Last saturday I did a rare thing. I spent a considerable part of the afternoon in a hammock on the back lawn, reading a book. While I was busy reading, the bits of my brain that were bored started cooking away at experiment No 90 something and then when I went to sleep later in the sun my brain dropped all the ideas into the reading part of my brain.
( hope Im not being too scientific here) . My drawing hand got wind of something cooking, put it on paper. Of course the rule in the shed is "if its drawn on something its officially a project,so get building"
This time round Ive decided to ignore all the obvious advice Ive been giving out( ie keep it simple) and go with lots of complicated angles,and pushing the envelope on common materials. By sunday evening the chassis looked like this
more bits have gone on today due to rain stopping work, but if anybody thinks they can predict what it will look like , the clue is in the second sentence 
Your making a mini in the shape of a book!
Im guessing hammock, as in suspended seat maybe...but Im not sure how ones going to stop their but skidding along the gravel with the height of that OTT
chassis. I dont envy those round-to-square tube joints either.
Good luck, jeez Ive gotta get building again 
Nice stencil too!
EDIT: Oh! I change my mind about the OTT idea "Mini magic"?
All so close. The rear "catcher" will hook on like a lawn mower
maybe like a Honda with a hammock.
maybe.
your right tho , square to round was a ** to do , but when I added the axles and front shaft the whole thing was only 2mm out of triangulation
It looks like having some kind of light fibreglass front footwell and a clip on rear
come on you lot , I'm starting to think that AUS230 and myself are the only blokes out there who've got a life, what are ya building
Well I started construction on Iron Chook II, same length, bit wider, nicer looking and hopefully a lot faster. Not willing to say much more than that as the design changes a bit from day to day. Hopefully now Im done with uni I can finish it
Trouble is I also keep getting distracted, saw a really nice looking Lefroy Mini I wouldn't mind copying
no real progress today as I doing the mum thing and work and repairing the house as me ferals trash it.
got the chassis all set up to work on the comfort zone.
Often this is the stage where you realize it isnt going to work and it all goes in the pile, but thats not the case this time. one of the goals of this yacht is that no component will exceed 1 m . that way the yacht could theoretically be delivered by Australia Post
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that bar across the back is just to hold the wheels for this bit of the build.
wooden bits will go as well.
actually , at ths point I would like to give an honourable mention and thank you to KODY. a while back he explained how to weld up holes by doing it as a vertical up weld. I suggested that a bit of copper plate at the back was just as good.
I was SO WRONG. Kody , thanks for the knowledge, your technique was just so much better
you saved the day on this complicated bit of welding
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unfortunately that back bit is sniffing over the 1m mark.but Im not beaten yet
I tried to get a collapsable mast right down, but if your making a 3 piece 4600 mast it needs to a be good stiff mast to start with.
the 3 piece masts made for the construction forum are really only for a cruising sail.
Ive just made a 3 piece ally mast that is a softer mast than the last ally mast I made, but havent had a chance to try it out.
sadlyI have to do lots of work tomorrow so progress will be slow
Paul, did you ever do a posting of the LLFMini mast construction?
I know there was a thread on the 3 piece mast but looking for the 1 piece mast.
Does it need timber in the base of the mast etc.
I only did a 3 piece "cut up ) of a glass mast and also a 3 piece ally one. I tend to make the masts 4600 mm overall which is fine for a 4m sail or up to 4.5 if you have a foot longer that 1200mm I have found that the3 piece ally one is a bit stiff and have built a lighter one which I will trial this weekend. . for a single or 2 piece glass mast I put a tapered dowel up 600mm or a piece of 48mmODx1.6 ally the same length up the base , held in by a squirt of silicon. I have a 1 piece that has an old tapered mast top pushed up the base till it stuck and that is also a great mast
slow progress on account of I suddenly had to make some bits that were actually accurate. Ive used 25mm electrical conduit for the seat frame. I stuffed up a couple of bits trying to bend it in a vice then spent half an hour building a bending jig to fit on my anvil. lots of tacking and cutting and retacking left it with this result.
This all looks a bit complicated but a it was just a case of working it all up stage by stage
Chassis is now a rolling unitwith a conservative6 degree layover on the wheels.
next stage is to design a seat that slides over the tubular frame.
this seat may look a bit scarey if you hit a bump but there is a pocket under yer bottom with a 4m sheet of polypropylene to fend off the sticks and kerbs
Possible name for this BABY is "Happy Chappy In a Racing Nappy"
Looks mighty like a blokart wheel on the front of that rig.
Apart from that I am sure you will not be infringeing on any copyrights with that machine.
With all this yacht building and sailing, how do you actually find the time to do that other "W" word stuff that, you know, brings in the bacon?
Cheers Cisco
when we put it on the rear of a mini ,the tyre tried to constantly roll off the rim as the lip of the rim is to narrow a diameter. but it is fine for a front wheel. such a pity cos it a really great looking wheel
Given the colour and shape of it, a fair bet is that it comes from the factory in Whangerai, N.Z. where I believe the blokart wheels are still made.
I have a wheel scource here that may be able to solve the mystery. Watch this space. Cheers Cisco.
the whel has no ID at all but runs on 20mm shafts my favourite.
If it does come from the NZ factory could you let them know they need to be a greater diameter on the outer edge, as the saving in plastic makes them useless for the rear of a landyacht[}:)]
Bit of a slow week due to the evil neccesity to earn a crust.
I only managed to get into the shed once to pick out a design for the nose cone.
my supply of white gelcoat had died the death of old age, , so I had to mix up some clearbase with pigment. , had hardly any of that left either so I ended up with a burnt orange kind of flavour. seems a tad 70's, but such is landsailing.
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needs some mounting lugs and a polish, then add the side tracks to carry the canopy.
its even got some funky yellow and red swirls from the pigments not mixing at the bottom of the container, man,very funky indeed.
I still recall my bedroom furniture being the same colour in 1974.. I wanted to make the floorpan white to match the seat and canopy. that would have given a cocoon kind of look, but now it might be a Bardy grub kid of theme
well a week has passed and little progres has occured. on thursday my apprentice and I spent half a day in the shed cutting and sewing sails, so that side of the job is done. The reason for the shed time was a good solid day of rain . 55mm in crazy travs gauge. Lefroy is well wet with 300mm at the clubhouse, and the ponds barely clearing a strip along a causeway to sail
the other end of the lake is a different story tho. . The Woolibar creek system got up and put on a flood and Mooribar Dam did a banker , just getting over the floodway.
Im proud to say that i was FIRST to get a boat on the lake, beating a tinny by 3 hours. Next weeks landyacht building will therefore be interupted by checking over the schooner and checking of rigging
This was the effort today, you have to love a dirty lug rig.
Thank you Santa for the wonderful christmas gift. I believed in you all along
I'm a bit more partial to a Marconi Sloop rig meself, but I doubt it would be of use there. Would probably become a stalled plough or a stick in the salt.
While I am at it, A Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New Year to all the contributors (including Laurie and even Wheelnut and Splitpin) who have made it such an interesting and enjoyable year on www.seabreeze.com.au .
I have found the marconi rather overratedfor pleasure sailing.. this little 14' sharpie doesnt really start to fly till you fit the other 2 masts. one angling over the bow and the other over the stern. Then when you hoist the staysail on the main mast it really starts the fun pumping All that without a single pulley or stay
I can see your point. My first boat was a Spencer Javelin (14 ft) which was named "Roulette" and it was a gamble all the time to keep it upright. Not the kind of boat for a relaxing sailing picnic. She could certainly boogie though. And it had stays and pulleys all over the place.
My sailing boats tend to be on the simplistic side. the sense of gliding over waves powered by wind is so completely different to landsailing. I just dont like to rush thins on the water. gettting from A to B to C and back in the most relaxing manner is more important than how fast .
for the time being
Back to the business at hand.
Knuckled down after a sail on boxing Day . Got the schooner out and under full sail for the first time in 2 years. then next day got back into the shed for the assembly job.
Mini Magic is now built, tested, rebuilt, tuned and ready for fun .
.the yacht ended up with 2 usable seating positions, Cruising ( about the same angle as a BLOKART)
and racing( kinda flat and low).
thank you to the person who posted the pictures of the CHUBACO a few months ago, that was a great idea.
new sail is a 4m polyethylene with extra battens for racing.weight is not too bad.
rolling chassis weighs in at 30kg, 10kg of which is wheels.
Perhaps gizmo would oblige with one of his techy diagams to see if Im close(please)
when sailing it feels very similar to a Pacific Magic, no bumps or jolts, when a gust hits it will lift easy then settle back as the speed kicks in. i only tested on tarmac so the steering just worked, but it would turn hard enough at speed to squeal the rear tyres, without it slowing
nappy version 1 had too short a piece of armour plating underneath, and I sewed up a new seat with a longer base , but shorter overall. this meant that the a soft bottom yacht could get over a 150mm kerb, and fly out of the dips in the carpark, with the seat intact.
the fibreglass front has boltrope rails so when I get time i will build a sock to cover the pilot. with thin battens sewn in I suspect it will all end up lookng like a flying Bardi Grub
Here you go Paul. The wheel base of this yacht looks a bit shorter than a standard mini. The CE looks about 200mm behind the CR.
It would probably handle OK on a good surface but the back might slide around a bit on mud.
(This is the problem the "Sandpiper" yacht had)
Thanks Gizmo. I had a sense that that would be the case. When I built the chassis it was all new and the mast rake ended up 2 degrees more raked, plus the chassis tube was the last piece I had and I ended up with the mast 100mm back than my usual position. It may explain the tyre marks in the Carpark,and the half worn new tyres
I think this will give a sniff more straight line speed, which is what Im after to knock off Crazy Travs crown.
I once beat Roy Justice in his Cl 5 with a sandpiper, so , so far so good
when I tested it out in Our special carpark I cracked a 48kph, previous best was 40 in WEE,WEE,WEE, and that felt really dangerous, the 48 felt like it was showing off its potential [}:)]
maybe , with this yacht I can go back to trialling some taller , narrower sails which were just spitting me out before
Finally got a good run in a 20knt breeze on clay.Hard , smooth,glossy, stupid fast clay.
Gizmo was bang on the money, initially the yacht tended to round up when hit by a Gust, but eventually I learnt to anticipate it and started sailing in straight lines.. rather than lifting a wheel up wind ,it will naturally point better, but you have to be ready to lay off as the gust dies,.
Down wind the yacht was a different creature altogether.
A whole day of sailing and no aches r pains. TOO comfortable and secure for ones own good really
Test pilot 1 had obliged for the day by being the CL 5 promo for me to chase, , BUT the yacht would be at full steam just in time to overtake before the Gybe markand turn INSIDE a Cl 5( Normally a 5 on clay would out-turn a mini/blowie due to the width/stability).
Meanwhile Bastijn sailing Ankle Biter was getting over his fear of clay and tiny landyachts and learning to really push the yacht in the turns and just hang on downwind, and dont show your terror. Belgium is in for a shck when he gets home and starts promoting Lefroy Minis in Europe[}:)]
Priceless advertising re the Belgium influence! Well done.
How do the swept axles go compared to a normal Lefroy mini? Are we going to see the racing LM's of the future having them?
I think they need a bit more work to get them spot on.
In square Galv the next size up is a bit looser fit, plus the increase in weight. This complicated chassis needs to be lightwieght all the time.
If you changed to Aluminium the theoretical choice would be 40x3 T6, but that is getting rare. I used that size on the VIKING CL 5 back in '91 and it couldnt take the shock of a sudden hit, and every yacht had problems..
Ive seen one smaller yacht use the stuff since then and it displayed the same problem.
Going up to 50mm would add wieght, and Ive finally got away from the quandary of mixing Ally and steel with machining or clamps.
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The important aspect in the chassis is getting the right mix of smooth ride , without too great a performance loss. I would rate this yacht an 8 smiles out of 10
Ive YET to build a 10 smiler.
