences from the GPS via a special NMEA cable to another PC that runs a navigation program like WinGPS Pro. You can assembly 2 old mouse cables with twisted in/out for this use. In this configuration the selected boat in Sail Simulator 4 acts as a real boat in the navigation program. In this way you can create an ideal simulation environment to practice GPS navigation at home or during a navigation course.

Sail Simulator 4 contains a sailing course for beginners, with which you can learn to sail in a Valk (a 6 m. keelboat). A clear course manual assists you in learning to manoeuver the boat and to handle the sails.

Owing to DirectX techniques the crew in Sail Simulator 4 is plotted more realistic than in former versions. The position of the crew can be controlled by the buttons of the special control unit, the keyboard, the mouse or the joystick. The position of the helmsman and crew to balance the boat can also be controlled by the program. Furthermore you can let the program handle the sails so that you can fully concentrate on steering and navigation.

The boats of Sail Simulator 4 can be also be steered by an autopilot (select: GPS, Waypoints, Compass or Wind Vane).

Sail Simulator 4 is available in the following languages: Dutch, English, German, French, Danish, Swedish, Spanish and Italian. A special 4.2i internet version has been released April 2002.

Stentec will continue the development of Sail Simulator 4 the coming years. New upgrades, boats and areas will become available to license holders on sailsimulator.com .

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