Land sailing (sand yachting)

Land sailing, also called land yachting or sand yachting, is a sport in which sail-powered wheeled vehicles are driven across stretches of open land, such as beaches and dry lake beds. Although initially (in the late nineteenth century) a system of cheap transportation for beach communities and then later a source of popular recreation for tourists, land sailing has emerged since the mid-1990s as a highly competitive racing sport with regular events and championship purses. The vehicles, known as land yachts or sand yachts, have three or four wheels (variants use skis or blades for operation on snow or ice) but otherwise are similar to sailboats, with designs depending on racing class and other factors. They are typically steered either by foot pedals or hand pedals. Because wind energy is environmentally friendly, there has been some exploration of wind-powered land vehicles for purposes other than racing and recreation.

Brief History

Although widely seen as a cutting-edge extreme sport, land sailing has deep roots. Ancient Egyptian tombs have revealed images of carts with sails. Further evidence comes from sixth century China, where preserved documents speak of wind-driven carriages able to carry as many as thirty passengers. Indeed, European travelers in the sixteenth century observed such sailing carriages, noting particularly their often ornate design with great attention to detail and flourishes.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries European countries, most notably the Netherlands with its broad stretches of lowlands, invested time and money into producing land yachts to help with the transportation of goods. The designs often drew on the tight clipped sails typical of Egyptian sailboats as a way to increase the speed and ease the navigation of the vehicles. Similarly, land yachts were used in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century and beyond, mainly for transporting goods and passengers, mainly in the Great Plains and other open areas as a way to challenge the railroads.

The use of land sailing vehicles for racing dates to around the turn of the twentieth century, when competitions were held along beaches in Belgium and northern France. The aviator Louis Blériot and the early automobile makers the Dumond brothers raced in land yachts in 1898, and further competitions followed in the next decade. The sport enjoyed a faddish popularity but was interrupted by the two world wars, which also saw motor engines become cheaper and more widespread. However, the development of reliable pneumatic tires during the era also enabled better land yacht designs. Land sailing slowly rose in popularity, with the abundance of unused airfields following World War II providing convenient venues for the sport.

Innovative marketing returned the land yacht to pop culture status: in 1967 investors organized a massive land yacht race across the entire Sahara Desert. Teams were organized from seven different countries. The race went 1,700 miles (2,700 km) beginning in Algeria and ending in Mauritania. The story of the great (and dangerous) race made international headlines in the sports world and was even featured on the cover of National Geographic in November 1967. By the late 1960s production-model land yachts were available in the United States, introducing innovations such as backward-angled (raked) masts, and the 1970s saw the development of designs that would remain standard frameworks into the twenty-first century. In 1971 another Sahara race was featured in a documentary filmed by National Geographic. The America’s Landsailing Cup was first held in 1974, and American enthusiasts began to organize alongside their more well-established European counterparts.

Overview

Land yachts used for sailing have, since the early 1960s, developed into finely honed, aerodynamically sound models. Most are three- or four-wheeled vehicles made of polyester or fiberglass. The vehicles have a single wing-mast with a sail that is fairly tight because, unlike water sailboats, these boats do not need to have the same maneuverability. The governing board for the sport, the International Land and Sandyachting Federation (FISLY), was formed in 1962 and has member countries from around the world. The organization sponsors a number of prestigious races and conducts a world championship competition. Land yacht competitions are conducted at suitable sites around the world, including the vast beaches of western Europe, New Zealand, and Brazil and the dry lake or desert surfaces in the United States, Argentina, Australia, and northern Africa.

The sporting side of land sailing is divided into classes by size of the boat. The largest class of yachts, known as Class 2, may have a sail, mast, and boom with a propulsive area of at least 8 square meters and no more than 11.3 square meters. This gives such vehicles tremendous speed, but that is often limited by the sheer size of vehicles in this class. Vehicles in Class 3, among the most popular of the larger yacht designs, are similar to Class 2 designs but smaller to optimize their speed. Class 5 land yachts are much smaller boats, and the pilot lies in a seat apart from the main chassis rather than inside it. Most larger designs are made from fiberglass and other lightweight materials such as carbon fiber, while smaller vehicles use more rigid metal construction, but there is much variation and customization. Indeed, restrictions on the designs of these classes of vehicles ranges considerably to encourage individual craftsmanship and ingenuity in design. A class known as Standart, by contrast, allows only yachts that are identical for each racer.

Apart from the competitive market, there are so-called mini yachts, which are small land yachts targeted as transportation convenience to the leisure class, like a bicycle or a motorcycle. These vehicles, however, are still fully recognized by FISLY. The mini yacht has increased in popularity as a small, light, and cheap alternative to larger land yachts that additionally is easy and safe to operate. They are more maneuverable than purely racing-focused models, which can easily reach 70 miles per hour (about 123 km/hr) in competition and have been recorded at speeds as fast as 126 miles per hour (about 203 km/hr).

Bibliography

Everett, Flic. "Land Yachting: Set Sail on Sand at Speed." Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 28 May 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2016.

FISLY. FISLY, 2016. Web. 30 Aug. 2016.

"Land Yachting." The Sports Book. London: DK, 2011. 437. Print.

Lennox, Graeme. "Ride Like the Wind." Sunday Times. Times Newspapers, 23 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Aug. 2016.

Levinson, David. Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport. Great Barrington: Berkshire, 2013. Print.

North American Land Sailing Association. NALSA, 4 July 2016. Web. 30 Aug. 2016.

Sagert, Kelly Boyer. Encyclopedia of Extreme Sports. Westport: Greenwood, 2009. Print.