Project: Converting the Vmax into a landyacht

[Chook]

Looking really good John.

For the back of the sail you need to go from the sails eyelet vertically down around the boom and back up to the sail and tie it off as a separate loop. You can adjust the length of this loop so the sail clears the boom properly.

This will take the downhaul at the rear, then you can use the remainder of that cord to adjust the outhaul tension from eyelet to the rear of the boom. This also shifts the tension to on top of the pulley.

(When we recut the curved bottom of our sails we overlap the sails 100mm over the boom in the centre to hold the bottom of the sail against the boom to catch more air in lighter winds.)

The end of your sheet rope would also be better tied off at the eyebolt underneath and then down to the first pulley, to also get the sail tension opposite the eyelet.

Or......If you have another pulley block just tie it on just forward of the eyebolt so you can get more pressure onto the boom and be easier on your hands. Just tape the cord wraps to the boom to stop them slipping forward.

The end of your sheet will then be tied beside the bottom pulley near your seat back. I think you will need to shorten the rope V to the axles as the boom will come down a Hell of a lot more to get your sail tensioned. Read this as, you lean forward grab the rope. (never wrap it round you hand though for obvious reasons) pull it back into your belly, then use you body weight to lean back and tension the sail. Other wise your arms will kill you after a very short time.

I think you will be pretty right John as with a lot of sheet rope pressure the sail will conform to the mast curve. The tip will curve back at least another 300mm to 400mm or so, from the photo, with lots of sheet tension

If it is too close to your helmet stand the mast up a bit more. 3 to 5 degrees seems to be best for us depending on your centre of effort. For a start, I wouldn't worry too much about the CE or CG setup, till you get going and are achieving some serious speeds.

A lot of buggys are not balanced well either.

For a short mast top extension jamb a bit of PVC pipe over the tip. It works up to 150mm or so.

I reckon you will get away with your bigger sail, by just lifting the front of the boom up to the sail more. Don't tie knots just do loops round the boom and sail eyelet to get them as close as possible together, then tie them off.

The wind is really cranking..........actually it's blowing it's tits off here, so I'm sending it over.

We are sick of it.

[jhn.holgate]

Thanks Mate. Not a puff of wind here.

Have I got this right?...

I could move that rear pulley further forward to to get it more directly under the rear of the sail....

And starting by facing into the wind then maneuver buggy around till sail starts to work?

[Chook]

Yep.

""I could move that rear pulley further forward to to get it more directly under the rear of the sail....""

I would add another pulley (take the one off the bottom of the mast at the front) and just lash it onto the boom and see the difference first.

The bottom rope down to the rear axle, should be a triangle with the pulley on the top, when viewed from behind.

[jhn.holgate]

Cheers, will do.

[Clive]

Crikeys, you don't muck around John, concept to ..... Flying.... Or should that be sailing , in just a few days.

Look forward to a home vid from the paddock, let us know how it compares to kites.

[sinbad]

If you get to much weather helm or lea helm play with your rake of the mast. to much weather and rake it back.

perfect setup is with the main pulled in non gusty day you should be nearly able to take feet of the pegs and should sail in a straight line.

[andy666]

Wow john that's a wild looking bit of gear. You are definitely and innovator, first the alloy buggy and now the land yacht conversion.

[jhn.holgate]

Cheers, Andy. Just gotta keep fingers crossed and hope it all works and doesn't just go A over T!

[jhn.holgate]

First attempt definitely shows promise. Gusty winds, long grass and sloping ground are not conducive to learning methinks - particularly as I'm not game to let it get some speed...which of course I sort of need to do an upwind (and uphill) turn. But once I got it moving it was showing signs of creating a bit of power. One things for sure, I'm gonna tip it over at some point (seat belt will be on ) but it's going to be very hard to resist the urge to put the arm out. Geez, if you maneuver it around on a downwind turn, that sail comes around fast, even when you're ready for it and sheeted in. Need a beach...or a big carpark. If it survives to Sandy Point or Kingston, it should be a hoot.

[Chook]

Fantastic John. If your not arse up a couple of times an outing, your not trying hard enough.

There is a big temptation to put out a leg or arm and it doesn't always end well.

Keep sheeted in (This protects the mast by keeping a curve in it so it wont goose wing, which in turn is keeping you off the ground) and try? to cross your arms and ride it out.

You end up like a bat in a Church bell free, but at least it wont damage you.

A sprained wrist and a jarred elbow is the worst I've seen when they tried to stop them selves, ouch!!!

It's much harder to try and sail slowly mate!!!!!

[Goz]

Tell John about your pole vaulting adventures in the landyacht Chooky

The old Blokarts hit the ground hard when they get it wrong the thwap noise they make on the beach at Yeppoon is bloody loud. Still amazed they don't snap mast and arms when they blow over in big winds, I get chills when I see them stick an arm out as they go over.

[Chook]

Tell John about your pole vaulting adventures in the landyacht Chooky

Shhhh Gozzie, we don't want to scare him.

I repaired that sail last weekend. Wasn't as bad as I thought, just a large patch in the mast pocket and 2 new Dacron batten wear strips which the battens had punched through. Took me longer to pull it to bits/unstitch than to do the repair. Another 2 battens as well.

The carbon boom was cracked so trashed that. A new front end sorted the yacht out. At least your body mends it's self most of the time.

The only evidence it ever happened. Some black tyre marks on the rock hard salt and a very worse for wear chicken. It cracked my full face motorbike helmet

63kmh on the GPS to a full stop in 2 yacht lengths. That's pitch poled forward twice over the mast at 45 degrees in a willy willy.

[SoutherlyBuster]

Some thing tells me the days of relaxed flying NASAs for John is over ... .... oh dear what have you got your self into John?

I assume your wife John is well versed at using your GoPro then? Let the show begin.

Regards,

Norman.

[Clive]

Some thing tells me the days of relaxed flying NASAs for John is over ... .... oh dear what have you got your self into John?

.

Must admit I'm curious as to where this will go, when I first met John he was leaving me behind, then he slipped into the NASA kites content to cruise, is this a more edgy John or another cruiser????

[jhn.holgate]

Nah, definitely cruising!! That's, of course, if it can be done sedately - I guess that's all down to what wind is blowing and how big a sail I use. And how the Vmax reacts with a sail on it. It's all a bit of an unknown at the moment. So I guess Clive summed it up perfectly when he said 'I'm curious to see where this will go'. Me too. One things for sure, I shouldn't need as much room as a kite....

[jhn.holgate]

OK, added a couple more eye bolts to the boom to bring the attachment points closer in to the mast. Shortened the mast step a little (it's 260mm from the bottom bolt) and put an 80mm tip extension on to the mast for the 4m. If I sheet in fairly hard, there's about an inch gap above my head with the 4m and a bit more room to move where the boom meets the mast.

[IMK]

Great effort John!

Until you started your conversion I'd never given landyachts/blowkarts much thought. Now I've watched heaps of vids and reckon they look really interesting.

I can't wait to see how it works out for you once you get the hang of it.

[jhn.holgate]

And it worked With a .7m tide and light winds forecast, I tempted fate and headed down to 13th beach. Ended up a very pleasant cruise up and down the beach in 9 - 14 knots or so. Started off with the 3m sail but it was pretty slow. Swapped to the 4m and got a bit more go out of it. spent 2 hours on the beach - only a top speed of around 33kph but really pleased for a first effort. Upwind turns were quite easy. Using the softer sand to slow down worked very well in conjunction with sheeting out. No harness squeezing the bod No squinting into the sun, in fact, the sail makes a very handy sunshade Didn't have to worry about staying clear of the the Hang glider and Paraglider pilots (of which there were a few).

It feels pretty weird though with every gust wanting to tip the buggy (only two wheeled it a couple times but a quick sheet out sorted that). there's certainly a bit of twisting motion in the swan neck where the mast step is - you can see it on the video (which will be put together shortly). A pull on the sheet rope popped the battens out from the 3m. But the 4m required some serious pulling to release the batterns from the mast when changing sides. I wasn't always successful in that - I probably should have stopped and given the downhaul pulley some extra tension. But no flapping, Chook

All in all, it's been a really worthwhile project that is working well. Some more suitable sails may be in the future - whether I attempt to do any re-cutting or get some Blokart sails...dunno. Looks like the 3m sail starts working around the 13-14 knot mark. Looking forward to spending lots more time with it

so what do I call the Vmax in this configuration? Vkart? Vyacht? Vrunner? SailMax?

[Chook]

"HOLSAIL"

Those wheels are just the shot for the softer surface.

Yeh if they wont change sides lots more downhaul to curve that mast. Sheet it in hard and tie the sheet, then stand on the downhaul rope to tension it.

With time I'd lower the whole sail, so as you sheet out while tacking you still have to duck under the boom. This will make a big difference to your CE.

Fully sheeted in, teeth gritted and your bum biting buttons off the upholstery, the boom should be sitting on one shoulder.

Well done.

[nigel]

I am sure that given a few months, we will all see a plywood Blokart appearing from the Holgate man cave.

Looking good John!!

But I can see you now wanting to make a better buggy/blokart.

I see you putting some sort of frame together and making a psudo blokart.

No flexing, lower C of G, all better than what you currently have.

Now that you have joined the mobile pole dancing club , please, please, learn to look over your shoulder when you turn.

It seems that almost every Blokarter can't factor in their head that there are kite buggys going quicker than they do, or other beach users exist.

My only question.... are you going to be harder than a Blokart for me to tip over?

[IMK]

How about "BlowMax"

Nice work John. I'm looking forward to the vid.

[jhn.holgate]

I am sure that given a few months, we will all see a plywood Blokart appearing from the Holgate man cave.

Nah, wouldn't go back to a wooden one. Maybe alloy......

please, please, learn to look over your shoulder when you turn.

I always look, Nigel. Always. I've had to do 3 emergency stops that I can remember - 2 from buggiers not looking before they turned and one from a bloke on skates.

are you going to be harder than a Blokart for me to tip over?

Most definitely. If I know you're on the beach, I''ll be cowering on the surf line!!

With time I'd lower the whole sail, so as you sheet out while tacking you still have to duck under the boom.

Is that why a lot of landyachts have a really reclined seating position?

How about "BlowMax"

Like it

[IMK]

Maybe you could turn your Vermin bug into a dedicated land yacht with a reclined seat?

[jhn.holgate]

Some videos for your entertainment....

 

Parts 1 & 2 are construction and putting the 'BlowMax' together. Part 3 is the actual test sail on 13th Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2015 by jhn.holgate
Videos went missing

[SoutherlyBuster]

Looking great John. Well colour coordinated, sorry you guys lost me after the down haul, out haul, pulley this and yank that. I think we need a maritime dictionary!