Sorry for the poor videography, I lacked a cameraman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eXtNx-klSQ
If you have high speed internet, be sure to click on the “High Quality” option (off the lower-right corner of the screen)
Well, things seem a bit slow here, so I thought I’d post the video I shot a couple weeks ago. As before, be sure to click on the “high quality” option.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb3Wm7GvJ98
This time I had someone operating the camera (my 17 year old daughter):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68F5BGaKeXU
Hi Bill
Much better video. Saw you fly a wheel a couple of times, but only for a few nano-seconds. In a DN-60 iceboat, I have flowen a runner for 10 to 15 seconds and yes, have tipped it over a few times. Good news with falling out onto the ice at high speed (Speed records for iceboats are over 100 MPH) is that you just slide to a smooth stop. Last time out, also went for a swim in 40 feet of water and managed to pull boat free before it sank. Since we now Winter in Florida, I will be selling the 2 DN’s.
Some Questions?
What type of damage do you receive when tipping over?
What speeds can you reach?
What was that link for model land yachts? I visited, but did not find any free plans and materials list. I also looked for a list of clubs in the US.
Has anyone developed a reaching type internet course for land yachts as competition/racing pushes the envelope for design improvements?
The youth today seem to be interested in speed and excitement and thus it seems that cars and airplanes are what the majority select. Have you ever taken your land yacht to a model car event?
One More Question
Has anyone instrumented the front wheel for measuring rotation and transmitting info so speed could be monitored live by the skipper?
Hi Frank, thanks for the interest.
Not much. There is a small aluminum plate on the top of the mast to prevent abrasion.
The ice record is 39.3 (63 km/h) mph set by Jeff Brown of Cape Cod, Mass. I hold the land record of 30.4 mph.
The governing body (IRCSSA) is found at: http://www.ircssa.org/
Some French plans can be found in the “files” section of the Yahoo discussion group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IRCSSA/ I sell some on eBay from time to time.
Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of organized local clubs, although the Edina Model Yacht Club ( http://www.emyc.org/ ) guys in the Twin Cities have a core of sailors.
We’re planning to have a regatta on the ice in December, weather permitting.
There are some rules set up for speed trial racing to be found at the IRCSSA site.
No, I haven’t gone to a car event. Actually, I’ve found more interest coming from the model airplane/glider guys, probably because of the mutual interest in aerodynamics.
I seem to recall some French guy doing that some time ago. It would be really hard to monitor live, because of the total attention needed to simply sail the things properly. We have documented our speed trial runs with small handheld GPS units.
Hi Bill
Your answers gave me an idea for Florida.
How big of a land yacht do you need to sail on a mowed grass landing strip used by model airplanes?
Wheel diameter?
Hull length,
Hull width?
Mast hight?
It would seem that larger wheels may be needed for rougher surfaces. I don’t want to transport a big model, so wondering about optimal size, What is included in a set of plans?
Hi Frank,
I’m afraid that the rolling friction caused by the turf would be prohibitive for a model. One would need something quite large before the scaling effects would make it feasible, which would conflict with your 2nd criteria. If you are near the ocean, you might find some flat expanses of hard sand beach, which is what is used alot in Europe (especially France), NZ & Australia.
Since I’m trying not to turn this into a commercial thread, I’ll send you a PM with the URL of my recent eBay listing.
Hi Bill
You indicated that model plane flyers were more likely to have an interest in landyachts. I assumed you may have tried to sail on one of their fields to generate interest.
We are in Sebring, FL which is equal distant (2 hrs) to either coast. There is a large airport where the 12 hours Sebring race is held each year, which could be an option, but it would be better to go right to the flying field where there is a potentially interested audiance.
Is there anyone out there that has tried landyachts on a grass flying field?
the cycling computers only need a small magnet mounted on a wheel to measure the speed, and you can get maximum, and average speed values, depending on how fancy the unit is. They use a wired sensor ( a simple reed switch or Hall-effect sensor) or can be wireless. They are much lighter than GPS receivers too, like under 25 grams. For example, the Avocet 35 is about 15g.) More info on Avocet 35
The only problem is that the cycling computers may require a wheel slightly bigger than a roller-blade wheel (about 45mm IRC.) It depends on the model.
I like the Vetta brand best, but Avocet is still popular
comparison chart: http://www.vetta.com/comparison_table/comparison_rt.html
Here’s the latest video of my new “K2” design. The concept was to create a simpler to build model using a 2 liter soda bottle for the hull skin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Cc-B3bS5o
This is a great meeting to go to Lots of great info and some BLM reps that sincerely want to hear from you