Ships and Sailing in Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves has three ships: the two-crew Sloop with one mast and two cannons, the three-crew Brigantine with two masts and four cannons, and the four-crew Galleon with three masts and eight cannons. Speed comes from trimming your sails to the wind angle, not just dropping them, and the Sloop is fastest sailing dead into the wind while the Galleon is fastest downwind and across the wind. Dropping anchor mid-turn pivots the ship far faster than the wheel alone, which is the single most useful maneuver in the game.
Every ship in Sea of Thieves handles the same wind, and every crew has access to the same tools. The gap between a fast ship and a slow one is entirely down to whether anyone is trimming the sails.
Which ship should you sail?
| Sloop | Brigantine | Galleon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max crew | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Masts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Cannons | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Upwind speed | Best | Middle | Worst |
| Crosswind speed | Worst | Middle | Best |
| Downwind speed | Worst | Middle | Best |
| Turning | Tightest | Middle | Widest |
| Below-deck visibility | One level, easy to watch | Split | Multiple levels, easy to miss a boarder |
The Sloop wins every escape that goes dead upwind. The Galleon wins every chase that goes downwind, and since the Season 12 speed rebalance in patch 3.0.2 it also wins crosswinds when all three sails are trimmed right. A Brigantine sits between the two at every angle and is the most forgiving ship to learn crew coordination on, because two people can cover it and a third makes it comfortable.
The Galleon's crosswind edge carries a catch. Rare balanced the rework so a Galleon crew that mismanages the wind suffers the largest penalty of the three ships, so its speed advantage only exists while someone is actively trimming. Escaping a bigger ship still works, but it means pointing dead into the wind, because any angle off it hands the advantage back.
Ship size is chosen at the menu, not in the world, and it sets your server slot. A Sloop crew of two on a Galleon slot is a crew of two doing four people's jobs, so pick the hull that matches who actually turned up.
How does sailing actually work?
Wind is a real direction on the map and it moves. You can see it in the clouds, in your sail cloth, and in the flags on your masts. Sails do two separate things, and new crews usually only do the first.
Raising and lowering controls how much sail is out. Full sail is maximum speed. Half sail slows you for docking. Raised sail stops you.
Angling rotates the sail left or right to catch wind coming from the side. A sail pointed straight ahead while the wind blows across your beam catches almost nothing. Angle it into the wind and the ship visibly surges.
You know the trim is right when the sail billows tight and stops flapping. Your ears confirm it too: a sail that catches the wind plays an audible cue, a rush of wind as the cloth snaps taut, so you can hold the wheel and still know the trim landed. Get in the habit of glancing up at the cloth after every turn, because a turn that changes your heading also changes your wind angle.
The stations on a ship
| Station | What it does | Who should be on it |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | Steers. Multiple turns of the wheel per full rudder swing | Whoever is navigating |
| Sails | Raise, lower, and angle each mast | Everyone, constantly |
| Capstan | Raises and lowers the anchor. Slow with one person | All hands when in a hurry |
| Map table | Shows your ship's live position | The navigator, briefly |
| Cannons | Combat and launching yourself | Gunner |
| Crow's nest | Best sightline for spotting sails and sky signals | Anyone with a spyglass |
| Bilge | Where water pools. Bucket it out | Whoever is not patching |
The helm has no rear visibility on any ship. Someone other than the helmsman needs to be looking behind you, or you will not see the ship that has been following you for 10 minutes.
What is an anchor turn and when do you use it?
Dropping the anchor while turning the wheel pivots your ship far faster than steering alone. The ship lurches, kills most of its speed, and swings hard toward whatever direction the rudder is set to.
To do one:
- Turn the wheel fully in the direction you want to face.
- Drop the anchor.
- Let the ship swing through the turn.
- Raise the anchor on the capstan and re-trim your sails immediately.
The cost is your speed, and on a Galleon the capstan takes real time to wind back up with fewer than three people. Use it to reverse direction in a fight, to line up a broadside, or to stop dead at a dock. Do not use it while being chased, because you will hand your pursuer the distance you just gained.
Two gentler tools cover most other course changes. Raising your sails into a turn tightens it without touching the anchor, and solo sloopers lean on it for nearly every turn. Harpooning a rock mid-sail whips the ship around harder than the rudder ever could.
An anchor turn with the sails still full will drag you forward through the swing and eat far more speed than expected. Raise sails first when you are turning to fight. Leave them full only when the turn is part of running away.
How do you read the wind and the sea?
The wind direction is visible on your sails and flags at all times, and it changes over the course of a session. Storms have their own weather: heavy rain fills your bilge without a single hole in the hull, lightning can strike crew members, and your compass spins uselessly inside one.
A few things worth knowing before you sail into weather:
- Storms flood your ship steadily. Someone needs to be bailing the whole time you are inside one.
- The wheel fights you in a storm, and waves push your heading around.
- Storms are the only place Stormfish are caught, which is the one good reason to enter one deliberately.
- Rowboats attached to your ship survive storms fine and are a useful way to reach shallow islands. Since patch 3.8.1 a Rowboat attached to a captained ship also persists between sessions, so you keep the one you found.
A capsized ship rights itself now. Patch 3.6.2 added self-righting buoyancy, so a hull flipped over by reckless helming or a stray Black Powder Barrel returns to an upright position at sea and carries on sailing instead of ending the session.
Docking, beaching, and the mistakes that cost you a hull
Islands have shallows that will not sink you but will hold you fast. Beaching a Galleon at full sail on a sandbar strands you until the crew raises sails, reverses off with the wind, or the ship rocks free.
Approach any island with sails at half, turn parallel to the shore instead of pointing at it, and drop anchor while you are still in deep water. Swimming 20 meters is faster than un-beaching a Galleon.
Never leave your ship anchored with sails dropped in High Seas. An anchored ship with full sails is a ship that cannot leave, and any crew that boards you can raise your anchor and sail off with your entire hold.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cannons does each Sea of Thieves ship have?
The Sloop has two cannons, the Brigantine has four, and the Galleon has eight. Crew sizes are two, three, and four, and mast counts are one, two, and three respectively.
Which Sea of Thieves ship is fastest?
It depends entirely on wind direction. The Sloop is fastest dead upwind, the Galleon is fastest both downwind and in crosswinds since the patch 3.0.2 speed rebalance, and the Brigantine sits between them at every angle. Escaping a larger ship means sailing straight into the wind.
What does angling the sails do?
Angling rotates the sail to catch wind coming from the side instead of straight behind. A sail left pointing forward while the wind blows across your beam catches almost nothing. The trim is correct when the cloth billows tight, stops flapping, and plays its audible rush of wind.
How do you do an anchor turn?
Turn the wheel fully toward your target heading, drop the anchor, let the ship swing through the turn, then raise the anchor and re-trim the sails. It pivots far faster than the wheel alone but kills your speed, so use it to fight and never to flee.
Why is my ship filling with water without any holes?
You are in a storm. Heavy rain floods the bilge steadily regardless of hull damage, so someone has to keep bailing the entire time you are inside one. Storms also spin your compass and are the only place Stormfish can be caught.
What to Read Next
- Ship Combat and Damage Control. Cannonball types, cursed shot, boarding defense, and the exact repair order that keeps you afloat.
- Getting Started. The Maiden Voyage, mode choice, and the new player traps that cost the most time.
- World Events and Raids. Every sky signal decoded and which events pull the most contest.
- Voyages and Treasure. Voyage types, treasure values, and the fastest selling routes.
- PvP and the Hourglass of Fate. Where all of this sailing gets tested against another crew doing the same thing.
- Tips and Tricks. Anchor turn timing and the sail habit that costs crews their speed.