Select to expand quotetryhard said..
And here is the finished article.Now my question:the sail is fully battened and even with a lot of pull on the mainsheet there is a baggy bit along the mast.Do I need to recut this sail to reduce or eliminate the curve? I tried taking the battens out which helped a little but what is lacking is the smooth foil from mast to sail.
you need a lot of downhaul tension on the luff(front) in your case pre tension.
in regards the lack of steering. how far over does your front wheel lay when turning?
Try hard
You have a convenient bar that your foot pedals are mounted to at the front You could use that to put some turns of rope around to put some luff tension on the front of your boom to see if that improves the sail shape Don't be frightened to heave it down hard
I noticed that the mast end of the boom was driven forward as the main sheet was pulled in.So I decided to make a boom jaw out of some left over parts from the windsurfer parts and an ancient rowlock .I cut a groove in the shaft of the rowlock using my angle grinder in a vise with a cut off disc.The enables me to lock the jaws (and also remove them)
in place
I have since shifted the boom block to the middle of the boom.This does not drive the boom forward so much if at all so I may take the jaws off.
Here is a shot of the front wheel showing the degree of layover
What the photo of the sail doesn't show is the overlap of the sail nearest the mast caused by the pressure from the battens.It seems to me that the sail should have the battens right behind the mast and butting up against the mast.I wonder if this kind of windsurfer sail will work.I will try Hiko's suggestion and put a downhaul on the boom.If the wind picks up today I will have a sail at Long Beach which is very long and sparsely populated.A post mortem (or should I say debrief ) will follow
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
I have since shifted the boom block to the middle of the boom.This does not drive the boom forward so much if at all so I may take the jaws off.
Here is a shot of the front wheel showing the degree of layover
If the main sheet is in the right position you don't need jaws at the front No one around here uses jaws
Your mast looks quite raked back to me If putting a down haul on the front doesn't take out the excessive belly in the front of the sail when everything is cranked in hard then you may have to recut the luff of the sail and take some of the curve out
A little overlap of the battens to the mast when you are at rest with no wind in the sail is normal it is sometimes necessary to pump the sail to get the battens to leeward. Your trial sail will tell you a lot
Thanks Hiko.How can I tell when the main sheet is in the correct position? The last photo I posted with the rig under pressure showed the main sheet's position on the boom more aft.I based this on the photo of Clem's Skimini rebuild photo showing his assembled rig.With the main sheet poisoned about mid boom and almost directly above the deck saddle,the boom is not driven forward.Is this what I want to achieve?
My maiden voyage at a local park was mostly unsuccessful.Light and intermittent wind coupled by the grass meant I achieved a very short run under wind power
Tryhard
Congratulations on getting the yacht out and giving it a go Here is some observations
That grass is very draggy and long and it will be hard to get started on that stuff
I am around 95Kg and I would find it hard to move with a 5sqM sail in less than a strong wind
I use 5sq M plus nearly all the time on my minis unless the wind is very strong
Your sail looks to me around 4sq M You need to be on tarmac and still with a good breeze
One thing you find with these critters is the faster you go the faster you can go if that makes sense
Imagine you are on a bike and you only have high gear and you are trying to start out of soft ground
Someone pushing to get you started is sometimes what you need in those cases
Your mainsheet shouldnt be putting too much push on the mast if it is forward enough on the boom
Dont worry about the jaws [gooseneck ] Whether you have one or not is mainly a matter of preference
Your priority I feel now is to get sailing and get some hands on learning
Try and find some tarmac that you can use A car park after hours or similar A good hard beach at low tide can be good too
Remember to keep all your extremities [arms legs etc ] inside the yacht no matter what
Even if you tip over the mast will hit the ground and protect you Tipping over usually only happens when you are moving slow and the wind is from the side
Travelling fast the wind is from the front quarter so the tipping tendency is less Be quick with letting the mainsheet go slack and turn into the wind if things
get over exciting
Have lots of FUN !
Today I had my first real run at Waikouaiti Beach about 30 kms north of Dunedin.Low tide and hard sand and 35 kph plus SW.I filmed everything on a cam on my helmet but sadly all that can be seen is the mast, sail and sky.Next time I'll adjust the camera angle.Anyway it was a most exciting ride.It tacked well and went like a rocket on a broad reach.I lost control and tipped over sustaining a soft tissue injury to my knee which has swelled to impressive proportions.Most of the time it behaved as it should but then it would take off like a wild beast.I plan to have another run on Friday.I will attempt to record and post this.Hugely enjoyable.A man came along as I was setting up and asked me about land yachts.I encouraged him to have a go.Another disciple.Special thanks to Hiko for his encouragement.
You have my commiserations it sounds like you are HOOKED!
Join the ranks of the many hooked landsailors
Try hard
congratulations on your first real sail Quite an achievement starting from scratch ,building your own yacht and successfully sailing it
Great you had fun doing it and commiserations on the knee
Hope you have many more days of fun Sounds like you have a good beach to sail on
Here's my video of the sail performed without injury:
Wow, Nice beach. How come there is not more landsailors down there. Ohope is crowded with kids and beach babes this time if year.
Shame about the Led Zep track. Funny I was playing that on my way home from a job just half an hour ago.
Looks like you may need that 3rd ski to beef up the axles. Seems to be laying over a bit too much.
Well done.
I cant view the videos lately because my computer says the video is not available because it is in "Safety Mode" and I need to get it out of that mode.
Has anyone else got that problem. The instructions needed to cancel the Safe Mode don't seem to work.
I am happy to report that every man who has seen the Skiwi sailing wants to build a landyacht
Got my computer to view your video at last and enjoyed the ride. Many thanks Tryhard she went well. Surprised how quick she went in what looked like very little wind....Wok
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
Here's my video of the sail performed without injury:
The last minute after the music stops is devoted to the marvellous din of wind and bearings on the last beat up the beach.
I cant view it as you seem to have removed it
I don't know what happened to my movie.i"ll ask my patient and helpful daughter to resurrect it
I think I'm beginning to understanding what twitchy means relating to mini behaviour.I 'm learning that reflexes have to be might quick to avoid a capsize.I have decided to take Clem's advice and I have added a third ski to my axle.The toe in is much less marked but there is still plenty of suspension (not too stiff)
i have found the twitchyest point of sailing is a close reach.Tacking and running are fine as is the broad reach.It will be interesting to see if the stiffer axles makes any difference
