They are the fiberglass wheel just felt like a color change
cheers
Thanks Clem I better drill the hole.
aus230
Make the hole a bit under size so it is still a tight fit and only about half way through the urethane so it still puts a bit of pressure against the metal tube.
The new steering (rod) worked great, the skipping of the front wheel has gone and the steering felt very positive even in the strong winds last weekend. I also stood the mast up to 12% and this made a huge diffence to the handeling (back of the yacht stoped washing out) I am happy now that it handles in 25+kph winds.
Cheers
aus230
That is great news Vic. I have been putting up with that skipping defect for years too. I have always suspected it could have been a product of the cable type steering. I think I will change mine too. Could you post a few pics of your system please.
You can see my front wheel lifting off while cornering in this photo. I would love to solve that problem.
Clem
Not a lot of difference to how you did your mini except that I have used a bolt through the tube inside of the yacht. Looks a bit rough at the moment I am going to clean it up now that I know that it works.
Cheers
vic
Yakeesailor has some very good info on his post so I have pasted it here so that we do not lose track of it
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/New-Class-5-YOTT-build-slide-show/
Now I need some advice from more experienced people than me. The center of my mast post 1.430 in front of the center of my rear axle, my problem is that I had to stand my mast up vertical last weekend to balance the yacht in strong winds. I was thinking that my mast post is to far back as I think the mast should rake at lease 10% to get the best out of the sail. (it was very quick with the vertical setting) I guess what I am asking. Should I move the mast post further forward, if so how much.
Cheers
aus230
I always thought that the masts were moving back a bit far especially with the big head roaches that move the c of e further back.
The cantilever mast steps do make experimentation so much harder!
I would suggest some large size drawings are in order, just like Gizmo does. Transpose them to see where the c of e ends upwith the different rakes. If it balances well in heavy wind stood up, it must be badly out in the light as rake is usually a way to get better balance as the wind increases, ie more wind more rake!
Could your chassis stand a few alternate mast posts for experimenting and then cut the "wrong" ones off again? It sounds like you could move at least 100mm forward and may be more than that!
Good luck.
Is this how the mast was raked at the weekend? If so I would use that rake position from now on. In lighter winds move the triple block back to directly in front of where you have the ratchet block and crank it in till you are almost block to block! Also get rid of that tiny ratchet and get a 60mm one. You wont have to work so hard then Vic.
Thanks Guys
I brought a ronson 70 ratchet yesterday and changed to 12m rope and larger blocks as I had a lot of trouble down hauling on the weekend, I will see how it goes before making any more frame changes.
Cheers
Vic
This is another pic from the weekend, the bend does not look to bad
So which one is quicker then? The yellow one or 230?
What I find interesting is that the C/M on the 'sit-on-chassis' of the yellow boat looks to be lower than the underslung variety. I guess the axle height and wheel diameter has a lot to do with it.
BTW, use Ronstan or similar gloves when sheeting in a mainsheet rope. Comfort and grip is way better, particularly with dry ropes.
Looking at that picture above I would say you definitely have to sheet that thing in much harder Vic! I tie the tail end of the rope back down on to the floor to give me one more purchase, and perhaps you could try it without that rowlock again. It would allow the foot of the sail to twist out a bit. You can always pull it in by boom wrangling. It becomes much easier if the pulleys are close together on the boom. Try it in a lightish wind to get the hang of it.
aus230 in your post on the 12-2-11 in the third photo (of the pedals) there is a small wind vane thingy. What is it for? What does it do?
Signed______ Mr Curious
Chook.
I use the wind indercator a lot in low wind conditions it gives me good information of wind shifts and apparent wind direction. The extract copy below may explain it better and maybe some other sailors can comment.
cheers
vic
The swiveling wind indicator that many sailors mount on the masthead of their boats—is really just a reference point that lets you know where the wind is coming from relative to the heading of your boat. It confirms visually what you should eventually be able to sense otherwise.
The best way to utilize a wind indicator is to look up at it from time to time and relate its direction to your boat's heading. Basically a wind indicator is designed so that it points into the wind. Remember that the wind at the masthead is likely to be slightly stronger and fractionally different in angle than the wind you're feeling on the deck, so what the indicator tells you shouldn't be taken as absolute, just relative. Also, once your boat is under way, the arrow atop your mast is giving you an apparent wind direction reading, not a true-wind direction.
If your boat points well upwind, you'll be able to sail close to the angle of the wind indicator. If your boat sails better on a slightly lower course, keep in mind that you shouldn't try to get your course too close the direction of the wind arrow when sailing upwind or the boat will slow down and the sails will eventually stall. After all, the wind arrow up top is just a reference.
You can also benefit by using the wind indicator on the boats around you to see what the wind is doing there and to determine if you're sailing in another vessel's wind shadow.
I hope this helps answer your query.
Ahhhh!!!
That makes a lot of sence. Thanks for taking the time to russel up the info for me.
I can see how this would be very useful now.
Certainly had me tricked.
Here Chook chook chookeee,
I have made a couple of Wind vanes for both The Cat and The Razor from Broken Arrows. No you Fool I didn't Cry Out "Broken Arrow"
I was unlucky enough for the Wind to throw a Target over with some very expensive Arrows in it. I salvaged them for another Day. That arrived hence the Wind Vanes. All of what aus 230 says is true And more when used in conjunction with a Highly Visible Wind Sock. They will show Correct Wind Direction, virtual Wind Direction as Well as your crafts direction. A lot of sailors also use Tell Tails mounted at strategic positions on the Sail, these can be pieces of Wool 6 or 7 inches long knotted at the end sewn through the sail and re-knotted against the other side and a Sail Cloth Dot glued over to retain the Tell tail these can also give good feed back as to what is happening and where.
Ron
"Here Chook chook chookeee,"
You sound like my students at the ag college where I work.
Everyone calls me Chook. On a bad day when I'm pulling them into gear, it's "Sookie chooky"
They are a really clever. I like the carbon arrow idea too. I've got arrow shafts laying around for my kites and RC gliders.
I must get the yachts up and running first. I've only got till the 19th of this month. It's a long weekend here, so Monday off as well. So that will help.
Thanks for the close up photo Nikrum, that really helped me to understand their construction.
I have heard about, but not seen the wool tell tails on sails.
I have seen them on the canopies of full size helicopters and gliders when I've been lucky enough to get my bum in them. (2 of my mates have a Robinson 44 each.)
I will knock up a wind sock with the left over sail cloth when I get time.
Cheers Guy's
Hi guys
We at CDHS use crow feathers....a glue gun, some drip tube, wire and cable ties or good 'ol duct tape.
First you have to catch your crow....ever seen a dead one? They don't exist! The troops sneak around and creep up on unwary crows and pluck the most suitable flight feathers....straight ones, with a good aerodynamic shape....you don't need many as they seem to last for ages.
Glue togeter as shown and bend the wire at the bottom. You glue/ cable tie/ duct tape some drip tube to your land yacht's frame ......wherever seems best and slip the bent wire bit in place. You can even have multipe wind indicators. As such they can be removed for transport and decorate the dashboard of your car.
They are extremely lite and super-responsive to the slightest bit of wind. They are tough....bent out of shape they are easily put right. We have one really "munted" one that is years old.
Mr FUBAR, FYI
Dead Crows do exist though I must admit they are a rare sight especially Shot Ones.
I, in fact, have achieved the later only once in my life, it must have been really dumb as I shot it at around 30 mtrs along a fence line and it just sat down and fell of the strainer post. I too was supprised. Road Kill is nearly as rare as I have only ever seen one or two.
Ron
Moved the mast post foward 3" to give it a try, I intend to build a new frame after the season ends so I thought that if I try the changes now I will know the results before building the next one.
Well that did not work, Should have adjusted my seating position after the mast step change, Checked the weight on the front wheel after yesterdays racing and it came in at almost 20kg no wonder I could not get going when the wind dropped, lesson to be learnt, need to check everything when a change is made. Big change this week, cut the whole thing of at the Y frame and in the process of building a new front end from that point.
AUS 230,
Is the axle weight ratio still in at 80:20/ 40x40 rear axles and 20 front axle??
or is there something else better now??
Ron
The weight that I was referring to was with me in the yacht and fully sheeted the weight on the front wheel was about 10kg heaver than it should be . I have to get my body weight back to that to get that
cheers
aus230
that video yuo uploaded didnt do the yacht justice, whats gone wrong.
now you you know why the last 5 i built was so ugly. build it to get all the bits right , and then make it look sexy. I originally had 250mm of mast step adjustment, thats whittled down to less than 100mm. with a spot for lefroy and a special walyungup position and a claypan/sand position.
plus of course the sliding footpedal mechanism for fine adjustment( credit to JPK for that idea)
Trying to get the thing going in strong winds, Played around and stuffed everything up, Hope I have fixed it now including adding adjustable steering
Cheers
Vic
Hows Leroy going for water.
Was in the service station today fueling up and had the class5 on the trailer
behind. The guy at the pay desk said " is that an early version of a
blokart?" What do you say to a remark like that ?????
I had a good chuckle for quite a while after that
