Originally posted by YoulluPukki:

Is it me or it's by design sailing made torturing?

After over 1.200+ hours I can tell you...
It's completely random. I tested it several times.

https://www.segelwagen.de/img/blog/post-Segelkunde-gegenWind.jpg
We have even tested which is faster, a ship that is constantly rowing straight ahead is faster than a ship that zig zags against the wind (like in the picture).

If you calculate, that you haven't ALWAYS zero wind, a ship moving in straight line is very much faster as if you try to apply to the wind.

At least it should be rewarded if you master your sailing "knowledge". Before Valheim I had no clue that this is a method used in real life. It should be rewarded, but the game doesn't in this case. Was a suggestion in their discord long time ago, high voted, but no one cared.

If you have a portal set up at your starting point, just switch to moder buff if you sail a long distance. For any other case -> you are better off to row against the wind in 90%+ of the cases.

So there are few circumstances in which deviating from the course makes sense - for example, when you only need a minor sail adjustment or need to sail a few miles further around an island anyway. But that's less sail mechanics than pre-planning.

I was hoping for a rework in the ship and sea update. But I'm not sure which direction they went in total. Feels like they are disconnected now somehow and don't know what they want to do in the first place - at least that's how Mistlands seems to be.