They are scaled to the lake and a 40,000 ton scale model reacts just like a 40,000 ton Irving tanker. Its the most realistic training you can get without using someone else's 23 million dollar ship. We practiced unusual maneuvers like rudder failure in a narrow channel, dredging anchors to maintain steerage, and shallow water maneuvering. Each Warshash model represents a ship presently at sea. Throttles, propellor revolutions, and timing of engine responses are scaled to the ship represented.
Trainees sit low in the model to simulate the obstruction of posed by the ship's bow.
What took the longest was speed. The speed of the model was 1 to 40 so what you see as six knots isn't quite half a knot. It took me all of Monday morning to slow down. Weather is the only variable that the school can't control. A five knot breeze on the lake is like being in a 60-knot gale.