recently Not so little stig had the run of my class 5 on the secret claypan for the day and the idea that she might want to sail her mini just isnt there any more. weve decided to convert my mini into a literacer. a minimum weight class 5 with a smaller rig and lighter wheels that is a very fast but stable platform. for me its a chance to try some new ideas and look back to s=ome past ones.
first stop is the wheels. this one will have 20" wheel sets on the rear . 20x2" rims for hard smooth ground, 
20x3"rims for walyungup and also to carry fat tyres if they ever get on the market( for sand)
a chance to try out a new carbon spoke set up . the crossed pattern is a 3 cross woven set up
the wheels are rather light with both of the 2" rims weighing a sniff under 1600gms. the 3" rims only are both under 2000gms
tomorrow i will pick up some galtube for the longer cranked axles.
with the drop in the exploration industry our supply of BQ core tube has dried up so these axles will be pipe 
.
not my first choice , as the bq is the secret weapon that wins me races. PS if anybody knows where there is a 20x3 fatti-o tyre in australia for sale there is a reward!
got to test the 20x75 rim with a 2.35 eclat tyre today .
bit of a slip up by me . i got to lefroy only to discover that i'd only brought 1 26" wheel ,but a pile of 20" to show sylk. i sailed with a 26 on 1 side and a 20 on the other. it was 4.6 weather so a great test for the wheel.
ground clearance was rather tight, but the lake was pretty forgiving
the big suprise,which i shouldnt ahve been suprised about was just how smoothly and quickly the yacht accelerated with the lighter wheel the wheel is half the weight , so when loadedis shot off. . with the wider rim I was running 25lbs ,and 30 in the 26. on the wet salt it lost traction , but on dry salt like last september it would have been great. with a light pilot it should be even better when a smaller rig is attached . what was really noticable was the lack of tread wear. the tyre looked new after 90 kms of testing
plenty of progress , as i had a saturday of my own to focus. axles all cut and welded stubs ground and welded. wheels test fitted. will focus on a seating horse setup so we can play with wood and glass over christmas
the frame is 200mm narrower than a five and 300mm shorter. this will make it lighter and probably mor manouverable.
the yacht will only be running rigs up to 4m, but still fit inside CL 5 rules.
almost 10 years ago i built a series of yachts for my kids. we called them a micro(became mini mini) too small to be taken seriously, a mini(same dimensions a a blowie, a midi, and a cl5. we settled on the mini dimensions so the club wouldnt get confused , but the midi was always a great performer with lighter pilots,and could give the cl5 yachts a run. this new yacht would fit in the midi .size.
bad day for mowing , great day for bulding yachts. got started on the pod. rather narrow as charlotte is still a skinny thing. 120mm wide at the bow
the rear has distinctive hollows for your arms, waterbottle and make up case. it should look alot rounder once the glassing happens. I wouldnt fit in this yacht. should start glassing tommorrow arvo
in case your wondering why she needs a new yacht. its cos she growing up fast
i have to wonder just how many of us team of 1990 pilots there are still in existence,that still fit thier race suits(just)
Select to expand quotelandyacht said.. its cos she growing up fast
you forgot to put "too" between up, and fast 
I have to admit though Paul - that 1990 suit looks much more civilised than your old super-landy lycra 
stephen
Select to expand quote
sn said...
I have to admit though Paul - that 1990 suit looks much more civilised than your old super-landy lycra
stephen
Boy do I certainly agree with that!!!!!!
Wayne "TP1" What were you thinking. 
Or were they to tight to think???
id forgotten about 'those suits'
i have disposed of alot of my mid chass ballast lately and fit in things that Id forgotten i still owned. A 1982 denim jacket worn to rose tattoo and angels concerts. still has $20 emergency pizza and condom money in the hidden pocket 
will dig out the bling SUITS for new years eve sail at lake . See you there chook?
pod coming along nicely. weather has got hot so we are having to glass at evening or early morning. just 1 joint and the top edge of the pod left to glass. it got some great curves for a plywood seat
huge push on new years eve and new years day to get the sanding and painting knocked over. we must have been having fun in the shed cos we had a light brekky the stopped for lunch at 4.00pm 
. by then we had sanded undercoated and final coated the lot and almost finished the assembly. gotta love hammertone paint. here it is ready to sail in anger. .we got the 3.1m rig set up from the stockpile of sails as the wind was looking cranky on the saturday
since lil stig is a skinny little thing we had room to find a more streamlined nose. steering goes over the top of the seat to save chopping hole
yacht named and ready to sail
The secret claypan was really ,really nice with what we call coffee clay. a hard glossy cappacino finish that thetyres squeel on when you sail. suspension on the front worked like a charm. staked 1 tyre erly on ,so we ran a 50mm rim witha maxxis miracle tyre . on clay they are a cracking good tyre and the yacht didnt break out or drift atall . no ggd in the soft though as you need to give them 40+ lbs to run them.
had some great runs against the CHARCOAL CHALLENGER.and greaves racings PORKA,
havent weighed up yet, but the yacht seemed to take everything we threw at it
Looks amazing, I like the finish you've given it.
I'm a little concerned at the strength of the pivot where the front main shaft meets the rear Y-assembly. I'm not a mechanical engineer but it seems to me that you've got a whole lot of leverage between the front wheel and that little bolt/pivot. Are you worried that giving it a heap of turning input when belting along at a fair clip, might twist the pivot off the main Y frame?
Or does the spring/damper system provide some lateral support?
All of this from an armchair expert, I'm sure you've added in a safety factor in there. Just interested to hear your thoughts.
Select to expand quotenebbian said..
Looks amazing, I like the finish you've given it.
I'm a little concerned at the strength of the pivot where the front main shaft meets the rear Y-assembly. I'm not a mechanical engineer but it seems to me that you've got a whole lot of leverage between the front wheel and that little bolt/pivot. Are you worried that giving it a heap of turning input when belting along at a fair clip, might twist the pivot off the main Y frame?
Or does the spring/damper system provide some lateral support?
All of this from an armchair expert, I'm sure you've added in a safety factor in there. Just interested to hear your thoughts.
Its stronger than you might expect. the rear of the arm is 6mm plate onto 2.5mm 30x30 RHS. where it connects to the round pipe is a 6mm plate.
when loaded and sailing , any shocks are absorbed by the shocky. it doesnt actually more alot, except in gusts when the loading causes the mast to stand up a couple of degrees , making the yacht point to windward. with the steering system we use , when you turn the arm actually tracks slightly into the turn, because the layover steering is really accurate and effective.
with the pilot in the right position there is only 4kg of load on the front whell when stationary. when sailing to windward it is possible to stick your arm out the back of the yacht(2 arms for charlotte) which lifts the front whell about 100mm off the ground and then sail using the wheel as an aeileron with the sheeting and arm movement. really great balance in the rig.
make sense?
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..nebbian said..
Looks amazing, I like the finish you've given it.
I'm a little concerned at the strength of the pivot where the front main shaft meets the rear Y-assembly. I'm not a mechanical engineer but it seems to me that you've got a whole lot of leverage between the front wheel and that little bolt/pivot. Are you worried that giving it a heap of turning input when belting along at a fair clip, might twist the pivot off the main Y frame?
Or does the spring/damper system provide some lateral support?
All of this from an armchair expert, I'm sure you've added in a safety factor in there. Just interested to hear your thoughts.
Its stronger than you might expect. the rear of the arm is 6mm plate onto 2.5mm 30x30 RHS. where it connects to the round pipe is a 6mm plate.
when loaded and sailing , any shocks are absorbed by the shocky. it doesnt actually more alot, except in gusts when the loading causes the mast to stand up a couple of degrees , making the yacht point to windward. with the steering system we use , when you turn the arm actually tracks slightly into the turn, because the layover steering is really accurate and effective.
with the pilot in the right position there is only 4kg of load on the front whell when stationary. when sailing to windward it is possible to stick your arm out the back of the yacht(2 arms for charlotte) which lifts the front whell about 100mm off the ground and then sail using the wheel as an aeileron with the sheeting and arm movement. really great balance in the rig.
make sense?
I wondered about that too but understand it better now What a great little yacht That mainsheet block mount in a front on collision would give me worries though
Do you think a full shoulder harness safety belt is in order there? Or am I missing something ?
what we are calling the sheeting horse(more like a girraffe) is actually higher than you might expect when the pilot is in. if you have a seatbelt on usually just above or slightly higher than the hips , its very difficult to lift upthe body anyway near the post. Ive done a full speed smack and stack in 3yachts with this set up without an issue. both our yachts have velcro'd on padding as well but thats to keep the sheetrope from tangling.
all this was to get the sheeting way back on the boom,2/3-3/4. it takes heaps of strain off the sheeting,and allows much lighter masts. we also have started fitting cam cleats to the yachts when sailing long legs on lefroy.
next time im rigged at the lake i'll get a better pic of the set up. its rather neat
Select to expand quoteChook2 said..
sn said...
I have to admit though Paul - that 1990 suit looks much more civilised than your old super-landy lycra
stephen
Boy do I certainly agree with that!!!!!!
Wayne "TP1" What were you thinking. Or were they to tight to think???
Just trying to blend into the salt! 
