From A Sledwright's Primer, third printing, Gantry, 33 AS. The copy kept at the Saltreach runners' hall has been read nearly to pieces, and someone has annotated it in pencil. The notes are signed "D.A." and are given here as they appear in the margin.
What a sled is
A sail-sled is the narrowest useful boat anyone has ever built. It has a hull no wider than the ribbon, four magnetic runners that clamp to the ribbon's back, and a tall rigid sail. It has no engine and needs none. On a fair wind, a good runner covers six hundred kilometres in a day.
A good runner, on a good sled, with a good mechanic. D.A.
The parts of a sled
Hull
Between six and nine metres long and never more than a metre wide. The ribbon is 1.2 metres across, and any hull that hangs over its edge will catch a crosswind and teach you something. Hulls are built from salvage alloy, from resin over a frame, or, in Gantry, from old climber panels, which are light, strong and impossible to replace.
Runners
Two pairs: one forward, one aft. Each runner is a magnetic shoe that grips the ribbon's back and rolls along it. The first sleds used clamps taken straight off wrecked climber cars, and every runner shoe made since is a copy of those.
Each shoe has two settings. The running clamp grips firmly enough to keep the sled on the ribbon in a strong wind while letting it roll. The storm clamp locks the shoe dead. In a storm you throw the storm lever, all four shoes lock, and the sled becomes part of the ribbon until you throw it back.
Nobody now living fully understands why the shoes hold as well as they do. The climber engineers did, and they are not here. Keep the shoes clean.
They hold better on some days than others. I've logged it for two years. It isn't the weather and it isn't the salt. D.A.
Mast and sail
The sail is rigid: battened panels on a mast that turns, so the whole sail can be set to the wind like a wing. Most sails stand between seven and ten metres. A tall sail is fast and a short one is forgiving. Choose according to how much forgiving you need.
A sled can run into any wind except a dead headwind. A dead headwind is a day off.
Brake, staff and cask
The drag brake is a hinged shoe at the stern that bites the ribbon when you pull it. The pennant staff stands at the stern. The water cask sits amidships, where its weight helps, and must hold enough for two. That is not this primer's rule. It is the Compact's.
Pennants
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Someone hurt aboard. Give way. This is the Compact's third rule, and the only pennant the Authority enforces |
| White | Carrying spare water. Hail if you need some |
| Green | Carrying post |
| Black | A sled was lost on this stretch. Flown by the runner bringing the news home |
Every runner carries a red pennant. Most go years without flying it. Carry it anyway. D.A.
Running in salt, sand and water
On the Glass Sea, salt crusts the runner shoes and the grip goes soft without warning. Scrape the shoes at every stop. Wear goggles: glare off the salt will blind you by noon.
In Dunmarrow, sand gets into everything that moves. Before a storm, throw the storm clamp, feather the sail edge-on to the wind, lie flat and cover your face. After the storm, before you release the clamp, walk the ribbon ahead and look for drifts.
And do not race the storm. I write this down for the hall copy and for no particular runner. D.A.
On the Long Shallows, keep moving. Spray will wet the shoes and the grip will hold. Feather the sail in a crosswind, and never stop on a pontoon section.
Sail marks and licences
Every sail carries two things: its runner's mark, painted large, and its Authority licence number, painted small. The mark is how the Line knows you. The number is how the Authority knows you. Most runners care more about the first. A sail mark is chosen once and kept for life, and a runner who changes it is assumed to be in debt or in love.
Kestrel's mark is a white bird on orange. People ask what kind of bird. It is a kestrel. D.A.
Names
Most runners name their sleds after birds, because the first runners did. Never rename a sled while it is clamped to the ribbon. Never sell a sled without telling the buyer its name. Never let anyone else paint over your mark, even to touch it up.
None of these rules is written anywhere except here, and every runner keeps them.
Building your first sail
Most runners build their first sail with a friend, out of whatever the yards will give them, and most first sails are bad. This does not matter. A bad sail teaches you how a good one should feel, and you will never be prouder of a sail than you are of the first one.
Ours was not a good sail. It was ours. D.A.
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