Land sailing
They typically have three (sometimes four) wheels and function much like a sailboat, except that they are operated from a sitting or lying position and steered by pedals or hand levers.
Land sailing works best in windy flat areas, and races often happen on beaches, airfields, and dry lake beds in desert regions.
The earliest text describing the Chinese use of mounting masts and sails on large vehicles is the Book of the Golden Hall Master written by the Daoist scholar and crown prince Xiao Yi, who later became Emperor Yuan of Liang (r. 552–554 AD).
[4] In the 1584 atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum written by the cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598), there are large Chinese carriages depicted with sails and masts.
[5] Likewise, there are the same Chinese vehicles with sails depicted in the Atlas of Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594), as well as the 1626 book Kingdome of China by John Speed.
[5] The English poet John Milton (1608–1674) exemplified western interest in the Chinese sailing carriage when he mentioned it in a metaphor in his epic Paradise Lost, published in 1667.
[7] The precursor to the modern land yacht was invented in the summer of the year 1600 by the Flemish scientist Simon Stevin in Flanders as a commission for Prince Maurice of Orange.
In 1898, the Dumont brothers of De Panne, Belgium, developed a land yacht whose sails were based on contemporary Egyptian sailboats used on the Nile River.
Bleriot machines gave their best on Channel and North Sea wide and windy beaches at low tide (Calais, Hardelot, La Panne, Quend, Audresselles etc.).
[18] A previous attempt at the record by Britons Dale Vince and Richard Jenkins at Lake Lefroy in Western Australia in their carbon-neutral vehicle, Greenbird, failed on 12 September 2008.
The Federation International de Sand et Land Yachting (FISLY) has member countries from around the world and has divided the sporting side of the activity into various classes.
The massive sail area provides significant power, although the speed of Class 2 yachts can sometimes be limited by their large size.
Class 3 yachts are generally made from fiberglass, sometimes in combination with other high-tech lightweight materials, such as carbon fibre, Kevlar, or various composites, with a wooden rear axle.
This class is widely popular because it means the outcome of a competition rests entirely with the pilot, as the yacht itself cannot provide an advantage or disadvantage.
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.
[25] Rada Tilly hosted the World Championship XI in February 2008, an event that was first developed in Argentina and in South America.
Attendees included local politicians Esther McVey and Stephen Hesford, alongside the Mayor of Wirral, the Head of the International Governing body for Sandyachting, and some of the 150 competitors from Argentina, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden Italy, Ireland, Chile, Denmark, US, Australia and the UK.
In July 2014, the FISLY Landyachting World Championships were organised by the North American Land Sailing Associations (NALSA) and its President Dennis Bassano on the remote dry lake of Smith Creek in Central Nevada.
Over 400 people from 16 countries spent a week based on the remote lake bed at 6300 ft, where many of the "legends" of the sport including the current world speed record holder Richard Jenkins had gathered.
Double Olympic gold medal sailor Shirley Robertson participated in the championship, accompanied by a film crew from the CNN Mainsail programme who produced a TV record of the event.
After devoting 10 years to the project, British engineer Richard Jenkins broke the land speed record for a wind-powered craft.
Blokart racing is held on purpose built tracks, airport runways, parking areas as well as beaches and dry lake beds.
