Land sailing
Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, entails overland travel with a sail-powered vehicle, similar to sailing on water. Originally, a form of transportation or recreation, it has evolved primarily into a racing sport since the 1950s.
Vehicles used in sailing are known as sail wagons, sand yachts, or land yachts. They typically have three wheels and function much like a sailboat, except that they are operated from a sitting or lying position and steered by pedals or hand levers. Land sailing works best in windy flat areas, and races often happen on beaches, airfields, and dry lake beds in desert regions. Modern land sailors, generally known as "pilots", can go three to four times faster than the wind speed. A gust of wind is considered more beneficial in a land sailing race than a favorable windshift. A similar sport, known as ice yachting, is practiced on frozen lakes and rivers. Another variation is the Whike, which combines land sailing with bicycling and can therefore also be used in everyday traffic because it does not fully depend on wind.
History
Sailing carriage
The earliest text describing the Chinese use of mounting masts and sails on large vehicles is the Book of the Golden Hall Master written by the Daoist scholar and crown prince Xiao Yi, who later became Emperor Yuan of Liang. He wrote that Gaocang Wushu invented a "wind-driven carriage" which was able to carry thirty people at once. There was another built in about 610 for the Emperor Yang of Sui, as described in the Continuation of the New Discourses on the Talk of the Times.European travelers from the 16th century onwards mentioned sailing carriages with surprise. In 1585, during the Chinese Ming Dynasty, Gonzales de Mendoza wrote that the Chinese had many coaches and wagons mounted with sails, and even depicted them in artwork of silk hanfu robes and on earthenware vessels. In the 1584 atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum written by the cartographer Abraham Ortelius, there are large Chinese carriages depicted with sails and masts. Likewise, there are the same Chinese vehicles with sails depicted in the Atlas of Gerardus Mercator, as well as the 1626 book Kingdome of China by John Speed. The English poet John Milton exemplified western interest in the Chinese sailing carriage when he mentioned it in a metaphor in his epic Paradise Lost, published in 1667.
In the 19th century, "windwagons" were occasionally used for transport across the American great plains. Rail-running sail cars were also used in South America. One such sailcar existed on the Dona Teresa Cristina Railroad in Santa Catarina, Brazil in the 1870s.
Early yachts
The precursor to the modern land yacht was invented in the summer of the year 1600 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. Louis Bleriot, the French aviation pioneer was instrumental in developing landsailing as a sport. It was viewed as an alternative sport when strong winds would have made flying in early aircraft too dangerous. Bleriot's landsailers were first tried on the Buc airstrip. Bleriot machines gave their best on Channel and North Sea wide and windy beaches at low tide. The Blériot firm coined the name "aéroplage" and even registered it as a trademark. The first races were held on the beaches of Belgium and France in 1909. Land yachts were also used in the late 19th century and early 20th century to transport goods on dry lakes in America.Modern yachts
The modern land yacht, a three-wheeled polyester/fibreglass and metal cart, often with a wing-mast and relatively rigid sails, has been used since 1960.In 1967, a French Foreign Legion officer organized a land yacht race across the Sahara Desert. Teams from 7 countries assembled at Colomb-Béchar in Algeria and using French-designed and built machines for the most part, sailed through Algeria, Spanish Morocco and into the capital of Mauritania. Due to the harsh conditions, the idea of racing was abandoned, though at the time three young American boatbuilders, Larry Pardey, Richard Arthur and Warren Zeibarth, were leading the race, with scores double those of any other team. The story made the cover of National Geographic in November 1967. A reenactment of this event took place three years later and was filmed by National Geographic.
Landsailing on Venus
In 2012, NASA scientist Geoffrey A. Landis proposed that a sail could be used for propulsion of a rover on Venus or other planets. According to Popular Mechanics, it is "an ambitious proposal to develop a rover that works with Venus's topography and winds.In 2017, Landis's work was the subject of the book Land-Sailing Venus Rover With NASA Inventor Geoffrey Landis, published by World Book publishing.
Speed record
The world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle was broken on 11 December 2022 by Emirates Team New Zealand with Australian Pilot Glenn Ashby with a speed of 222.43 km/h.It was previously held by Briton Richard Jenkins in his yacht Greenbird with a speed of 126.1 mph. Wind speeds were fluctuating between at that time.
The previous record of was set by American Bob Schumacher on March 20, 1999 piloting Iron Duck vehicle designed and engineered by American Bob Dill in Burlington, Vermont. Both records were set on Ivanpah Dry Lake near Primm, Nevada, United States.
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.
Classes
The international governing body for the sport of land and sandyachting was formed in 1962. The Federation International de Sand et Land Yachting has member countries from around the world and has divided the sporting side of the activity into various classes. 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. 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 of the large yacht designs, 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.
The Class 5 is much smaller than the 2 and 3, and has 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 carbon–Kevlar seat. Class 5 yachts are capable of reaching speeds up to, and some have been faster, closer to.
While Class 2, 3, and 5 yachts must meet certain strict guidelines, the specifications are flexible to an extent That allows individualism and development.
The "Standart" Class is unique in that it is the only recognised international monotype sand yacht with all yachts being identical. Similar to Class 5 in shape and function, they must follow a special design supplied by the French manufacturer Seagull. This class is widely popular because it means the outcome of a competition rests entirely with the pilot, as the yacht itself cannot provide an advantage or disadvantage.
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: kite buggying or parakarting, differ from other classes in that the sail is replaced with a large traction kite, usually flown on 20–40 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: the current speed record is by Brian Holgate on the 6th March 2012 at dry Ivanpah Lake, Nevada.
- freestyle where smaller, lighter machines perform freestyle tricks such as airs, spins, wheelies, reverse flying, etc.
- endurance or cruising: the 24-hour distance record is 623 km by New Zealander Peter Foulkes, where long distances are covered in trips lasting several days : Transat des Sables and Gobi Kite Buggy Challenge, or the Mad way south Sahara challenge, a 2200 km attempt to cross the desert.
The basic 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". Some designs of mini yachts can be dismantled and 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 popular in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland.
There are also a range of small miniyachts able to be packed into a case and carried in a car or as luggage on a plane. The New Zealand Blokart, UK X-sails, Potty, windbob and Spanish designs like Rinox and WinDreamer together with French and German miniyachts like those from the manufacturers Libre, Airtrack, Plume and Seagull all fall into this category and are small, fast and manoeuvrable and therefore able to be sailed in small urban areas. The hand steering versions allow disabled people to use them and compete with able-bodied competitors.