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Hi cisco ... WELL WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO START !!!!!!
BUT Im not going to give an exact answer as there are a lot of variations that suit your sailing locations.
My first aim is to make people "think" as it will make you a much better yacht builder and sailor if you know how things work.
If your into physics and HEAVY reading ( it makes war and peace look like an easy read) check this book "ISBN 0396077390" ( google the number for book details)
its NOT a cheap book so ask the library ..
(this was the book i used lots in the yacht " WILDFIRE --- Designed by computer" & the "Sandpiper" class 6 commonly known as plastic ducks!!! by some)
Well cisco you first need to think about where you sail is the surface hard, med, or soft, sealed, grass, sand, salt, clay pans etc?
and then is it rough, bumpy, or smooth, loose surface stones etc?
Do you want a smooth ride or can you put up with the bumps?
do you need good steering or GREAT steering? ie.for carparks
is the wind nomally light, med ,strong, or lots more?
is the wind clean or disturbed ?
are you after speed or power? (eg tractors have power with lots of grunt, gocarts have speed but not much grunt)
do you want high performance or a pleasant yacht for the wife and kids?
That will do for the moment just to get you thinking ..... every ones ideas WILL be different so dont worry if yours are not the same as others.
Cheers Brian
Crikey Brian dont go telling the beginners to much. I had this hope that they would slowly learn over the years so I could keep looking like an expert!
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My first aim is to make people "think" as it will make you a much better yacht builder and sailor if you know how things work.
Cheers Brian, Thanks very much for the response. It is exaclty what I was looking for as it gives me the starting point, not the end point served on a platter.
I think the above gem should be passed on to the collective education departments of Australia. Having been a TAFE instructor and seen the homework my children ask for help with, I am sure those departments lost that aim a long time ago.
My construction plan is very simple and will easily accommodate modification of the relationship of the vital elements without reconstruction. Readily available "off the shelf" components are a feature. It's unique components will require accurate manufacture.
As it progresses I will post details and photos to a thread in the construction forum. Due to general "life things" it won't happen in a hurry. Hope you stick around to see it.
In the meantime I won't be good, I'll be WICKED in my blokart!! Cheers, Cisco.
Well cisco.... as you already have an existing yacht most of the variables you could change are limited...
it comes down to
1. whats making you NOT GO
and
2. what makes you GO
Dealing with the first one first ....How much force does it take to move your yacht?
Get a fishermans spring scale and pull the yacht on the surface you sail on or similar (with a pilot in it...) and see what it takes to move it in "Kgs" [ you dont need the rig to do this]
Tyre pressure ... increase / decrease "then measure again"
Bearings ....old vs new , oil vs grease, side seals vs no seals "then measure again"
Wheel Balance ....are your wheels balanced? .....have you had an unbalanced wheel on your car at 60kmph?
Tyres ....are they light or heavy that might take a lot of effort to get spinning? ... do you run 4 or 6 ply tyres when a 2 ply tyre is lighter and still do the job?
this will keep your thoughts going for an hour or so ...more later
Brian
Hey Brian, this sort of info is GOLD to those of us new to the sport. I'd hate to see it buried on page 4 of a class 6 thread when it thoroughly deserves a new thread of its own.
"Wildfire - designed by computer" was a class 5 land yacht akin to the Bill finch " hot stuff" class 5's
you mentioned you sailed a Blowcart? and wanted to continue to do so..if you sail with other blowcarts stick with it... just tune it up and get it up and running at 110%
Its better to sail with similar design yachts than be the odd one out.
If you sailing with other class 6 / mini design yachts go with that style.
No yacht will do it all it would be like me going to my local car dealer wanting a 4wd 7 seater with good fuel economy and on the weekend race it in the v8 supercars....
My only thing is if you want to build a class 6 build it well inside the rules with measurements( i have seen 2 situations in my life of landsailing where a guy had to cut 20mm off his axle with a hacksaw in front of others at the championship.... the other time using a pocket knife to reduce the sail area because he wanted to push it "just a little over" and he knew it before turning up to the event!!!)
If you build to the MAXIUM specs there may be times you may not get through depending on the measurer...i prefer to breeze though no questions!!!
I find with interest and disapointment upon further reading of this site it seems that some people dont wish to build yachts that conform to class specs and just try and change the specs to suit their needs (and for commercial gains) which then further fragments the class and sport...
Cheers Brian
Psst...
Class 6 R&D day at Baldivis today, all welcome to come for a sail.
See the events section
Hi Bazl,
Hope you had a great day and that the learning curve was steep.
If you made a major breakthrough in your R&D, no doubt you will immediately share it with the rest of us. LOL
Hi again Brian,
I do love sailing my blokart and for many different reasons. For those reasons I will always have at least one. But, it's a bit like an ice cream, once you've had a lick, you want more.
The dynamics of a fin keel sloop are old friends of mine and are great fun to play with. Since taking up land yachting my thoughts on water yachting are moving towards the Farrier trimarans. Owners of these hot machines are known to develop a dangerous habit of cutting pieces out of them out to reduce weight, due to their speed addiction. Another set of dynamics.
In my experience with land yachting, those that cling to their habits of catamaran or skiff sailing, don't sail very fast in a land yacht. The reason why is that they fail to see that the dynamics have changed.
Some of those are, a non fluid surface, a stronger grip on the surface, nil or less heeling of the rig, greatly reduced resistance to forward motion and a change or even elimination of the relationship between centre of effort and centre of lateral resistance as lateral resistance is near total which results in neutral helm.
However once we travel at speeds of two or three times that of the wind, we're getting into an almost complete new ball game. This is where I believe micro incremental adjustment of the variable parts of the yacht will have a significant effect on performance.
Of particular interest is Paul Day's comment (correct me if I have it wrong Paul), ie blokart have got it just about right with length, breadth and mast position but if you move the weight aft some you will go faster.
So what we are talking about here is length to track width ratio combined with relative positioning of centre of effort and centre of gravity. I, and no doubt Lachlan too would love to get a computer model of that.
As I understand it , when a landyacht is sailing with the windward wheel well off the ground, it is not sailing efficiently. When the windward wheel is just skimming the ground we are at, or near, optimum efficiency. This being the case, a land yacht effectively sails on it's front wheel and leeward wheel. The question of rear wheel toe in arises. If the rear wheels' toe in are adjusted so that their track lines coincide with the front wheel contact patch, will we get optimum tracking or have we just set it up to be a pitchpoling stunt yacht. No Dutch Rolls for me thanks.
Of note here is that blokarts have adjustable stays between the frame and blades when ice blades are fitted.
We haven't talked about sails yet and volumes could be written on that.
Till then "Via con dios Amigos." Cisco.
i have posted a reply to the previous item in the section " Technical Tips".......
Yes we haven't got to sails yet ( get to that later).. im still working on whats making you NOT GO......
Brian
Good talk going on here.
Too right I could spend a long while looking at any kind of computer model! So long as I could read it Good to read through the post, well the last bit anyway, I really should be making notes on the subject. I was wondering how technical info would go posted here.
Keep up the discussion. I for one will be very interested on design dynamics. The only thing i can add is it seems easier to forget about water sailing, landsailing appears to be so far removed it has very little relavance.
I'll eat my words with some of the hydrofoil work being developed presently 
I have just added some pics in the photo section of the "Sandpiper" Landyacht Class 6 built in 1984 .......
Some sailed with a self tacking jib, the extra sail at the front acted like a turbo charger ... the down side... very hard to tack on a soft surface.....
Your right "Landyacht" ....i think the bug might have bitten again..got the design doodle book out last night for a "Super Sandpiper"......
Then to the CAD program soon........
I'm working with things learnt from the "Sandpiper" and also with thoughts of the mini design, WELL within the class 6 rules.
Cheers
So will we see you back out at Pt Gawler?
EDIT: Wow, that was our 1000th post in this section!!
mmm looks like it.
Is anyone sailing this weekend @ Pt Gawler despite the HEAT in Adelaide?
No, not that I know of. I think most are getting ready to go to Lake Gilles and I'm on standby for my work until after Easter. Should be some there on the 5th & 6th of April though.
Are there any class 6 or Blokarts sailing in Adelaide?
And do they sail with the Adelaide land yacht club?
Phil from Blokart inc tells me they have sold 30 blokarts in SA, but I've never seen any of them. Its only been class V every time I've been out to Pt Gawler. I even posted on the blokart forum inviting any blowys in SA to come out but no one has replied.
Are the Class 6 specs still as per the original version or have there been recent changes?
Its time to fire the CAD program up!
I need a winter project
I received an email from DR a few months back saying your specs are still current, but that was before Dave Webster posted those other specs. From speaking to you and the guys at Pt Gawler I assume Dave Webster's were never officially adopted, if so yours would be it.
Paul has taken his new LL Minis out for their first test run today. We have a few club members going out to Lefroy today so Val is organising some informal racing. Come out and join in the fun if you are free.
What has happened to the "Phoenix" class 6 did it ever go into commercial production?
I just havent heard much about it recently.....
