My name is Kara Kandan and I am a 3rd year student at the University of Bath, UK. A group of us are doing a group business and design project relating to land yachts. We are currently writing a design specification for a land yacht and we would appreciate your input in this process. If you could answer even some of our questions, it would be very helpful.


1. Steering and other controls – possible improvements based on experienced and first time use. Does this differ?

2. How is the mast attached? How complex is the assembly process? Does it take long to assemble, and would this require a lot of experience and technical expertise?

3. What are the most common complaints and problems from drivers? What seems to be the most difficult thing about land yachting, and the easiest?

4. Are there specific requirements for a landyacht for training purposes, as opposed to a commercial one for leisure use.

5. What do pilots need – minimum requirements – for them to become fully autonomous in driving a land yacht? What qualifies someone to train pilots?

6. What kind of weather conditions are acceptable for beginners? What kind of limits would there be for safe practice in terms of wind speed/rain/storms/humidity/temperatures? What other limitations are there, such as weight, height, age, health etc?

7. In a year, how often do you go land yachting, is there a preferred season, and with whom? Families, friends, work colleagues, or clubs?

8. How often do you purchase new land yachts and replace old ones? How long does a typical land yacht last, and is there a second hand market for them? What kind of criteria would a second hand yacht have to meet in order to be sold on?

9. What are the most common causes of damage and breakages and the reasons for them, if any?

10. What is the rate of change of technology in the industry? Do you know of any major innovations on the horizon? Do you see any obvious gaps in the market, and/or areas for possible improvement as a user, instructor, or a pilot yourself?

11. What dictates price? Is it based on technical merit in land yachts – are people willing to pay more for high tech products? Or are other factors more important?

12. In your experience, how do racing designs differ from leisure and training designs? What kind of effects do things like wheelbase, axle length have on performance?

13. Do you have any idea of the maximum thrust forces, lateral forces, stresses on the mast, frame and axles? Is there a limit for gradient and angle of tipping you are aware of?

14. How heavy is a typical land yacht? Is it fair to assume the centre of gravity will always be where the pilot is sat?


Thank you very much for your time and effort, especially since there are not enough land yacht users here in the UK and we hope to build a bigger market for them :)

I second Gizmo's responce. Im a current PhD student here in Aus and think many of those questions can be researched yourselves. Divide the group up and choose topics to each research, research and literature reviews are very important. Writing up the project is less than half the battle (trust me ).

This said there are a few questions we could answer but you will have to identify them and ask again. Im not going to take the fun out of it for you

Kara,
Most of it has already said. The lads advice is sound but they failed to tell you to go out and find some willing Land Yachters and get them to show you what the sport is all about. Half the fun of owning one is in the Home Building though there are some out there that are Manufactured. Zooters I woud be very very wary of. Blowkarts seem to be popular as they fold down into their own carry case. Land Yachting seems to be popular over the puddle from you in France so there is another place you can get too easily. Any construction (As far as I am concerned) Should be built under the KISS Principle and all theoretical advances made should have Occam's Razor applied before going into production. There are also week points in the designs which should be reinforced so your group should have engineering students included.
In my opinion a good Land Yacht should be light and strong. Titanium would be ideal but the cost would then be exorbitant so trade offs have to be made. Carbon Fiber is another excellent material, of which I have used quite a bit in the construction of Occum's Razor and Schroedinger's Cat Mast and Axles to be accurate. The Razor weighs in at 48Kgs Rigged. The Cat, I have yet to weigh but is much lighter than the Razor.

Good Researching and above all else Have Fun Learning as the best lessons are through mistakes.
Ron

I wonder how the project is going?