Let's get to some numbers. A pathfinder ship, before the larger transports:
A crewmember and provisions for five months are one ton. Twenty men, a boat or two, and a little bit of cargo are about 25 tons. According to vehicles, most of those provisions are water, so the endurance could be stretched by taking food and water for three months and just food for another year ... betting your life that there will be a coast with a spring when you need it. For a first guess, double that for a Lwt. of 50 tons. Mediocre lines to avoid the wSR penalty for better lines mean that the drag will be 431. Avoiding the sail area wSR penalty limits the sail area to less than 4,310 sf. Getting that high means an average mast height of 80', anyway, so no problem. A 5,000 cf hull could have 68' masts. Take one at 60' and one at 40', and lateen sails with 1,750 sf. A fresh breeze gives 2,800 lbs. of thrust and 11 mph. Going on eight oars generates 40 lbs. thrust and 3 mph. A gentle breeze gives 9 mph, so it The masts are 51 sf and the hull would be 2,000 sf, so there would be roughly 20 lbs. per sf for structure and armor. That means an expensive, medium hull and DR 8-10 expensive wooden should be possible. Low Tech lists the DR of assorted ships, typically 5 to 10, so that is within reason ... _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
