Forums > Land Yacht Sailing Construction

Land Sailer for High School Personal Project

Reply
Created by DaveTBR > 9 months ago, 2 Dec 2020
DaveTBR
5 posts
2 Dec 2020 3:29AM
Thumbs Up

Hello Everyone,
I have recently found this forum because I have been researching how to build a DIY land sailer. I am currently looking for some good resources that would benefit research and help in building the land sailer. I know someone nearby that knows how to weld and I know how to sail a regular sailboat. I am currently looking around for the parts I need so I can estimate a budget. I can provide specific information if needed, just ask. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hiko
1229 posts
3 Dec 2020 1:37AM
Thumbs Up

You could do a lot worse than use the lake Lefroy design as your starting point for your selfbuild
Many successful yachts have been built to those plans

mulgachook
NSW, 35 posts
3 Dec 2020 12:09PM
Thumbs Up

I have just finished building my sixth land yacht to the Lake Lefroy Mini design (mostly) and all have worked well straight off using standard windsurfer sails from the 80's and 90's. All of the details you need to build one are in the plans. There are a couple of strengthening modifications to the original plans also - mast base strap and rear axle brace. Changes I have made were mostly to do with what different materials and parts were able to be scrounged at the time to build each one. For budgeting Mast / sail / boom, Wheels and the pulley blocks for the sheet line are big expense items if bought new.
To reduce costs dramatically Old windsurfer parts sort out the mast sail boom department, I believe Laser yacht masts can work also. Pulley blocks can be fabricated using the sheaves from old exercise machines and the downhaul tension on the sail can be taken up with a tiedown ratchet. 16" or 20inch pushbike wheels and forks can work on the front or wheelbarrow wheels. The rear wheels are the most loaded part taking sideways forces as well as down pressure. My first LLMs used old heavy duty steel wheelbarrow wheels and they worked BUT took a lot of wind to overcome the tired bearing drag and get going, the rear axle bearings wore out after 10 hours or so. Four years later and the original front wheelbarrow wheel is still going because it has much less load on it. Cheap wheel hubs will collapse quickly with heavy pilots and go forever with primary school weight pilots. An old plastic school seat can work but once you get moving quickly a seat with sides is very important to hold you in place and stop limbs from being bent and broken in high speed flips.
Navigating around the seabreeze landyacht forums takes a lot of searching and reading, all of the construction information and experiences are not on one page but spread over 10 to 15 years of forum discussions with 30 years of experience behind some of those answers . Type in a search for landyacht wheels and see what comes up. The same with sails , seats, mini build, mast position and first build. Sometimes you have to be imaginative on what search terms you put in. There are some absolute ripper LLMini based landyachts on these pages where each builder has added their own enhancements to the basic design. The trickiest part of the build is getting the front wheel trail correct, again there are pages and pages of discussion on this and how to go about it on the forum. Depending on your height the foot steering may need extensions from the original plan to reach your feet. Some photos of mini builds show elegant steering extensions.
Some time ago another student posted questions on a build and budgeting, their assignment was more on building a business case for the production of a land yacht rather than getting one going. Is your project to build a textbook craft with all new components or to use whatever you can to get out there and sail?

DaveTBR
5 posts
29 Dec 2020 12:23PM
Thumbs Up






DaveTBR
5 posts
29 Dec 2020 12:30PM
Thumbs Up

The photos above are initial progress, more is to come, I will be using a proper racing seat (a cheaper one) with a harness. The land sailer is not done yet but I will be working on it more tomorrow (these photos are 1 - 2 weeks old). Followed the lake lefroy mini plans pretty closely (thank you all for the suggestion) with some slight modifications. Should be fun to sail around!

DaveTBR
5 posts
29 Dec 2020 12:30PM
Thumbs Up

The photos above are initial progress, more is to come, I will be using a proper racing seat (a cheaper one) with a harness. The land sailer is not done yet but I will be working on it more tomorrow (these photos are 1 - 2 weeks old). Followed the lake lefroy mini plans pretty closely (thank you all for the suggestion) with some slight modifications. Should be fun to sail around!

kennatt
135 posts
30 Dec 2020 2:13AM
Thumbs Up

whilst appreciating, still an ongoing project if it stays basically as it is you may need to consider the following, you will find it will go,but because you are sitting so far forwards of the rear axle,the weight of the yacht + your weight places the centre of gravity too far forwards ,it will be nose heavy.,the mast post will be too far back in relation to to the front wheel. There will not be enough weight over the rear axle and in a strong gust ,the back end may break traction and the yacht will round up into the wind,. Your solution when you finally fit the other seat is to make sure that, Your centre of gravity (Your belly button is about it) is over the centre line of the rear axle, By re locating the seat.
This may mean extending the foot pedals.
Have you considered how you are routing the sheeting rope from the rear of the sail forwards so you can sheet the sail in.
The higher the attachment point to the sail in relation to the yacht frame (as in the rear spar)The more tipping motion there is.as a general rule that point ideally should be no higher that your head .
Most find that the Ideal distance from the rear of the mast base to the rear axle is about the 50 inch mark and from the front to the rear of the front wheel about 10 inch+/-
Please do not take offence,not picking fault just passing on advice based on 6 self builds,been where you are,and learned a lot about dimensions and alignments,have a good look at all the photos on here and you will see what I mean.
Well done so far keep at it Good luck.




DaveTBR
5 posts
31 Dec 2020 1:34AM
Thumbs Up

I have made an adjustable seat system with a proper racing seat in order to adjust the weight depending on the person. I can send pictures later today. I have also finished the front steering (put a bike steering system with bearings in as I'm using a bike headset for the front steering tube). The handbrake has been installed as well. I still need to install the sail hardware (I-Straps, Turning blocks, etc) but other than that i think im almost ready to sail. Thanks for all the tips! One question I have is this: Do I need to worry about the extra rope in the users hand when the sail is pulled in most of the way? Do I need to build a system in order to hold the extra rope or can the user just toss it in their lap?

kennatt
135 posts
31 Dec 2020 6:11PM
Thumbs Up

If there is a floor pan,the rope can be dropped onto that,if not,simply hold excess in coils with one hand and hold sheet rope with tension in the other.This method is ,I believe, preferable since there is then a length of slack between hands .If a gust hits,and yacht tips ,to get back onto three wheels simply let go with the tensioned hand and then the sail sheets out and depowers, BUT you still have hold of the rope with the other coiled hand,so still in control ,It's easier than letting rope slide through your hand,and risk loosing it up through the pulleys. Whichever method you use make sure that the rope is not left to trail behind,it can get caught up in the rear wheel and bind up,you will then be unable to depower the sail.
Not sure if you are also a wind surfer, (ignore rest if so)but using un cut windsurf rig is perfectly ok ,some times better,
If you use the conventional wishbone boom you will find that routing the rope forwards becomes a bit messy. But with the correct downhaul on the sail(They need loads ) they hold their shape without a wishbone boom and all you need is a straight boom from mast up to sail,the rope can then be routed forward easily.
The sail in the photo has a high rear attachment(clew) but you could still use a straight boom from near the bottom of the mast so that it misses most of the lower sail,if the sail is down hauled properly there is no need for the ability to outhaul it on a land yacht.Especially if not used for racing where there is some benefit.
Keep an eye on the cycle front steering,whilst ok some have been known to bend the shaft at the bottom depending on how much hammer they get. A solution it to insert a stiffener down the tube. Good Luck.



Subscribe
Reply

Forums > Land Yacht Sailing Construction


"Land Sailer for High School Personal Project" started by DaveTBR