Sailing was hyped and discussed, but never made a skill. It was among the most popular points of speculation concerning the new skill that would be released in 2010.
Many players believed that the new skill of 2010 would be Sailing, although a Jagex Moderator confirmed the new skill was not Sailing. Via in-game chat, Mod MMG (Mark Gerhard, Jagex CEO) said "no it will not be sailing unless of course I get sacked first :)" However, during a live Q&A session on the RuneScape Forums on August 6, 2009, a player asked: "In your CC you allegedly said that Sailing will not become a skill while you're CEO, true?" Mod Gerhard replied by stating: "I was only joking around about sailing, maybe there will be sailing maybe there won't be?", followed by a winking emoticon. This implies that Sailing could possibly be a future skill. Now that Dungeoneering has been released, the speculation for Sailing as a future skill has decreased.
This apparent uncertainty was rebuffed again in a Q&A on 10 September2009, when Mod Mark (not Mark Gerhard) said of the planned new skill: "Honestly, it’s not the Sailing skill. That was a crazy rumour based on a picture of a mage on a dock, who apparently is sailing a ship. He isn’t, and there is no Sailing skill. ... Oh, and the new skill is far better than sailing." Mod Fetzki added: "We couldn’t believe it when we saw the fake Sailing icon that someone had put on to the Highscores list, but the community identified it as a fake very quickly."<ref name="devblog20090910" />
In the Dragon Slayer quest, players are able to purchase the Lady Lumbridge and in the quest become its captain. While players do temporarily engage in actually sailing the ship (with the help of an NPC), this ship eventually runs aground on Crandor Isle and is no longer usable as a ship.
Certainly given the location of Cambridge, where the Jagex headquarters is located,it's possible that some of the employees of Jagex are familiar with nautical lore and have included many other elements of a nautical nature into the game. Neither of the two quests mentioned above either need or develop sailing as anything other than a temporary plot element.
Hiscores image
Jagex posting on their youtube channel that sailing will not be the next skill
Shortly before the RuneScape HDupdate in early July 2008, an image appeared that apparently showed a new skill in the Hiscores called "Sailing"<ref>hiscoresomfgeg2.png (PNG). Image Shack (July 2008). Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-09-10. “Skills: Sailing; XP: Not Ranked”</ref>. It was featured in a YouTube video that was uploaded on 3 July 2008, and included other "evidence" for the imminent release of Sailing<ref>FangGallo209 (2008-07-03). A New Skill? Sailing? (Flash video). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-09-10. “Qwertysumo screenied this on the runescape highscores, he found a new skill: Sailing. wtf? is this our newest skill?”</ref>. This led to a flood of related posts on the RuneScape Forums. However, Mod Dave posted on the forums on 11 July 2008 to say: "I can conform [sic] that image that has been going around the Internet was spoofed and there is no Sailing Skill." However, the original thread has since expired. Mod Dave has also said that it was a prank by a Jagex employee.
Website header
Some people claim the RuneScape website header image of the time appeared to show a mage on a boat whilst wearing a "sailing cape", a fictional Cape of Accomplishment<ref>head_image.jpg (JPG). Jagex Ltd (2009). Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-09-10.</ref>. However, in the Q&A on 10 September2009, Mod Mark described this as "a crazy rumour based on a picture of a mage on a dock, who apparently is sailing a ship. He isn’t, and there is no Sailing skill."<ref name="devblog20090910">Mod Fetzki; Mod Mark (2009-09-10). Q&A: RuneScape Content's Answers. RuneScape Developer Blogs. Jagex Ltd. Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-09-10. “I Pixill I asks: Probably a question you saw coming - Can you shine anymore light on the new skill that's coming? ... Mod Mark: Honestly, it’s not the Sailing skill. That was a crazy rumour based on a picture of a mage on a dock, who apparently is sailing a ship. He isn’t, and there is no Sailing skill. Interestingly, several of the team here at Jagex love sailing, so it did give us some cool ideas for the future. Oh, and the new skill is far better than sailing. ... Mod Fetzki: We couldn’t believe it when we saw the fake Sailing icon that someone had put on to the highscore list, but the community identified it as a fake very quickly.”</ref>
Other evidence
Other evidence includes different metal cannonballs (other than steel and gold) in Quick Chat and pirate implings. These are both incorrect; the way the Quickchat works fills in "fields" with the player's choice which allows players to say other non-existent items (ie. Silver Kiteshield, Rune Wire, etc.) and pirate implings came with the Rocking Out quest.
Another thing is that when Excl (who won the trip to Jagex HQ) came back from his trip, he made a video and said "Here is a hint on the next RuneScape skill." While saying that, he had a picture of some boats in water. He then made a joke about a new skill, this could possibly be a red herring.
Also, it was once said that the new skill will start with a B, which is now considered a red herring, but could refer to the skill being called Boating instead. However, in a 2010 Q&A Session, it was confirmed the new skill is not Sailing, and doesn't start with a B.
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard said in August 2009: "maybe there will be sailing maybe there won't be?"<ref>Gerhard, Mark (2009-08-06). Answers from MMG - Live Q&A!. News & Announcements, RuneScape Forums pp. 14. Jagex Ltd. Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-09-10. “Q)Kaoru0322 ... In your CC you allegedly said that Said that Sailing will not become a skill while you're CEO, true? ... A) Hi Kaoru, I was only joking around about sailing, maybe there will be sailing maybe there won't be?”</ref>
Mod French stated on December 6th 2009 that sailing is not the next skill.
