Hiko snt me this lovely PM which made my day/week.things were kinda equal after all
Hi Paul
Clem and I had a session on Ohope beach today with the two minis Clem with his new clemco and I with the LLF mini The beach was flat and hard and the wind was a light but steady sea breeze about 45 degrees to the beach about 8 to 10 knots I guess
Clems yacht was the faster upwind I guess for a number of reasons
his sail higher aspect shorter boom lighter and far more experienced pilot and less drag ?
Downwind though was a different story my mini more often than not was the faster
heavier pilot with more sail area more momentum ? Clem was a little surprised at the lefroys performance I think and has a little more respect for the fallshaws too
I found the yacht with the bigger sail on was well balanced my steering is quite loose
but I was able to take my feet off on any point of sail and it would track straight
Clem took my yacht for a sail and being lighter he was able to two wheel it up and down the beach in front of me for long distances and I am sure his eyebrows were a little higher when he came back! The yacht is a cracker Paul you have done a great job with the design and fills its intended purpose very well All the talk a while back about shifting the mast step etc I have had various size sails on now and it has always behaved great
When I was building my LLF Mini a bit over a year ago you said "Stick to the plan."
I did, almost to the tee, and I am glad because it works a treat.
My construction variations to your plan were the FORK HEAD (happy with it as it is though might not do it that way again.), SEAT MOUNTINGS (happy with them and would do it again), SEAT BACK MOUNTING (it is OK but would do it to your plan next time) and axles (will be changing from solid threaded rod stub axles and nuts to one inch stainless tube stubs with R clip wheel retainers and stub bolted into axle extensions).
The sectioned windsurfer mast I made works well but I think the yacht will perform better with one of those "stiffy" aluminium masts, same as the one you took back home with you last year.
You have posted the plan for a similar mast somewhere on the site and I need a mast and sail for "Nappy Rush" so it is on the list.
Um no I wouldnt say equal While its true my mini went well down wind its the upwind legs that win races and Clems yacht was definitely the faster there but
yes I was happy with the bigger sail in those conditions I definitely needed the
extra area
I note that the blokarts have pilot weight classes so there must be a performance difference there does anyone know how much ? [This is a fatty talking]
All knowledge is good especially if you can put figures on it
Clem lent me his jig and gave me a set of wheels so there may be another project coming up? Trying to think of some new ideas though and finding it hard as they all
seem to have been tried ! All the economical ones anyway
OTT mini?
wooden axle, stayed rig?
full fuselage?
lots of choices.
the weight classes and performance/production classes certainly make a difference in terms of keeping people interested in racing and not getting dissapointed at not doing well in all conditions. the racing rules of the IBRA are a credit to them. and I think any group looking for a guide would benifit from reading them
I wouldn't get too excited about the performance of Hiko's mini. Sure we both had the same maximum speed down wind due to his larger sail compensating for the heaver weight. As Hiko said it was a totally different story upwind. The return trip from the Ohope spit to where we had launched was 5 km. I was at least 1km ahead at the finish. (please correct me Hiko if you disagree with that margin).
That's 20% better upwind!!!!
It was an easy beat upwind so I would not expect pilot skill to play much part in that. So maybe the wheels. I was not that happy with the sail I had on and will be making improvements accordingly. Also as mentioned before I felt the frame was a bit stiff for my liking so may be looking to improve on that in the future.
Yep 15-20% sounds about right for the larger wheels, on a med/ firm surface but it will be more on tarmac.
Thats what we found many years ago and this is why the old class 6 rules took this into account by measuring the overall length of the yacht rather than just the wheel base.
If you want to know a little more on rolling resistance...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_resistance
I made a few changes from the original plan as I was building it, mainly with material sizes, so here is the "as built" plan. Disregard earlier dated versions.
can you get a photo and plan into the landyacht register hills might need to unlock it first( please)
hills might need to unlock it first( please)
Hey Clemco,
I still can't figure out how you can get away with such low mechanical advantage on the steering... but it obviously works so I'll eat my hat.
What's it like to sail? Is it a bit on the heavy side, ie do you have to really push hard on it to make the wheel turn? I'm really keen to hear how it feels.
New light frame for the Mini Mk2. We moved the mast forward 50mm. This one will be springy!
The rear tubes are fibreglass. They are from a kayak paddle I cut in half. I'm looking for another one for the front. Man this one is going to be springy! I just need to fit the seat. Hope to get that done this weekend.
Thats a classy looking paint job of your class5 in your avatar could you post a pic of it
Cheers
Vic
Clemco
Looking good there! Yeah she does look springy, should make for a good light unit.
Any idea on the unrigged weight?
Brett
Weight of trolley above is 20kg without mast, boom, pulleys and sail. The 20" wheels at 3kg each are one of the heaviest single bits now. How much do the Fallshaw wheels weigh?
brand new fallshaw wheel fitted with sealed high speed bearings (and the plastic knock-in type bearing adaptors), and the original issue knobbly fallshaw 4 ply 4.8-4.00 x 8 tyre weighs 6 3/4 pounds.
a new(ish) fallshaw wheel fitted with same adaptors and bearings, but with a brand new ribbed 4 ply 4.8-4.00 x 8 tyre ("KINGS TYRE" brand from mullins wheels) weighs 5 pounds.
sorry I had to use real measurements instead of metric stuff- the only scales I have that work are my trigger pressure gauge, which is imperial only (but very accurate)
Thanks sn. Yes I too find pounds a more convent scale to measure the weight of things under 10kg. I don't know why but the numbers seem to be easier to visualize. I use my wife's kitchen scales all the time.
I'm also starting to think these 400 diameter Fallshaw wheels may be more suited to the mini yachts.
One problem I have found with the 20" open spoke wheels is you have to keep the tail end of the main sheet from dragging on the ground and flicking into the spokes of the wheels. It can happen very quickly as the wheels are so close to you. Now I know why class 5 have solid disk rear wheels. It is even more important with these mini's.
Wow! I'll take two please. I had better see if my matchstick frame can handle them first.
May have some wind here mid-week.
couple of lines to practice
" no dear , Ive got my own set in the shed"
"How about i just keep this resin covered set and buy you some new ones"
