Looks good mate. If it eats blokarts, it is doing what it is supposed to do.

Thanks Ron,
I still want to use the sail for windsurfing so do not want to hack it about. It should have a single cam-inducer on the bottom batten but I took that out to assist batten flips. One of the mid battens does not rotate around the mast properly but does not seem to affect performance, of course you can't pump the battens round on a landyatch as you can on a windsurfer.

It was my intention to use 25yr old sails which are full and gutty, however, cos there is so little drag with wheels when compared to water it seems that once you are moving a flat sail does the job better - and looks nicer.

The success (if any) of this design is that the rig is independent of the chasis, the downhaul is part of the rig and does not attach to the kart allowing very smooth sail rotation - ie the mast rotates on the square tube that carries the rig as opposed to the sail rotating round the mast as on blokarts etc.

Any ideas why the back wheels side slip at speed? The wheel base is adjustable, so I might try bringing the wheels further in as this might allow the sail's torque to load the downwind wheel more.
Travelled a lot when I was a lad, but never made it to Oz, one day perhaps....
Cheers,
Paul

Cant be too poor if'n you can afford a blok art

Looks great, well done!

Wow, that looks totally fantastic!

I especially like the way you've made the mast angle adjustable


Regarding tuning it, have you tried angling the mast forwards more to stop the spinout? This may move the centre of effort further forwards, and reduce the flying effect of a swept back sail.

Also, with the steering, it's a bit hard to see properly, but it may be that the line drawn down the steering pivot might intersect the ground a bit further back than required... easy fix try mounting the front wheel on the underside of the steering fork, this may well be enough to move that pivot line forwards a bit. Either that or bend the fork down a bit. This will introduce a bit of 'trail' or caster, and will help to self-centre the steering.

I want one!!!

Thanks Landyatch,
Is 5 degrees the standard setting or can I angle the wheels more?
Paul

We did the same thing here a while back. The sail works great, but the non-wishbone type gets just as tight for speed, and you can let the belly/luft out for a bit more power, whish is better for getting off the line.

Great fun, and they are very easy to sail.

finally broke down and spent some hard earned cash on 4 windsurfer sails and 2 masts. will attempt to mount masts in similar fashion. any suggestions on how long inner support needs to be? desertyank, is that an innie or outie setup? material? would like inner support failure before mast destruction. sailingpom, you mentioned back end sliding out. had the same thing happen on asphalt last time out going as fast as i have ever been. not a complete spin, but definitely got very loose on leeward side,small parking lot, turn coming up, steering did not respond until i had scrubbed speed by going full lock right and skidding front tire 3 times. would like to know what caused looseness on leeward side. wonder if tires expand at speed (like a dragster)and contact patch gets smaller?

DesertYank, thanks for the pic of your cart, it looks the business.

OldMXer, I made the tube up the mast as long as possible. If the rig has heaps of downhaul, the arc that the mast makes will cause the mast and rig support tube to jam. My fear is that I will wear a weakness into the inner surface of the mast at the top of the mast support tube. Of course I can't know how much wear will have taken place, the first I will know about this is when the mast pops and half the rig collapses on top of me and shreds the luff tube of the sail. I have wrapped tape around the top of the metal tube but this was worn out after the first outing. A solution might be to use 25x25 tube to support the mast insted of 30x30, and put some kind of nylon sleve on the top 50mm to act as a low friction bush. If I make the bush too big it will not pass through the mast base and mast.

Nikrum, Yep I am a wimp. Have had my share of busted bones from doing stupid stuff all my life, my doctor tells me that I'm too old to snowboard etc (bust a shoulder socket and dislocated the joint last winter), while a surgeon today suggested he wanted to do some kind of scuba diving inside my knee to have a peek! I have got a belt on my yatch, but what freaks me is the thought of flying out of the seat at speed with my legs stuck under those rigg support stays and my knees bending the wrong way - might make tying my bootlaces easier but can't see many other positives.

have a look at what pete did.
he had no internal stiffener and he was sailing along just fine. dont worry about nikrums 110kph , the day he does it he will be speachless 50kph is just fine for a first build
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Petes-windsurfer-mini-rig/

thanks everyone for responses. question for landyacht. if the only way to support mast would be internally (like sailingpom's) what is your gut feeling on length? 430 mast, 40% carbon. have a mast extension i think like desertyanks, but that would allow only 20" of insertion.

Heyyyy! Careful there Landyacht.. I didn't claim 110kph as my own nor do I steal others records. You a became my Spelling Police. My turn, get your syntax sorted you may not have meant it that way but that ios the way it comes across. Should I manage that speed I would hope I have a clean pair of Jeans and A Dunny Roll in the ute.

I merely pointed out that 50k was less than 50% of speeds attained in these little rigs.
Mind you I don't suppose the British have vast Salt and Clay Pans to go roaring about i, Peat Bogs and Tar Pits do tend to bog those Good Ol' Boys down.

I would like to add my thinking to the Mast Step question. I am using Carbon Fiber masts and I have noted that a couple of the broken masts were bust below the joint. That in mind look at the construction of the Joint it is a very simple cylinder over cylinder slide on fit, much like a fly rod. This is the type of joint I have used on Schrodinger's Cat carbon Rig (Yet to be trialed) I am thinking of over binding and glassing the Bottom 3 of 4" of the mast at the step for added reinforcement. Any Sharp edges to either inie or outie Should be softened as Landyacht suggested in a thread i.e on a outside step the top should be flared for about 10 or 12 mm an inie should be softened by a shallow taper. On Occum's Razor I have flared the Mast Step but also fitted a 40mm pivoted pipe/Mast support in the top to spread the load 4.5mtrs of mast is a hell of a load to be supported on a knife edge (Imagine the pressure being applied to that area and the Horse Power being generated in a 20k wind?? I have also allowed the Mast inside the Step freedom of flex. Spread the load and reinforce is all I can suggest.
I may be new to Land Yachting but a Land Yacht is only Half a Hang glider and doesn't get any where the altitude[}:)]
Ron

----------All is as it should be in the Universe-------------