I too have sailed (and under ~extreme conditions, such as through the body of a hurricane!) and would be inclined to help with the rules design if you really Do get into it and wanted my help.
Somewhere around here I also have a fairly complete and quite good set of movement and interaction rules for ships (WW-II era, power rather than sail, but including weather- and sea-state effects) lying about that scales well from at least PT-boats up to battleships. It is intended for post-1900 combat sims and many of the details are slanted that way, but it might give you a starting point.
I haven't had a dream implode in quite that fashion in a very long time; almost a ~nostalgically~ long time ... ;-)
Somewhere around here I also have a fairly complete and quite good set of movement and interaction rules for ships (WW-II era, power rather than sail, but including weather- and sea-state effects) lying about that scales well from at least PT-boats up to battleships. It is intended for post-1900 combat sims and many of the details are slanted that way, but it might give you a starting point.
I haven't had a dream implode in quite that fashion in a very long time; almost a ~nostalgically~ long time ... ;-)