tryhard said..
And here is the finished article.Now my question:the sail is fully battened and even with a lot of pull on the mainsheet there is a baggy bit along the mast.Do I need to recut this sail to reduce or eliminate the curve? I tried taking the battens out which helped a little but what is lacking is the smooth foil from mast to sail.

you need a lot of downhaul tension on the luff(front) in your case pre tension.
in regards the lack of steering. how far over does your front wheel lay when turning?

I noticed that the mast end of the boom was driven forward as the main sheet was pulled in.So I decided to make a boom jaw out of some left over parts from the windsurfer parts and an ancient rowlock .I cut a groove in the shaft of the rowlock using my angle grinder in a vise with a cut off disc.The enables me to lock the jaws (and also remove them)





in place

And here it is in situ on the boom

I have since shifted the boom block to the middle of the boom.This does not drive the boom forward so much if at all so I may take the jaws off.
Here is a shot of the front wheel showing the degree of layover

tryhard said..
I have since shifted the boom block to the middle of the boom.This does not drive the boom forward so much if at all so I may take the jaws off.
Here is a shot of the front wheel showing the degree of layover

If the main sheet is in the right position you don't need jaws at the front No one around here uses jaws
Your mast looks quite raked back to me If putting a down haul on the front doesn't take out the excessive belly in the front of the sail when everything is cranked in hard then you may have to recut the luff of the sail and take some of the curve out
A little overlap of the battens to the mast when you are at rest with no wind in the sail is normal it is sometimes necessary to pump the sail to get the battens to leeward. Your trial sail will tell you a lot

My maiden voyage at a local park was mostly unsuccessful.Light and intermittent wind coupled by the grass meant I achieved a very short run under wind power

Tryhard
Congratulations on getting the yacht out and giving it a go Here is some observations

That grass is very draggy and long and it will be hard to get started on that stuff
I am around 95Kg and I would find it hard to move with a 5sqM sail in less than a strong wind
I use 5sq M plus nearly all the time on my minis unless the wind is very strong
Your sail looks to me around 4sq M You need to be on tarmac and still with a good breeze
One thing you find with these critters is the faster you go the faster you can go if that makes sense
Imagine you are on a bike and you only have high gear and you are trying to start out of soft ground
Someone pushing to get you started is sometimes what you need in those cases

Your mainsheet shouldnt be putting too much push on the mast if it is forward enough on the boom
Dont worry about the jaws [gooseneck ] Whether you have one or not is mainly a matter of preference

Your priority I feel now is to get sailing and get some hands on learning
Try and find some tarmac that you can use A car park after hours or similar A good hard beach at low tide can be good too
Remember to keep all your extremities [arms legs etc ] inside the yacht no matter what
Even if you tip over the mast will hit the ground and protect you Tipping over usually only happens when you are moving slow and the wind is from the side
Travelling fast the wind is from the front quarter so the tipping tendency is less Be quick with letting the mainsheet go slack and turn into the wind if things
get over exciting

Have lots of FUN !

You have my commiserations it sounds like you are HOOKED!
Join the ranks of the many hooked landsailors

Here's my video of the sail performed without injury:

The last minute after the music stops is devoted to the marvellous din of wind and bearings on the last beat up the beach.

Woo Hoo. Excellent !!

I cant view the videos lately because my computer says the video is not available because it is in "Safety Mode" and I need to get it out of that mode.

Has anyone else got that problem. The instructions needed to cancel the Safe Mode don't seem to work.

I am happy to report that every man who has seen the Skiwi sailing wants to build a landyacht

tryhard said..
Here's my video of the sail performed without injury:

The last minute after the music stops is devoted to the marvellous din of wind and bearings on the last beat up the beach.

I cant view it as you seem to have removed it

Here is the You Tube video again.The soundtrack is as recorded

I think I'm beginning to understanding what twitchy means relating to mini behaviour.I 'm learning that reflexes have to be might quick to avoid a capsize.I have decided to take Clem's advice and I have added a third ski to my axle.The toe in is much less marked but there is still plenty of suspension (not too stiff)
i have found the twitchyest point of sailing is a close reach.Tacking and running are fine as is the broad reach.It will be interesting to see if the stiffer axles makes any difference