good lad benny.
friday is def off due to friday mate ban
sat Im working. Anybody need any trenching as i have 1 for hire that will hardly do anything all day
Im thinking that a sunday sail might be the go , but apparently theyve had a splash on lefroy
Hey guys don't feel bad.
My mate just sent me this for Christmas.
I thought he was a nice bloke too.
lots of fiddly plates and bits cut out today . kambalda had a good showing on the day including the lovely natasha ,who proceeded to plot out the rear carrier plates for the front suspension. after having only done any tech drawing on a computer in year 8. top effort
John bought along his SDM100%carbon, IMCS 37 mast along for testing . we placed it along side my 5.2m ally mast that i race with.
the interesting result was that the flexure was the same except that my mast has more curve/flex at the top. the counterweights were 30kg as this is the weight used by the windsurfer mast makers.
we did swap the weights over and redo the test , same result
That is a great result, shows that there is an alternative avaible to get yachts sailing. The price of second hand wind surfer mast is reasonable and aviable where as ali masts are almost impossible to buy in Aus.
Just a question I was asked and did not know the answer. What do the numbers on the fiberglass/carbon mast mean and what numbers should we be looking for to suit class5.
a good sourse of spares for L/Y"s are old 40's 50's 60's unloved skiffs, dingys, etc , sitting dusty and near forgotten in sheds boat houses etc,
sometimes sold [auctioned]at fetes and bric a brak markets for little dollars up to about $150. Sails sometimes rotten sometimes good for a recut,
masts, usually well built with a taper [don't build them like that nowadays] alloy and wood. Fittings. heaps of these, a lot of stainless
bits and pieces. Some good woods in hulls can be salvaged and the rest powers the BBQ . for the DIYS its manner from the sea 
Water yacht dinghy masts are NO use in either Class5 or Mini 5.6m classes, as BOTH specify it must be a 'round' mast section (dinghy masts are not...with the exception of the Laser) and normally way to thin in wall thickness.
Water Yacht sails are NOT suitable for LandYachts either as they are way too full in shape which gives lots of power but very little speed, sailboard sails are MUCH better for LandYachts.
The best you can salvage from water yachts are the pulleys and maybe the sheet rope......
AUS230
Numbers on windsurf masts, there will be a few:
- Diameter, SDM - Standard Diameter, RDM - Reduced Diameter, we want SDM
- Carbon % usually the higher the better
- Weight
- length
- IMCS is a measure of mast flex. Higher = stiffer. The mast I just bought is rated 37 as you can see in the pic this is very close to Paul's ally mast. 37 is very stiff for a windsurfer, think special race masts, cost a fortune new and rare as second hand but they're out there I found one :)
WTF! lots of people don"t build to class regulations. WGAF if a wind powered land yacht has a square or oblong shaped mast?
yes the class racer may and they could enjoy being regulated , however there are many who are perhaps a little more individual,
possibly thinkers outside the block. should one declare their preference/pedigree or just do it ? and enjoy it all 
Translated some info on masts from a Belgian surfforum, autor Willy B18.
MCS and IMCS (mast check system and indexed mast check system)
Is easyly a way to indicate the stiffness and flex of a mast. A higher number indicates a higher stiffness. In 99% of nowadays masts you can divert the stiffness from the length of the mast. In this case a 460 mast shall mostly have an IMCS of 25, irrespective of the %carbon.
IMCS can variate from 9 for a 370 kiddy mast up to 40 for a 580 FORMULA mast.
IMCS is based on the older MCS.
IMCS and MCS are related.
MCS is a way of measuring that allows to compare stiffness and flex of masts.
From an answer in the same topic (by Jeroensurf)
370 = 17 IMCS
400 = 19 IMCS
430 = 21 - 23 IMCS
460 = 25 - 26 IMCS
490 = 27 - 28 IMCS
I hope this makes something clear about IMCS and stiffness and flex. If you want more, I can translate a lot more about masts and measuring.
Merry christmas and a windy new year.
the Imcs number is got by hanging a 30kg weight in the center of the mastand measuring the flex below a stringline. the displacemnts are then put into a formuls and a number obtained. nebbian will give us the link shortlyplease
if you have 150 mm flex in the center you you should have a IMCS of around 35-36.
the differences between landyachts and windsurfers are in the base of the mast. sylk will still need to internalyy reinforce the carbon mast so it doesnt distort and snap at the base. the reinforcement wont affect the IMCS.
what i love about this system is that the weight and location is standard, so you and i can apply it to masts other than winsurfers.
Last time i talked to a sailmaker he said put some weight in the middle of the mast. when i asked how much he said , whatever you think will be enough.
.when i talked about the IMCS system he just said "thats windsurfers, totally different to proper sails'
How the Flex is measured.
Put the mast in horizontal position on two points with little friction at 5 cm from top and bottom.A weight of 30kg is hung in the middle of the mast. Then the bending of the mast is measured at 25, 50 and 75%of the mast.Two other important things are the bending of base and top
The formula for the bending and the MCS value:
MCS = (length of the mast x 10) / bending at 50% of the mast length
Base % = (bending at 25%) / (Bending at 50%)
Tip% = ( bending at 75%) / (bending at 50%)
IMCS uses a 460 cm mast as an index. When you have the MCS of the mast, you'll find the IMCS by using the following formula:
(MCS x length)2 / (MCS)2
there are 2 types of masts: constant curve and flex top.
constant curve: 76% bending in the top and 65% flex in the base. They are referred at as 12% constant curve masts.
flex top: 82% in the base and 62% in the top. Known as 20% flex top masts.
info came from the same autor as above
All stitched up ready for glassing, just need the weather to cool down below 40 so the resin doesn't cure b4 i paint it on.
I know the front is ugly, I'm thinking I will fair it out to the mast step once the pod is fitted.
Just found these 2 masts
Neil Pryde X9 580/37 100% carbon excellent condition $350 (need to check diameter)
Yes Formula 100 560/37 100% carbon as new $300 (Andrew is purchasing this one)
See... www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing-Accessories/~buztd/2012-Neil-Pryde-Carbon-Masts.aspx?search=kUAz4ywlWw9x4uvKNrfOmw==
quite impressed with the seat today john, I plan to add some of your changes to my own work
Hi All
Need to know if anyone wants this mast?
Neil Pryde X9 580/37 100% carbon excellent condition $350 (link above)
Andrew is buying the 5.6 so if anyone wants the 5.8 it makes sense to ship them together.
Also I will be ordering my sail from Airtrack around the 15th Jan I think we need to order 3-4 to get the offered discount, so if anyone else wants to order a sail I need to know soon. The plan is to order together and get them to ship the sails separately.
Please PM me for costs and details.
Yesterday I got the Jig and my land yacht parts.
Up early this morning 3:30am got some welding lessons from my teacher Steve Bleile.
your determined Ben ! I can see good improvement
like other things, the more you do the better you get 
i can see you passing some tips on to LY very soon 
you have a million dollar smile.............
I dont recall a gas torch being used on my chassis
glad to see you were paying attention, and the rotating jig worked for someone else
I used the torch to preheat some of the high carbon steel welds plus to toast some marshmallows
Nice to see Ben.
Pre heat is important as it lets the weld cool more slowly. In doing so it releases more of the trapped hydrogen that makes the weld brittle.
Some 200 degree C, pre heat, "Ferrocraft 16, low hydrogen" rods and nothing is letting go on the drill tube.
The Satincraft rods are good for all round, all position work too. They are really nice for vertical down.
These are looking fantastic and will be a great fleet when finished.
gotta tell ya boys, Ive never had a weld go on the drill tube, and never preheated.
the satincrafts love the stuff.
sorry ben i could only give an A- for that chassis. theres enough voids to hide a tardis.
grind and patch asap before the rust gets in
the jig is now in kambalda so it will be interesting to see ifs the lads are up for the welding , or if carton currency still works in these mining low times.
As much as the sandwichmaker likes the idea of the "goolie-basher" pulley mounting system you have there- it scares the heck out of me [I 'd kinda prefer my dangly bits to remain undamaged and in the same location]
Instead of being hooked onto steel, has as anyone ever tried hooking the pulley blocks onto webbing, or onto a seatbelt type harness?
or am I just being too protective of my nuts?
stephen
Nah, agree with Chook, that guy is ok, he's just looking for the nuts off his wheels.
keep in mind the yacht is pointing back the way it came too!!. twas a dark and rainy night when travy set out to get a rock from the island.
i do recall his cry of "come on ya soft c##ks"
meanwhile the pods looking great john , have you finished with the jig yet so we can get it back
Can someone please remind me why we are building land yachts and not boats?
Given the rain we are having as I type this, the lake might still be a lake next summer.
Paul, what do you think, if we bolt a plastic sit on top kayak to each of the rear axles would we have a hobycat?
