spent the afternoon working on the material seat part. Ive got it made, out of trampoline material this time and hope to sail it tommorrow.
dont be too suprised if it all gets chopped off and I go back to a simple single bar out the back and a wooden back.
the seat at the moment feels like I was being a tad to clever
Well i got my sail
The frame seat will have to radically changed as it pokes your shoulders on a hard turn. I'll try to make up some new bars first before I abandon them
in terms of handling , Im very happy. the black , cheapy wheels were rubbishand after 1 run I changed over to some fallshaws, the skinny front wheel was OK but the old tyre just lasted the day. on a hard tack the wheel judders which is typical for the smooth clay surface, so it may yet get a Wheelbarrow wheel at front.
the big changes were in the feel of the yacht.
downwind it just sailed very straight, and could be kept on 2 wheels very easily,
The big difference was upwind. As the wind and speed increased it was noticably more stable than the mini I was pacing and with a gust it would accelerate,and maintain its speed
to test the handling I was sailing very close to the shoreline in the 2-3m clear strip
where the dead vegetation is still standing. The handling was great almost all the time but nature does like to win occasionally[}:)]
back to the tweeking shed this week
Speedwise, I got some nice results
58.06 kph in a 20 kph gust
64.94 kph in a 24 kph gust
The surprise was a 56 kph without trying when I was taking my daughter for a "little" sail
Looks great Paul Good to see your looking after the local flora (I wouldn't post similar images of the lake fauna )
I feel ashamed I still haven't even taken my red mini for a first sail
that was a 3 piece ally mast. when I inserted a windsurfer mast it jammed due to me not filing off the seam of metal on the inside of the mast pipe. the only glass mast I had that was ready had a layer of thickened resin painted on to stop the old furry splinters , and the combination of the 2 wouldnt fit.
I think this yacht , with its improved stability, would benefit from a 50% carbon, rather than the old glass 1 piece old tat that I have in the shed
I threw away the seatback frame and made a comfier one, the new one sits perfectly under the arm pits. Im so glad I built a little bender last year . I suppose that I should build a flash one with the new lathe here it is from the side and top. I had to glass is some side re-enforcing too as the sides were starting to flex at speed
every time I looked at the yacht the nose seemed bare, and then I saw a bogun poster for the speedway, thought of Vic, and went out and added this
just the cape left to do , but a sail first before that happens( and some work)
I cleaned up the back of the yacht with a new cape that is a nice snug fit. this time I managed to make a good one in one go instead of the usual chopping and altering. it looks awful when your not in but when your in it wraps over the arms and shoulders like a bought one
with all the bling the yacht feels absolutely huge, i will weight it later
. After the yacht sat overnight , I noticed my daughter playing in it , and in a flash of enlightenment i realized that I could adapt the high sides to a little munchkins seat as i was marking it out on the material , the next flash made me realize I could make this yacht into an inline 2 seater. this is something Ive tried to do a few times but it never works out , usually for simple reasons. I reckon this yacht will become the most used yacht in my dwindled fleet.
Having got this all out of my system is great. the urge to construct has diminished, and I even stopped by the vege bed and did some weeding, as well as putting the 5th coat of polyeurathane on the front room floor.
c'mon september
well that seems to work i couldnt really get smokin in the lighter winds , so i handed over to the kids. here is the last word on whether it works
Fail to see how a landyacht front wheel can be more aggressive than a Bmx front wheel with all their extra weight, jumps etc
I am unconvinced that that was a healthy wheel when you consider they have been used successfully worldwide for many years
That dual seat looks a great idea for the kids!