Hi guys,

As more of you do, I'm planning on building a class 5 land yacht. I know that there are more topics for class 5 design, but I still got some questions, that's why I (again) start a new one.
I've spent some time now on the design, mostly based on the French class 5 Sport (www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Class-5-Sport/). My design until now is on the following images.




I plan on building my own wheels, since I can't realy find suitable wheels, and certainly not for a good price. I've seen how Aus230 does it (www.seabreeze.com.au/) and have a couple of questions about that
- What exactly is the stuff you use to make the mold?
- What's the best way to make sure that everything is square?
- What do you use for spokes? Are they from a plate of glass fiber that you made yourself, or is it from a plastic plate you purchased?
- What material do you use for the axle (and bearings), just steel or stainless steel?
I plan on using 25 mm axles, as I read somewhere on the forum that they can break if they are too small.

Then the rest of the frame.
- I saw that Aus230 once had problems with his mast step possibly being too far back (www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Class-Five-Design/?page=6). Since in my design this dimension is almost the same, do you still have any troubles with this dimension and should I change it, or are these problems solved.
- I found in the French class 5 Sport plan the dimensions of the frame tubes (for example) being 60 x 3 mm for the steel and 50 x 4 mm for the aluminium. This leaves some space between these tubes, but how is the connection between these tubes made? Is it like one of the following, or in another manner? And what size should the bolts and nuts be? I have now designed with M8.



- I used the rear axle design of yankeesailor in his building movie (www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/New-Class-5-YOTT-build-slide-show/, very nice by the way). I'm not really sure about the dimensions and I don't know for sure how to connect this axle to the aluminium tube. Can someone help me with that? My design until now is shown in the following image.



Finally, the seat. Until now I haven't found any dimensions for it. Off course I can just start designing something for myself, but it would be really helpful if someone could post a picture/drawing with some dimensions of his own seat.
Next to this, I have seen some photos of how to make the seat (in the same post topic of the wheels), but I'm not sure if I've seen enough to start building one myself. Unfortunately this part of the movie of yankeesailor isn't finished yet, so could someone give me a more detailed overview of how to build this.

Stephan

Hello fellow blokart sailors would like to know what chassis most people are sailing and the pro and cons of each model.

I am looking at purchasing a blokart within the next couple of weeks and would like to know from owners what that think of their current chassis' with regards to:

- Performance: _is there any real difference or is it just psychological?
_What about chassis rigidity and strength?
_Weight?
_What are the top guys and girls racing?


-Maintenance/Repairs:_How do you maintain yours?
_Would there be any difference in the repairs of each material?

-Aesthetics: _Which one looks the best? Can the Chromoly frame be painted/powder coated?

-Resale:_ Which chasis will hold its value come time to sell?


I am still undecided as to which model will suit my needs.

I went for a test sail on a carpark with Bryan the Kalgoorlie Blokart dealer on his kart that had all the fruit and was hooked.

I plan to race in the production class initially as this is what my current budget will allow with the intent to move into the performance class and spending my money on:

1. Carbon Mast
2. POD
3. Ratchet Pulley and 6:1 Cunningham
4. Batten tensioners

I intend to sail at various locations including Lake Lefroy and blasting along the beach at Esperance.

I am a heavier sailor in the 80kg weight range and love to sail fast. I have a windsurfing and sailing background as I grew up sailing on the beautiful lake Cootharba and Noosa River. Now I am living and working in the Goldfields and there is no water so Blokarts are the next best thing.

I am leaning towards the Chromoly comp model because:
-Price: Its $600 Cheaper
-Strength: They make tools and Mountain Bikes from Chromoly however that don't ride them on the beach or salt lakes.

My biggest concern is the the corrosion. I don't my expensive toy eaten away, weakened or looking crap after 12months of use. Warranty/Built in obsolesces.

Sorry for the big spiel but I am honest to hear everyones feedback.

I have been lurking and posting around here for a while about the 5.6. As many of you know the US will be hosting the Worlds in 2013. WE are having the 5.6 Mini class. I'm not a voting board member on NALSA but have some concerns about our future. I try to promote our sport by providing free plans for do it yourselfers with my ST 49 wingboat design. I also am promoting the Worlds by getting the word out via video's by spreading it around on web sites such as this. Some of the negative comments I've read about the US Worlds is that they will run their own classes why go. It has some truth but we are trying to be as accommodating as possible. We are at a cross roads for NALSA to permanently ( not just the Worlds) include the 5.6 mini class rather than an American version of the mini class. The American version has about 9 rules or more.Some of the boats I've seen here would not meet class criteria) The American version has never really caught on over the years at least at the annual Americas Cup of Landsailing. With the new 5.6 Int class there is a buzz and excitement over mini. The problem is that as of now not enough board members want to permanently adopt the 5.6 rule. I've read past posts on here with some having some reluctance toward adopting the 5.6 mini rules. How did you guys work it out?
Thanks
John




I love this post regarding the intent of the 5.6 mini class.



The wheels !
Firstly , some clarity , there was a slight "lost in translation" and " lost in local terminology " in the written version of the rule and this will be clarified officialy next opportunity but everyone is complying with the original intent of the rule . ie, The max wheel size is actually intended as the the max TYRE size of 400x8. as commonly sold into Europe . This size is that of what is traditionally called a wheel barrow tyre in most countries.

The Wheel can be made of anything you like but a preference is for the plastic barrow type wheel to be used, so make em in titanium if you like but dont exceed the tyre size ! If the max of 400 x 8.00 tyre size is too big for you well then feel free to use smaller Blokart type size wheels and tyres or go smaller again if you like, just not bigger !.

It is planned that the rule will have the following added,

'The rope must lie on the ground. The touching part of the tyres on the ground must fit inside the rope '

Other proposal formulated at the FISLY meeting of 22.01.2011:
' wheel size is maximum 400x8' is to be changed to 'the tyre size' .

You can put whatever pressure you want into your tyres of up to this size and yes it will change the profile and foot print of the miniyacht but if it! fits inside that loop of rope 5.6m long on the ground its ok .


Remember that common sense should always prevail and the KISS approach is paramount to having fun.

All inclusive is the intent , get people out sailing and progressing is the intent and I take responsibility for the rule being so simple. I was the proposer of this rule to the FISLY council and one of the people who pushed for this recognition for miniyachts for years and years recognising that it is the way to introduce new people to the sport.
There are always minor language and local interpretation dificulties in any multi lingual and multi national organisations - hence the wee tweaks to the rule as outlined above.

Hope this helps and this debate is brilliant as it tells me the rule is a success and doing as I intended and hoped it would, as I said above.

Keep asking but do more telling others !

So go forth and KISS

Cheers

Alan ( now a FISLY Vice President !)

I was wondering how many there are in the LLF mini fleet, so if you've built one post a pic or just a reply in here and we might be able to get Paul, the designer, to allocate official build numbers to each landyacht.

Perhaps also include a link to your build thread if you wrote one.

To answer a question I have received, - if you're prepared to give credit to Pauls design for at least part of your mini (even if its just the specs), then you're welcome to post it here. It might be useful for others if you describe the reasons and benefits for varying from the original plans.