Leinen los! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
• Wind the Rope and Push the Boat
• Movement Rules
• End of Game
• Variant: High Seas

Components and Setup

Components:

• 1 Game Board
• 4 Boats with 4 Motors
• 8 Buoys
• 1 Double Bollard with Rope

Setup:

• Place the double bollard by the board, with its rope unwound.
• Place the buoys on their markings.
• Give each player a boat. Place the boats, with their motors, in the port.
• Decide whether you'll play on the easier yellow track or the harder red track.
• If some sailors are more experienced, they can use the red track while the others use the yellow.
• The youngest sailor starts, then play continues clockwise.

Wind the Rope and Push the Boat

On your turn, place one finger on your boat's motor. Younger sailors may use two or three fingers.

The player to your right takes the double bollard. As soon as they shout "Cast Off!", push your boat along the (red or yellow) track. At the same time, your right-hand neighbour winds the rope around the double bollard as fast as they can, forming neat figure-eight loops.

Older salts should only hold the rope by its ends while winding it.

As soon as your neighbour has completely wound the rope they shout "Stop!" and your turn ends. Now it is the next player's turn.

Your neighbour keeps the double bollard and also winds the rope for the next player. Only when it is your neighbour's turn to push their own boat, do they hand the bollard on to their right-hand neighbour.

Movement Rules

Bear the following rules in mind when pushing your boat:

• Your boat is allowed to leave its track a little bit. As long as you stick to the track approximately, everything is fine.
• Your boat is not allowed to touch the buoys. If this happens, your turn ends immediately. (You may cross a buoy marker, as long as you don't touch the buoy itself.)
• You are allowed to use your boat to push other boats out of the way.
• Your boat may never leave the water. If you move over an island or on to the coast along the board's edge or leave the board entirely, your turn ends immediately.
• You may not end your turn in the dark shark-infested waters. If you would finish your turn there, push your boat back until it no longer touches dark water.

Younger sailors can ignore the buoys, islands, and sharks.

Whenever you leave the track by a lot, set your boat back on the track at the position where it fell off. Set your boat back at the beginning of your next turn. This might be necessary, for example, if you touched a buoy, left the water, or if a player pushed you off the track. Also, should your boat ever face in the wrong direction at the end of your turn, set it back on track the right way round at the beginning of your next turn.

End of Game

Whoever reaches the end of the track and arrives back at the port first wins.

Variant: High Seas

You can also play the game without the board. Use the buoys (and other objects) to make a course and play directly on the table or even the floor, if it is smooth enough.