Land sailing - News Sports Travel

Article by hi joiney

History Land yachts designed by Simon Stevin in the 1500s. The earliest known use of land yachts was in Ancient Egypt, where they were apparently built for leisure. The Chinese had ?wind-driven carriages? since the 6th century AD, during the Liang Dynasty, and eventually mounted masts and sails on large wheelbarrows. The precursor to the modern land yacht was invented in the 16th century by the Flemish scientist Simon Stevin in Flanders as a commission for Prince Maurice of Orange. It was used by Prince Maurice for entertaining his guests. In 1898, the Dumont brothers of De Panne, Belgium, developed a land yacht whose sails were based on contemporary Egyptian sailboats used on the Nile River. The first races were held on the beaches of Belgium and France in 1909. Land yachts were also used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to transport goods on dry lakes in the United States. The modern land yacht, a three-wheeled polyester/fibreglass and metal cart, often with a wing-mast and relatively rigid (full-batten) sails, has been used since 1960. Land Sailing Speed Record The world land speed record for a wind powered vehicle was broken on 26 March 2009 by Richard Jenkins in his yacht Greenbird with a speed of 126.1 mph (202.9 km/h). Wind speeds were fluctuating between 3050 mph (4880 km/h) at that time. The previous record of 116 mph was set by American Bob Schumacher on March 20, 1999 driving his Iron Duck vehicle. Both records were set on Ivanpah Dry Lake near Primm, Nevada, USA. A previous attempt at the record by Britons Dale Vince and Richard Jenkins at Lake Lefroy in Western Australia in their carbon-neutral vehicle, Greenbird, failed on 12 September 2008. Modern land yacht classes A Belgian Class 3 competition land yacht There are a number of basic types, or ?classes?, of land yachts. Because of the very different nature of each class, they compete separately in races. The largest class of yachts are known as Class 2, which may have masts as large as 8 metres (26 ft). The massive sail area provides significant power, although the speed of Class 2 yachts can sometimes be limited by their large size. These are sailed mainly in continental Europe and not sailed at all in some countries such as the United Kingdom. The Class 3 is probably the most popular yacht design, almost identical to the Class 2 in appearance, but significantly smaller. Class 3 yachts are generally made from fiberglass, sometimes in combination with other high-tech lightweight materials, such as carbon fibre, Kevlar, or various composites, with a wooden rear axle. They are capable of reaching speeds up to 70 miles per hour (113 km/h). The Class 5 is much smaller than the 2 and 3, and is in a very different shape. The pilot still sails the yacht lying down, but unlike the 2 and 3, he lies in a seat that is suspended from or cantilevered off the chassis, rather than inside the body. The chassis is usually made of steel and aluminium, with a fibreglass or carbonevlar seat. Class 5 yachts are capable of reaching speeds up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), and some have been faster, closer to 70 miles per hour (113 km/h). While Class 2, 3, and 5 yachts must meet certain guidelines, the specifications are flexible to an extent. The ?Standart? Class is unique in that it is the only recognised international monotype sand yacht with all yachts identical. Similar to Class 5 in shape and function, they must follow a special design supplied by the French manufacturer Seagull. This class is popular because it means the outcome of a competition rests entirely with the pilot, as the yacht itself cannot provide an advantage or disadvantage. The Standart Class is a truly international one design popular with sand yacht pilots from America to Argentina to Australia and India to Ireland and beyond. Miniyachts are as the name suggest small land / sandyachts which are aimed at the leisure and family pilot. However, any type of land yacht can be raced and the identical nature of these yachts make them ideal fun racers.[citation needed] This style of yacht uses a traditional style land yacht rig with a smaller chassis and body where the pilot is able to sit in a conventional way and control the sail with a simple main sheet. These are the smallest, cheapest and lightest yachts available and are tremendously safe and easy to sail.[citation needed] The definition of a miniyacht is ?Any assembled land or sand yacht that fits inside a continuous loop of rope 5.6 m long is a miniyacht?. {{Attribution needed}date=February 2010}} They can be carried in the trunk of a car . They can be sailed equally well by small children and large adults and have the added advantage of going on grass as well as sand or concrete. These yachts are very usable and they are a truly fun inexpensive class for all the family popular in Europe, America ,Uk and Ireland. Class 7 yachts are built like skateboards with a sail, much like a land-borne windsurfing board. These are also called Speed Sail and are fully recognised by FISLY as part of sand yacht clubs, they are also sailed for fun and hobby. Class 8 Land Yachts ? also referred to as Parakarting, or kite buggying ? differ from other classes in that the sail is replaced with a large traction kite, usually flown on 2040 m quad lines. The buggies are also considerably smaller and more maneuverable. This relatively new class of the sport is still undergoing rapid development but has become popular in recent years due to its portability, relative low cost and flexibility. Kite buggying also uniquely offers the pilot the possibility of getting real air time as buggies are sometimes launched into the air by the traction kite. Class 8 activities are generally grouped under racing, using large kites and very large and heavy buggies to accelerate to over 70 mph (110 km/h), freestyle where smaller, lighter machines perform freestyle tricks such as airs, spins, wheelies, reverse flying, etc, and endurance or cruising where distances of hundreds of kilometres are covered in trips lasting several days. Look under Transat des Sables and Gobi Kite Buggy Challenge. Hand steering instead of traditional style foot steering is used onBlokart and X-sail miniyachts. New Zealand designed Blokarts have many variations of chassis,sails and add on extras and are raced in many different classifications, like standard, pro and even different pilot weight. The hand steering allows disabled people to be able to use them and compete with able-bodied competitors.X-sails and Blokarts are capable of speeds up to 62.5 miles per hour (100.6 km/h). Competition In recent decades, land sailing has evolved into a sport, shown here on the beaches of Quend, Bay of Somme, France. Land yacht competitors are spread over all continents: from the vast beaches of Western Europe, New Zealand and Brazil, dry-lake surfaces in the USA, Argentina, Australia and Africa to frozen lakes in Canada and Scandinavia (using skates instead of wheels). National landyacht associations are united in the international landyacht federation called FISLY. This organisation sets up the racing rules. Every two years, world championships are organised. Besides that, there are lots of local races and competitions every week and annual European and Pacific Rim championships. Racing yachts are divided in four classes by FISLY: Class 5 and Class Standart have a tubular steel or aluminium frame and mast with a glassfiber seats. The bigger Class 3 and Class 2 yachts have a lightweight glassfiber hull and wing-shaped mast and (mostly) a wooden rear axle. Racing yachts speed up to 120 km/h (the world speed record is 202.9 km/h (126.1 mph), set by Richard Jenkins in 2009? breaking the previous record of 188 km/h (116.7 mph) set in 2001 by Bob Schumacher, USA). Even at very low winds, racing yachts ride at up to three times the wind speed, reaching easily 70 km/h. Due to the lightweight and aerodynamic build, racing yachts boost to top speed in about 5 seconds. Turning markers are usually taken at full speed. European and World Championships One of the largest international events in the sport are the European championships, in which competitors of all classes from all over Europe travel to a sand yachting venue for a week long competition. The Wirral Sand Yacht Club, on Hoylake beach, hosted the event in September 2007. Argentina held the world championship in 2008. St Peter Ording was the venue for the 2009 European Championships while DePanne in Belgium will host the 2010 World Championships in Sept ? October. Attendees included local politicians Esther McVey and Stephen Hesford, alongside the Mayor of Wirral, the Head of the International Governing body for Sandyachting, and at least some of the 150 competitors from Argentina, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK. North American Racing In the US, annual competitions are held by local clubs and by NALSA, the North American Landsailing Association. The largest regatta is regularly held the last week of March on the playa at the California-Nevada border near Prim Nevada. The classes sailed in the US include several one-design classes, international class 5 (5 m class in the US), and open classes solely based on the sail/wing area. The European yachts sail with the appropriate US open class according to their sail area. Promoting international competition, there are periodic regattas including FISLY and other landsailing nations, mostly on the Pacific Rim. The host and venue of this regatta rotates, and the 2009 event will be hosted by NALSA at the March regatta. A history of sailing in the US can be found at Nalsa.org. Blokart Racing Blokart competitions are run using rules as set out by the International Blokart Racing Committee (IBRA) and are not part of FISLY. The IBRA rules are designed to work on a small course like blokart heaven, to larger beach and dry lake venues. Blokart had its inaugural world

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Source: http://www.news-sports-travel.com/2012/03/16/land-sailing/

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