Speedsail boards

I had a look at some old photos of a french SPEEDSAIL ,and having some wheels and too much time last week,I couldnt help myself. Thanks to all the warnings about health risks from the windsurfers, I will try my hardest to be careful.
meanwhile, I did it. I got in a few hours each night and built a board.


2m long, 12"wheels. board is laminated with a top plank of19mm Tas oak with a maranti beam underneath. this was planed in the middle to give back a bit of spring. steering seems to work,probably a bit soft. we trialed it in the street with an Aerotech trainer 2.5. I suspect this may become the regular sail. Keeping in mind this is my first attempt at windsurfing since 1980 I was proud of managing 50m upwind and uphill.@ walking speed. Boom was too low ,being set up for my daughter( who did wear a helmet).

I do believe I have a fair bit of learning to do


Please note , lack of boardies over work trousers

Good stuff,learnt something already. I can see why the landboarders have much smaller boards. my baby needs a paddock to turn in. I suspect turning involves kicking the back of the board around by skidding it on sand. It will be interesting to see what we can manage on salt

I second that motion- just a couple of years ago when I was in school.......1977 or so ...I made a similar skateboard-sail setup, and learnt the hard way that bitumen and bumpers can hurt.

Looks like you've been having fun!

Maybe try mounting your trucks on a wedge to increase the amount that they move the wheels.. Should decrease your turning circle

My board will rip a jibe in about a 4m diameter circle without intentionally skidding it around. Skidding is something to be avoided at speed - it is way too easy to skid a bit too far, and land on your hip (which hurts for days after..)

I changed my setup to turn more with the front wheels, and a touch less on the back which made things a lot easier (and more comparable to water based windsurfing)

I'd also suggest screwing a block (or a footstrap) to the deck for your back-foot too.. as soon as you get some sand or salt between your shoe and the deck it will be very slippery, and you'll have trouble getting sheeted in without your foot shooting off downwind. Something for your front foot to push forward against is good too - the mastbase will work initially, but you will eventually want to get further back on the board.

If I remember, I'll take a pic of my board at full-lock to give you an idea - mind you, if you're sailing on a huge salt flat, and speed is the goal, then a less "turny" board is probably a good thing!

Non technical advice section. (not original)

1. If you want to do or have it and you can afford it (not necessarily talking money here) you should.

2. Don't let your ambitions get confused with your capabilities.

Personally at my age I will stick with three wheels, a body belt and lying down. I still get the thrill but there is less pain involved.

There is a French guy here in Bundy who has a similar board but has a sail(wing) in a delta shape that is not attached to the board. He was using it on the grass here and got it moving fairly good but on that particular day the blokart was going a lot faster. He was very impressed when I gave him a ride.

I remember some years ago the windsurfers were using a similar sail and trying to cross between windsurfing and hang gliding. All to physical for me.

Have fun dudes, till then Adios Amigos.

P.S. Wouldn't complain about your local shire there Paul. They seem to be letting you get away with s**t so far.

Yep, looks too painful for me...

There's a FISLY class for these isn't there, is it class 8?

The class 8 is for kite buggies. These fall under the class 7 rule and any gust more than 2 knots.

Yes, some aspects are very similar to sailing on the water, and other aspects are completely different. For example, foot steering is quite close to carving on the water, but using the rig to slide the nose doesn't work on land, and if you stop moving, you can't use the rig to re-orient the board without stepping off. You can still induce 'spinout' by loading up the back wheels too much, but unlike on the water, the problem doesn't decrease with speed.

The biggest difference is that it hurts a lot more if you get it really wrong! If you only get it a little bit wrong, you can usually step off with no harm done.

It's definitely not a good way to introduce people to windsurfing for the first time.. If you're going to spend a lot of time falling off, something forgiving to land on is a definite plus.

My favorite session was at night in about 15 knots. I was absolutely flying down the beach in almost darkness (just a bit of light from the floodlights at the port). So powered up that I was just on the edge of drifting all four wheels simultaneously Almost shat myself when a black dog ran out across the beach though!

Here's that pic I promised. I remembered just as I was about to leave for work - hence the shoe!

Damn sexy looking bit of gear isn't it?

Landyachty, yep the angle is approx 45degrees.
Dont ask too many techo questions, I only ride it, I didn't build it

as 555 said, some aspects of riding are similar (foot steering), some are not (ability to use rig to change sailing angle).

If I was to build one, (and have thought about it a lot) I would somehow change the front wheels so they where able to swivel as well (like the wheels on a shopping trolley) so that you could use the sail to push you right or left.

there is a brand out there that does this already, google TURFDOG.

Bottom view

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For a closer 'feeling' to true windsurfing check out www.turfdog.co.uk

checked out the turfdog and to be honest wasn't that impressed ,the front wheels look like thet got a mind of their own at times,,,,,,,,,,, watched all the videos and the quickest I saw one going was about 10kph ,might be good for doing your low speed freestyle tricks but I'd rather be trying these stunts on the water ,,

Yup.. just like a freestyle board on the water.. It's a lot like riding a frisbee down a ski field to start with!


Personally, I've never seen a road legal Ferrari going more than 150km/hr. Doesn't mean it can't be done though..

The turfdog does seem to be mainly aimed at the freestyle market - recreating the feel of the high speed water based spinny slidey tricks at lower speeds on the land. You need less wind, and it's easier to step off, and back on than it is to water start all the time when you stuff a move.. 10 knots is the new 25..

They do make different models with altered configurations for the more freeride feel (i.e. blasting along the beach and back)

The key with the castoring front wheels is that it allows control of the board direction by using the rig pressure. Exactly as you need to do on the water. These non-castoring front wheels effectively lock out that aspect of windsurfing.

landyacht - be sure to get some pictures of you screaming along with the rig raked right back and a huge grin...

Oh, and watch out when you step off that the axle doesn't bite you in the achiles! That hurts!

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555 said...

Rattlehead said...
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Personally, I've never seen a road legal Ferrari going more than 150km/hr. Doesn't mean it can't be done though..

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Yeah its not fair , every time I get the landcruiser up to 220 the missus gets narky

I wouldnt take it on the lake. My old truck still has problems after being used as a camera platform for a cigarette advert 3 years ago.
The problem with a helmet cam on the fast landyacht is that despite all the shoulder harness and helmet,you get buffeted around by the wind, and the sudden unpredictable sideways shunts , plus you have to work hard to keep behind the windshield

Using this thing: www.dailymotion.com/video/xua25