Box Rudder

Well, maybe I misunderstood how sails are supposed to work in SJ.  If
they work like a solar sail like that DS9 episode, yeah, my ideas wouldn't
make sense.  But if sails are used to augment the _speed_ of the ship
then they should increase SR, not the maneuverability rating.

I decided that Aristotlean Physics would be a good model of how things
work in SJ universes, so that when a ship moves it feels a relative
wind, regardless of whether that makes sense in all reference frames.
That 'wind' is what is used to turn a ship.

According to that logic, the rudder would act like a rudder for air instead
of a normal ship's rudder in water.  They would look like 4 giant awnings.
Imagine 4 inch square.  Attach playing cards to the middle of each side
at their top.  Connect each opposite playing card by a 4" rod.  By moving
the rod the cards move on their hinges.

I'll work on the ASCII diagrams a little more.


Can someone describe a consistent pseudo-physics to explain how sails
enable a ship to maneuver better without affecting its speed?  Also,
could you provide example as to how a particular adjustment of the
rigging would affect the ship's course?

Michael Sandy