LY Manual

14
13
Operating Notes from the Designer
A land yacht is not a sail boat on wheels. There is never a situation where a land yacht
will travel straight down wind (Running before the wind). Running a land yacht
straight down wind is used to slow the yacht down. Therefore a 90 degree boom
angle to the hull is not necessary. In most cases you will not sheet out more than the
center position of the trigger on your transmitter. Since a land yacht travels several
times the actual wind velocity the apparent wind is always in an angle coming from the
front of the yacht.
In other words the land yacht runs off of the lift of an airfoil (the sail) instead of the
force (push) of the wind. This also means that you can save a model from capsizing
(tipping over) by quickly turning down wind, yes DOWN WIND, while sheeting out
(releasing the trigger) at the same time.
Find an open area, like parking lot or school yard. During the cold season, beach
parking lots are usually wide open with a steady onshore breeze. Look for obstruc-
tions, like buildings, trees or cars, which could interfere with a steady flow of wind
Often it feels like obstructions on the ground have magnets in it which seem to pull
on models. Parking lot bumpers and cement pillars are not very forgiving The bigger
and flatter the area the better. 100ft x 100ft (30m x 30m) is a good start Tennis
courts without the net are a good example. Try not to start out at wind velocities
over 8-10 MPH A good way to practice is to put two markers about 60-80 feet apart
on a reach/reach course. (90 degrees to wind direction) Light weight soccer cones
are a good example for markers. If you hit them they get pushed away instead of
damaging your model. Position yourself to one cone. Race the model from cone to
cone, making sure the upwind turn is close to you, this way you don't have to walk
too far when you stall the model Straight into the wind Always take the turns wide to
keep up the boat speed Also practice to run the model in straight lines and use the
main sheet control as little as possible. First time pilots tend to make erratic maneu-
vers.....Not good for winning races
Since a Land Yacht is not a sail boat on wheels, as mentioned before, you therefore
will not get the model going facing straight down wind in most cases. Once you feel
comfortable with the controls set up triangle, or upwind /downwind courses Good
practice is achieved running a figure 8 course, as long as there is only one boat on
the course.
Don't forget to turn on the receiver, before releasing the model, you may not be able
to catch it.
It is easy to learn the basics about Land Sailing and after a short time
you think you did it all your life. The nice part is, we walk on the surface we sail on.
For the advanced land sailor, please read on in the "Run, don't pinch" section.
Happy Land Sailing
You are approaching the up wind marker and getting ready to make a turn leaving the
marker at your port (left) side. Remember you are not pinching so the marker is way off
to your left. Since you are up high enough you gradually fall off to the left and lightly(!)
ease off on your main sheet to allow a little pocket in your sail/mast
At one point the actual wind will be at a 90 Degree angle to your boat which most likely
will cause the starboard rear wheel to lift off the ground. Now don't panic! Depending
on the wind velocity this will be a gradual hike and hang on to your main sheet. As you
fall off further the centrifugal force of the turn will force the windward wheel back down
causing a sling-shot effect accelerating the boat to give you enough apparent wind to
continue on a downwind tack with a close hauled rig.
Close monitoring of your wind indicator in front of the mast is very helpful.
The other reason you accelerate up to 3 times the actual wind speed is that in the
moment the windward wheel touches back on the ground you no longer have the drag
of the actual wind "flying" only off the apparent wind
As I mentioned before there is a fine line to observe. If you fall off to much and go
straight down wind you will eventually stall and stop, watching the other boats blast by,
losing your hard earned position on the upwind leg. Should this happen, point your boat
further up wind or gibe in time to keep your boat speed up. As you accelerate you
gradually are able to point more downwind again.
Sailing the Bat-1