Land sailing on the beaches of Quend, bay of Somme, France

Land sailing is motion across land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with (water) sailing. It has a variety of names in addition to land sailing, Most commonly Sand Yachting or Land Yachting. A vehicle used in land sailing is often called a land yacht. Historically, land sailing has been used by some cultures as a mode of transportation; in modern times, land sailing is primarily a sport and has been practiced as such mainly since the 1950s. Modern land sailors, generally referred to 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.

Land sailing works best in windy, flat areas - taking place mainly on beaches, air fields, and dry lakebeds (playas) in desert regions.

Land yachts are three wheeled vehicles which work mainly like usual water boats in the way they are sailed, except they are steered by pedals or hand levers. They are sailed from a lying down position.

Land Yacht Classes

A Belgian Class 3 competition land yacht in full action

Excluding Ice yachting, there are a number of basic types, or "classes" of Sand or Land Yacht. Because of the very different nature of each class, they compete separately in races.

The Largest is the Class 2, which can bear an 8 Metre mast. The massive sail area can provide more power than any other yacht, although their speed can sometimes be limited by their large size. These are sailed mainly in 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. They are generally made from fibreglass, sometimes with other 'high-tech' lightweight materials, such as Carbon Fibre, Kevlar and various composites, with a wooden rear axle. They are fully capable of reaching 70mph.

The class 5 is much smaller than the 3 and 2, and is a very different shape. The pilot still sails the yacht lying down, but unlike the 3 and 2 he lies in a seat, depending on the design, suspended or cantilevered from/off the chassis, rather than inside the body. The chassis are usually steel and aluminium with a fibreglass, or Carbon/Kelar 'seat' The widely claimed attainable speed in this class is 60mph. But some have been faster, 70ish.

The Standart Class is unique in that a requirement is that all yachts are identical. They are much like class 5 in design, although unlike any other class where design specifications are flexible to an extent, these are one-design supplied by french manufacturer, Seagull. This class is popular because it means the outcome of a competition is entirely with the pilot, as the yachts cannot give an advantage or disadvantage.

Parakarting, or kite buggying is classified as Class 8. Class 7 is similar to a skateboard with a sail like a landborne windsurfer. These are often not permitted as part of sand yacht clubs, and feature as more of a hobby than a full sporting aspect of land sailing.

In pop culture

Land sailing is featured in Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novel, Sahara.

History

Two land yachts designed by Simon Stevin for Prince Maurice of Orange on the beach of Scheveningen.

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

• Developed for Prince Maurice of Orange by 16th century Flemisch scientist Simon Stevin in Flanders. It was used for entertaining his guests.

• 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.

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 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.

• 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 Kilometres 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.

• The 2007 European Class 8 Championships are to be held at Pembrey in South Wales and will feature 100 of the worlds top race pilots. See the PKA website for more details.

European 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.^[1]. 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.

Land sailing Locations

• Hoylake, Wirral Peninsula^[2], UK
• Newborough, Anglesey, Wales, UK
• Greatstone beach, New Romney, Kent, UK
• Many beaches in England, France, and along the east side of the North Sea
• Many dry lakes in the western United States (Ivanpah, El Mirage and the Black Rock Desert^[3] are the most popular.)
• Beaches in New Zealand
• Salt pans and some beaches in Australia
• Beaches in Argentina
• Beaches and airfields in Lithuania

See also

• kite buggying
• Ice yachting
• kiteboarding
• land windsurfing

External links (by alpha)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Land sailing

• An Introduction to Land Sailing
• Anglia Land Yacht Club (UK) - a major club for land sailing and training; and one of the few based on an airfield circuit
• Atlantic Winds Adventure (Canada) - an equipment dealer in the Atlantic Canada region
• bloKart® (New Zealand) - maker of the popular, portable land yacht
• British Federation of Sand & Land Yacht Clubs (UK)
• Carmarthenshire Land Sailing Club (UK) - land sailing club sailing at the Cefn Sidan (Pembrey) and also Pendine beaches
• Carrovelismo.cl (South America) - information about land sailing in Chile and Argentina
• GoLandSailing.com (USA) - land sailing guide & outfitter service
• International Land and Sandyachting Federation
• Midstates Land Sailing Association (USA)
• NALSA (USA) - the North American Land Sailing Association
• Sailing Through School (USA) - a non-profit educational organization; sells radio-controlled land yachts & accessories
• Sea Quad (France) - maker of amphibious land yachts
• Wirral Sand Yacht Club (UK) - A major land sailing club in Britain (based at Hoylake); hosts of the 2007 European Championships

References