Land yacht

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For the term landyacht associated with large passenger vehicles, see Landyacht.

A Belgian Class 3 competition land yacht in full action

A land yacht is a vehicle used in land sailing. The term comes from the similarity with a waterborn yacht. Land yachts consist of little more than of a carriage and a sail. Land yachts do not experience hull drag and with modern wheels and bearings encounter very little friction; therefore they achieve speeds well in excess of water based yachts. Land sailing and ice sailing have been described as the closest practical examples of approaching perpetual motion, because as they increase speed they create more apparent wind which in turns propels the faster -- the limiting factor is drag and friction.

1 History
2 Competition
3 Sources
4 External links

[edit] History

First traces of landyachting in Pharaonic Egypt, apparently built for leisure.

Developed for Dutch military purpose (troop transport) by 16th century Flemisch scientist Simon Stevin in Flanders.

Built for sport and leisure by the Dumont brothers in De Panne, Belgium in 1898. sails were based on those of contemporary Egyptian boats used on the Nile.

First races on the beaches of Belgium and France in 1909. At the same time, landyachts were used to transport goods on dry-lakes in the USA and Australia.

Development of three-wheeled polyester/glassfiber and metal carts, often with wing-masts and relatively rigid (full-batten) sails from 1960 on.

[edit] Competition

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 Standard 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.

Class 8 Land Yachts - also referred to as kite buggys or parakarts - differ from other classes in that the sail is replaced with a large traction kite, usually flown on 20 - 40m quad lines. The buggies are also considerably smaller and more manoeuverable. 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 70MPH, 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 Km are covered in trips lasting several days. Look under Transat des Sables and Gobi Kite Buggy Challenge [1].

Racing yachts speed up to 120 km/h (the world speed record is set at 188 km/h by Bob Schumacher (USA) in 2001). 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.

One of the largest events in Land Yachting in the world is the European Championships, involving Land Yacht pilots from all competitive classes (excluding parakart, class 8) from all over Europe. The next of these is to take place in Hoylake, Great Britain, in September 2007. Hosted by the Wirral Sand Yacht Club.