New guy from UK

[GreggyB]

Hi folks,

I'm Greg based in the East Riding of Yorkshire UK.

I own an old Yorker Class 5 landyacht and a home made mini landyacht.

[GreggyB]

I have been landyachting or landsailing as we sometime call it with my mate at Fraisethorpe Beach for several years.

I'm not into racing as such, just blasting up and down the beach having a good time :0)

[CaptainForce]

Welcome! It's always a pleasure to hear of sailing activities that are new to me from places that are exotic to me. You should post a photo of this land sailing. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[GreggyB]

Here are my babies





At my photobucket you can see some more photos here

Class 5 Land Yacht pictures by greggy1964 - Photobucket

and here

Land Yacht project pictures by greggy1964 - Photobucket

I have other projects that may be of interest there, feel free to browse

[TerralTheSeeker]

Wow. Cool. But where does the beer go?

[GreggyB]

Hehehehehee

These little babies are capable of 70mph if you have the nerve!

Because they are relatively light and with little friction, they are capable of speeds up to five time that of the wind strength due to the 'aparent wind effect'

I.e. as you move forward, the sail acts as a vertical wing generating more lift the faster it goes!

With the big one above, laid flat with your butt skimming 6" above the sand theres no time for beer!

You'll have your hands full!

The beer come later - used to help collect your whits after a fast run!

In land yachting circles it known as the brown underwear effect! :0P

Just thought you fellas here outght to know that there other vehicles out there that are sail driven!

And you don't have to get your feet wet neither unless you like racing through the beach puddles like I do!

Theres loads of stuff on You-Tube - take a peek!

[FishSticks]

If I was 65 years younger and had access to Universal Health Care I would be at the forefront of this sport. But for now I'll settle for a broad reach at 8 kt in me old schooner.

[TerralTheSeeker]

70!?! Holy smokes! Does it work on soft sand like they have in my hometown (Destin, Florida - Pensacola area) or does the sand have to be hard-surfaced or does it work only on cement/asphalt such as parking lots and streets?

Where would a person get a cool appliance like that?

[GreggyB]

Hi,

Land yachts will run on a number of surfaces depending on the tyres they roll on.

For soft sand you would require wider, low pressure tyres but this also means more friction and slower speeds.

I run along the beach on hard packed sand after the tide has gone out and I run on skinny tyres with small contact patches - less friction - faster speeds.

On my class 5 the rear wheels are standard Kawasaki motor bike front wheels and tyres while the front wheel is a standard BMX 16" wheel and tyre with modified hubs to take high speed roller bearings.

My home made job runs on two modified 'twist-and-go' scooter wheels with a steel cone welded to the front face to take the tremendous side loads generated by the sail for rears with smooth tread tyres.

The front wheel is a kiddies 12" 5 spoke plastic wheel and tyre again with modified hubs to take high speed roller bearings and standard knobbly tyre for better grip on turns.

But you don’t have to go ''pell mell'' for all your worth.

With the sail set right, you can cruise along the waters edge peacefully up and down the beach at sunset on a gentle on-shore or off-shore breeze all evening with only the sound of your tyres crunching over seashells and splashing through the edge of the surf at a more sedate speed.

There are guys your side of the pond who are into this sport big time.

There are guys who I have some involvement with that use vertical airfoil wings instead of cloth and terylene sails over your way!

This is wingnut 1



And the current design, ST 49 class



And more sophisticated ones like this aluminium bodied job



They may be found at

wingboats : Wing Boats

These fellas build their own ships out of plywood and trailer wheels, check out the free plans and advice there

You lot in the US have vast deserts to tear up, something us UK guys envy as the UK is distinctly lacking in deserts!

These things are just as fast if not faster!

Forgot to mention that there are some superb onboard and spectator videos of these craft on their website.
Oregon Field Guide — Landsailing · Oregon Public Broadcasting

[TerralTheSeeker]

That is simply one of the coolest things ever. I'm going to check that out.