Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How do I get started?
2. Where can I find a yacht ?
3. How do they go faster than the wind?
4. How fast do landyachts go?
5. How Dangerous is it?
6. Where do people sail?
7) How Hard is it to learn?
8) How do they stop?
 
 

1. How do I get started?
The easiest way is to attend an event.  Local events are generally better as they are more relaxed although any event will do.  See the listing of local clubs and contact someone near you or check the EVENTS page. You will find that landsailors love to talk about the sport.

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2. Where can I find a yacht ?
Start with the For-Sale/Supplier listing and links on the site.
A closely related question is: what yacht to start with?  If you have never land sailed before, a Manta Twin is an excellent choice for dry lake sailing.  They are relatively inexpensive, are easy to manage and there is an excellent one design racing fleet.  They are not the highest performance yacht around but they are the most popular and are lots of fun.  In the last couple years, several very small yachts that have been developed commercially.  They are generally 'trunk portable' and are marketed for sailing on sand,  grass,  parking lots as well as dry lakes.  We are just starting to see them at NALSA events, so it is too early to comment on their racing performance.  As we observed in the high winds of the 2003 Americas Cup, some of them handle high wind better than others.

In general, it will be well worth your time to talk at some length to landsailors in your area. It is a lot easier to sail together if you are all sailing similar yachts. 

If you are want to build a yacht, it is fairly easy to make a boat that will sail reasonably well.  Landyachts are a great platform for trying sailing concepts.  There is a long tradition of rather unconventional designs in the sport. 

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3) How much faster than the wind can they sail and how do they do it?
Many sail boats are capable of going faster than the wind.  Iceboats can go up to about 8 times the wind speed on perfect ice in light winds.  Land yachts are capable of 5 times the wind speed in light, steady winds. High performance catamarans are capable of about twice the wind speed. As the true wind increases the ratio of boat speed to wind speed goes down.  In 30 mph winds the fastest raceboats are typically sailing off the wind at 2.5 to 3 times the wind speed.

The slowest point of sail for a landyacht is dead down wind when it sails a little slower than the wind speed.  By sailing at 45 degrees off directly down wind the yacht can sail much faster than the wind.  The  'velocity made good' down wind is often over twice as fast as sailing directly down wind.    In moderate wind, the fastest point of sail is a little below a beam reach.
Going at approximately a right angle to the wind allows the wind to ‘squeeze’ the boat between the wind and the ice/ground/water much like a wet watermelon seed between your fingers.  The boat accelerates until its drag equals the drive provided by the wind.   For boats without much drag, that is a fairly high speed.

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4) How Fast can landyachts go?
Obviously this depends a lot on the boat and less than you might think on the amount of wind.  Landyachts and Iceboats have a 'terminal' speed.  Most racing boats are not much faster in a 30 mph wind than they are in 18. It just feels a LOT faster because the boat is much harder to handle.  The reasonable top speed of a boat like a Manta is a bit over 50 mph although they usually are not sailed much over 40.  A fast racing boat in a lot of wind will go 70 or 80 mph.  The fastest race boats can go a little over 100 mph in a 30 mph wind.   For purpose built speed boats, the Greenbird currently holds the record at 126.2 mph.  This done in a wind of approximately 30 mph.  There is information on speed sailing elsewhere on this site.

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5. How Dangerous is it?
Obviously anything that is capable of going 50+ mph has significant potential for being dangerous.  Like many sports, there is no organized effort to gather accident data on land sailing.   There are a few hundred people  landsailing in North America.  There has been one fatality that I know of over the last 20 years (boat-motorcycle). I know of a few relatively minor injuries and a number of close calls. This is far from enough data to make any definitive statements about accident rates.
The risk level is very dependent on the knowledge, skill and judgment of sailors.  As you start into the sport, stay with an easy to manage yacht, light winds and a well controlled, obstruction free sailing area.  Learn from experienced sailors.  Make sure your skills are up to more challenging conditions before you go out in them.  Most of all, use your head, it is by far your most important piece of safety equipment.  Not using it properly is the source of most mishaps.

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6) Where to sail?
In the US we sail mostly on dry lakes in Southeastern California,  Nevada and southeastern Oregon. These playas are some of the best land sailing venues in the world, combining an excellent sailing surface and a reasonable proximity to civilization.  In Europe and New Zealand they sail on beaches.  In Australia they sail on both playas and beaches.  In the US we do not sail on salt because, with the exception of Bonniville, it tends to be soft and muddy.  Bonniville has harder salt but it has to be rolled to make it smooth enough.
Some places not to sail are roads (even without cars, they are too narrow), parking lots (these boats go too fast and require too much room to stop), and beaches with people, pets or cars on them (it is too easy to run into someone).

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7) How easy is it to learn?
In light winds on a large, hard surface landyachts are very easy to learn to sail.  There are far fewer things to deal with than a normal sail boat: just a mainsheet to trim the sail and foot steering.  When the wind picks up the boat gets to be a handful and more experience is required.  Tacking down wind is hard to master, especially in light winds when it is easy to stall the sail.  Racing is what sorts out the good sailors from the great ones.  The best sailors typically have years of experience, often on both the water and dirt.

8) Stopping
Dirt boats generally do not have a break for anything more than parking the boat.  Like any proper sail boat they slow down by heading up into the wind.  Just remember to leave enough room.  Generally it is a good idea to stop outside of camp and walk the boat in.   Some small boats can be slowed from moderate speeds by dragging your feet in a specific and controlled way (if not done properly and carefully your foot can get run over by the boat possibly resulting in a broken ankle).  Boats with wings can stop by back winding the wing.