Hi everybody,

In my country - in Slovakia - there are virtually no people doing landsailing. Land kiting (mainly snowkiting) is gaining popularity and windsurfing has been popular for years. I'm planing to build a landyacht as a DIY project and the idea is to provide some entertainment to my (preschool) kids as well. I want to build something small, manouverable, forgiving and not necessarily too fast (at least not for now :-) ). I would like you guys to give me hints for the questions below:

The frame and the seat:
I want to make Blokart like frame a frame based on the project of landyacht: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Build-a-Landyacht-Lake-Lefroy-Mini-Yacht/
I want to ride in a sitting position more like on the Blokart however.
What I want to add is a possibility for the kid to steer the landyacht while riding with me. I imagine the kid sitting in front of me between my legs but this way my feet must be some 60cm apart which makes steering less comfortable. I plan to make an extension of the steering for the kid either for legs or add a tube with a steering bar accessible for both riders. The feet of the kid will be somewhere before or at the level of the mast, I like the steering bar idea better at the moment. However it seems difficult to position the bar so that it would be accessible for me and not too close to the kids face. Any suggestions?
The frame must be small, preferably it should fit into an Opel Astra Hatchback trunk but most likely it will be transported on a roof rack. We don't have large venues here, I will mostly ride on agricultural airstrips and parking lots so the maneuverability is an issue. Unfortunately, also our large lakes do not freeze sufficiently in winter .

The mast and the Sail:
Regarding the sail and mast I am limited to use sailboard equipment. I would like to ask you which option of the two here is better:







Neil Pryde 4.5m sail comes with an 55% two piece carbon mast 430cm. The old HiFly 5m sail comes with a glassfiber mast and it is much cheaper. I want to recutt to some 3.5 -4m and rig it with a new boom. Which one is more suitable? Also, I have red the thread: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Sail-making/How-I-recut-sailboard-sails-to-suit-landyachts/?SearchTerms=luff,curve.
But: I don't know what fibre do I use to sew it together - there are no sailmakers around here. How do I add batting?

Wheels
There are wheels similar to Fallshaw wheels for sale here: http://www.kolieska.sk/page.php?sekcia=produkty&idProdukt=6046
These are equipped with industrial ball bearings and carry the load of 250kg. What do you think of them? A friend of mine used these but smaller for a land kiting buggy.

Well - that's it for now . I'm looking forward to your responses.

Hi,

For starters, a bit of background. I've been wanting to build a landyacht since i first went for a ride in a two seater when i was a kid. Upon finding this forum and a bit of a rummage around my shed I realised i have most of what I need. So it has begun!

I am an Industrial designer by trade, so i have a habbit of trying to "improve" everything. However in this instance i am trying to stick to the LLF design as much as possible for the first build based on that i have not really got a clue about the deisgn intricies of a land yacht! However that being said, due to the availibility of material at hand, and an almost non existant budget there has been some...... comprimises. As a result I need a bit of help digging my way out!

As far as materials, I have an old sail board rig. Not sure of the sail area, (guessing about 5mt). A fiberglass mast about 4400 long. (Beagle shown for scale.)




Instead of the 60mm x 2mm tube I have some 43mm x 3mm seamless tube, (quite a bit actually). I cut a piece of this to length at first and performed a "load test", (i put one end on a brick and jumped on the middle!) seems OK. Also the 35 x 2 SHS is 40 x 3mm SHS. So i have but welded them together. I realise this will likely need bracing and i expect there is quite a bit of torsion at this joint.





Now the bits i'm worried about

1. I have used the same tube as the mast mount. With a bit of heatshrink, the mast will slide over this point quite nicely. Has anyone tries this with any success?




2. With the mast mount positioned as per landyacht's details, it looks to be a too far back. I assume the center of pressure should be just forward of the rear axle's. As well as the boom being too long, it doesn't look right.




3. Can anyone please advise what size wheels should be used. I am intending to run this thing mainly on the beach. It seems that fallshaw poly wheels are the go, but are there any alternatives that work, (Given I am on a budget, as with most people.)


This is where i am up to for the moment. I have an almost full photo log of the process so far if it is of any use to anyone. Just let me know and i can post the build details.


Thanks in advance!