I thought i was almost cured after a couple of months of renovating houses instead of playing with tools in my backyard rehabilitation centre.
However I have sadly fallen off the wagon and gone back to old habits, and popped down the shed for a few hours last week to whip up the next mini.
Ive just couldnt face another yacht with silly angles and have reverted to basics with a "simple" T frame LLM( OK , it will get silly later).
i took measurements from "Ankle Biter' which I still feel is my fastest mini on a good surface and plan to adapt a "nappy Rush " style seatback to the T frame.
i certainly felt that the time in rehab is doing my mental state the world of good
Welcome back 
I could have sworn that an old pair of skis would have been in the mix, it seems I was mistaken...
If you put a big wheel on the front with small wheels on the back, would that rake the mast back enough? (really big front - really small back)
nice sunny day with not too many spectators today( and no wind), so I made some progress. todays big thank you goes out to my youngest daughter whos little fingers made all the cable ties a doddle.
This is my first attempt at a stitch and tape craft, but Im starting to see the possibilities.
the wood is some rather nice 6mm 5ply from the tip that was a home for some kind of pump..
the idea is to clean up the underside of the yacht and get a wedge shaped upper body to help with stability in those +80kph moments
the 50mm ground clearance should help too.
those wheels arent mine, so dont bother speculating
I suppose I will have to credit Paul Becket with some aspects of my influences on this little experiment
looks good paul,
i kinda like the plastic tie wraps; i used mil-spec wire on mine, and i'm not looking foreward to taking it off. also like the idea of the chassis inside the structure...(NOT thinking outside the box...)
keep us posted!
finally settled on the back of the seat. A simple frame that slides forward , or back, allowing 200mm of movement at the rear of the yacht .Along with with the 200mm at the foot pedals , That will give a really nice range of pilot sizes.
The fibreglassing of coming along. Ive glassed the outside , with little gaps at the cable ties, then pulled the ties,and glued/nailed reinforcing strips at the joinns on the inside. More glassing tommorrow
i read a few years ago that when using wire, you heated the wire witha soldering iron and then pulled it from the glass/resin
i just ground one side of the plastic, and the otherside just pulled out
use copper wire ,figure 8 it and fibreglass over it. Don't bother removing it.
basic stitch and tape construction.
The inside of my ties usually get buried in the filler radius and the outside ends
get ground off when the radius is done wth the flap disc Quick and dirty
Am watching with interest this yacht as I now have a spare chassis needing a
seat It will probably get converted to ski axles first though
Compulsive constructive disorder is the right name for it is there any cure?
What?? Oh yeah right Thats what you do with them
Trouble is when I build something myself I always think I can do it better or different anyway and cant leave well alone
Its a very bad habit --never satisfied I need therapy of some kind
Dam I know to problem. Get one built then maybe maybe maybe I Could do something different on the next one
Cheers
aus230
my problem with CCD is getting the thing finished BEFORE I have another turn
I have 3 unfinished designs round the back that never rolled out the shed in anger
got almost nothing done today cos I had to work, one job didnt even start till 3.30pm
I'll be lucky to have any green paint on , so it might get called the "red oxide arrow"
Paul-I was having a look at the class 5 in your avatar and a post with photos of other class 5's and noticed the length of the boom. Is this to avoid copping the end of the boom in the face in event of a crash
in class5 the rules are boom must be above eye level, and 450mm,which evr is higher. I can get that boom 'with difficulty' down to 460mm and still be above the eyes. you couldnt get it that low when sailing. Class5 promo is a minimum of 550mm? , above the helmeted head, and must extend behind the head.
this is presumably for safety. once the promos are racing hard , all the top yachts had the boom down at the side of the head. having a short boom means there is no need to sheet out to tack. you can also hold the boom more inboard when sailing. as explained in another post by the kiwis
Finally got into the inside of the seat,had to improvise a bit
but it is coming up nice and clean
after it ahd all cured off ,ive layed a layer of resin with talc added to give a nice sanding coat. with the frame in place, I can now have a go at the inside seat, little old me will need a bit of comfort when sailing
ignore the skinny front wheel, its all ive got to put on this frame , i only have 2 spare 4.00x8 rims. i might get lucky and scrounge one more yet
i have a tin of old lime green paint, and it is a pointy yacht, so it started being called the "Green Arrow", kinda fits in with the idea of a hull built for speed, and being on seabreeze
seat is glassed , sanded and primed. dont be alarmed by the colour
Ive run out of wood primer , so I added some matt white enamel to some red oxide metal primer. i was trying for pink and got something that looks like nanna's lipstick, so i will definitely be repainting a better colour over it
Looks like a blocart pod on steroids (I know what you are up to)
No surprises mmmmmmmmm.
Cheers
aus230
due to the neccesity to put my feet somewhere, and use them to steer effectively, i couldnt really emulate that lovely Blokart wedge, that I suspect is stabilizing the yacht when it gets up to silly speeds.
The inside at the front is 290mm wide which is as narrow as I could go and not have to sail barefoot
I just couldnt bring myself to set up handsteering, Im not that desperate yet
by the time the inner seat and external cape go on the back it should be quite neat and "streamline"
first coat of finish went on today, chassis buffed and primed
since mid2005 27, I think, plus 8 class5's, i think, plus 5 speedsails(windsurfer rig),3 micros(1 never finished),2 class6(1 never finished). 1 big 3 seater
this year I built a beginners windsurfer board as well and that is kinda my favourite
'Nappy rush" would have to be my best mini,or maybe "ankle biter'
Thats 46 landyachts,I must have forgotten something, that doesnt seem to be enough
Is there a cure for it? I have finished 2 LLM's, and have a CL5 in progress... (slow progress), and am thinking about another CL5. Caught the bug a long time ago, and built a 2 seater back then.
Maybe we should look into a 12 step process or something.
EDIT; Speaking of changes prior to finishing the build, do you still like this front end/steering for the CL5 size rigs? Or have you got a new improved.......
That front end is the sweetest one Ive built. I wish I'd had it on a few yachts over the last 30 years. We even used exactly that front end on our big 3 seater
All the bits are coming together. as you can see , the frame is still quite simple, It fits nicely in the width/alignment jig.
The rear needed to be lowered, but i wanted to avoid horizontal axles with droppers as I find the catch lots of lumps , and make it difficult to align / keep alignment.
the wheels Im using are quite light duty, so I wont run at 10 degrees, settling for 5 degree lay over.
after all that , the paint goes on, the little details..............
and presto
I hope to sew the nappy and cape before Sunday as the forecast is really good
Lovin where this one is going,can't wait to see it "FINISHED".The seat frame i like not to mention the steering,nice work LY.
