Radio controlled sailing ship battle - GIF

[mklotz]

The ships are cool and I was thinking those guys are pretty good sailors... BUT...

I don't even want to think about how many servos and RC channels would be needed to sail a square-rigged model ship.

However, I would like to know how the cannon blasts are accomplished. Are there several one-shot guns or a single gun with a magazine? Do the guns actually fire a projectile or is it all smoke and noise ? Also, how does the ship that loses its masts work ? Ship modelers want to know.