I have decided a lefroy mini is the go due to ease of transport ,similar specs to the blokarts (making racing interesting) and to support what could become a very interesting class.With this in mind I hope Corey goes ahead with his plans for a couple of lefroy minis and I might be able to make a race of it (unlike the beating he gave me in the 16 sq). As you can see below I have only started construction this afternoon.
The first 3 photos are a timber mock up to look at room, stress and structural problems



The forth is the first weld of the project

Axle cut and welded

Great to see another project beginning. Good luck with it.

On my mini I used mast supports as you are and found them to be a problem for my knees when steering. It also hinders getting into the machine at times. only saying something as it looks like your supports are well inboard from the wheels although they are mounted higher to your mast support, not sure if this will change things a lot. Anyway, good to see a mock up, hope it comes together without trauma

Greetings Iand, I will get my finger out a build a couple of minis over winter now that there are likely to be a few to race against, I was intending to build them as per Pauls plans with only a few minor changes to suit material that I have sitting around the workshop. I was intending building 1 for me, another for Leon and 1 for Scott (although after Scott beat me at the last nationals I may have to make his a bit slower than the others). Hav'nt got as far as thinking about the seat, sails or mast yet but I will have to do some hunting for parts eventually. I hav'nt told Scott and Leon about this yet as I have plenty of work on at the moment and it may take me a little while to get them done, they did show some interest in my other alum yacht when they got sick of pushing me around the park.

Which 16sq is yours (then I'll know who i'm talking to)
and more importantly why would you want to change from a 16sq down to a Taipan, I sailed Taipan's years ago and they are great boats to sail but with the current situation at most Brisbane clubs they don't have many showing up to race, on the other hand the 16sq is as strong as ever in QLD and with the National and State Champs both sailing at Humpybong (as well as plenty of other extremely quick boats) why would you want to sail anything else? (As a side note Scott may be a bit slow to get back into it this next season as Wendy has just given birth to there first baby boy, and i,m sure he will be busy at home for a little while).

Why do all my posts seem to end up being so long ?

Till next time
Corey

Lachlan
Thanks for the input regards the bracing,this was why I built a mock up, the steering bar will be in front of the mast as apposed to yours. This will to a degree relieve (but not solve) the knee problem. These things happen when you challenge yourself.
Regards
Ian

Progress continues









flaring mast tube

checking mast tube and mast.... on right-softer surface setup???

checking mast rake

checking mast is vertical and rake is right

sorry

ditto cisco, but we get to see the aussie fleet of home builts get bigger and bigger. Should be great fun when we all get to the same beach so i can flog the lot of yas in one go

Yes a lathe is on my wish list too

Here is a pic of my lathe..(probably a good starting point)
Chinese made, 150mm Dia swing, 300mm between centres, 20mm through the chuck, and an over head mill.
It works well on plastic, aluminium, brass etc but not brilliant with steel as no lube cooling system.
In 15 years I have only 2 jobs that didnt fit and had to outsourced.

Couple of shots showing progress and adjustable steering,the wheel and handlebars won't be on the finished product.

[b]iand said.
Couple of shots showing progress and adjustable steering,the wheel and handlebars won't be on the finished product.

It is all coming together rather quickly - well done. Soon another mini yacht out sailing - chasing (and passing) those blokarts[}:)]

keep posting the pics, it is great to see everyones building efforts. I look forward to some time in the future when we can all get together and race.
cheers Susan

end cap welded to axle

retaining tag welded to axle

nut in position ready for welding

axle retainer finished

ready to build rear sheeting/seat support and foam sandwich seat.

Thanks Joe
I pick you as a man to whom the journey is as important as the destination.
ie. The planning and building is half the fun. (although buying and getting straight in can be fun to)

Phil
Thanks you've given my an opening to express some of my aims in the design and construction I'm attempting. (you seem to make a habit of helping me)
At no stage was I trying to copy the Blokart and any resemblance is a coincidence. My aim was to build a Lefroy mini with light weight materials, so a triangular structure made sense as a T structure like Landyachts (which I consider brilliant in its simplicity in design and functionality in speed and terrain it can it can handle) would collapse using thin light gauge tubing. I choose to do it the hard way as a challenge for myself and the use of different techniques (foam sandwich seat which I hope to start tomorrow). That being said I already consider it a success and a failure, and wouldn't expect it to keep up to a conventional Lefroy mini on anything but a smooth surface. I hope in my small way that I helping to promote the class and new ideas.
PS I'm already considering MARK 2 and a Landyacht design as a workhorse to see if I'm in the ballpark. Anyone in the Brisbane building a Lefroy let me know (just remember I still havn't seen a landyacht in the flesh)
MOTTO-(I got from a Friend) Bite off more you swallow, then chew like hell.

It's looking really great iand. If you are using light gauge material as you say, triangulation is the way to go. Speaking of which, I still think you will need to triangulate your front end to the mast support with either a strut or gussett.

It just doesn't look like the join will be strong enough.

With your design, which is similar to a blokart with the struts from the mast to the rear axle, you will find that when sailing hard there are tremendous forces transmitted by these struts to the rear axle.

The blokart struts are bolted on and the bolts always come loose during hard sailing.

When you take your machine out for the first time it might give you a fright because I think it will go like the clappers. Make sure you have plenty of room.

A recommemded testing ground is Red Beach on the southern end of Bribie Island. Remember that land yachts are beam reachers like cats. With a low tide and a 15-20 knot south easter this location is near perfect. With those conditions there will most likely be other yachts there as well.

Best of luck and looking forward to seeing more of your progress. Cheers Cisco.

Looks and sounds good to me. With your joint being that strong I doubt you will have any problem with the front tube bending if it is a reasonable grade of steel. It's just not that long.

So hurry up and get a rig on it and try it out. We are all waiting for pics, movies and tales of what it feels like to break the sound barrier in a land yacht.

Cheers Cisco.