I think the problem is Buc grappled those two frigates right before surrendering. When that happens, smaller ships drift at the rate of whatever they're grappled/fouled to. Sag, at the head of the line, continued drifting normally after that.

Something weird happened on turn 17 though. Active magically ungrappled from Buc, at least according to the display (no yellow lines). The log says nothing. Then the whole line drifted west relative to Buc, though Guer stayed grappled to a different hex! And after that Active continued drifting at the slower rate as if it was still grappled. I'll bet the collision between Buc and Ton threw off the drifting calculation for the frigates. Maybe BlueDragon can take a look.

I think even then you might've been able to ram your way out. While pointed SE, if Orient had rammed Java that should've slowed you both down and eventually both ships would've fallen behind. The problem was Java kept colliding with Guer (because Java was still drifting at the frigate rate) and fouling off and on, meaning sometimes Java drifted faster and sometimes slower. That was a tough one to get out of. At least it didn't impact the outcome.

--- Message edited by Longneck