Written by Neil Bryant | December, 20, 2024
How to have fun with a sail and no water.
Old NWMA folks may remember a meeting when Tom Speers, if we recall correctly, gave a presentation about Land Sailors and had videos from Lake Alvord, (again as I recall, might have been some from Ivanpah.)
I remember most of the racers were slack jawed watching these “boats” gybing at speeds of up to and over 50 MPH and the sail angle changing less than 20 degrees! The sleek wing masted and other dirt yachts are amazing to see in person and even more fun to ride on!
Our adventure into this world was reignited a couple years ago. I stopped riding 2 wheeled motorcycles due to my low back injury getting worse again. I also missed sailing and racing. I was at the point Marty hates most, being between bikes, boats or projects and going down rabbit holes on the web researching my next passion. I learned about Blokarts and realized Ocean Shores wasn’t that far away. We tried to meet with the dealer up here, at that time, but family emergencies or fickle winds interfered and left us without an idea of what these karts were like.
We decided to move out to Aberdeen to retire and be closer to my Sis in Montesano. Being this much closer to the beaches rekindled my curiosity about the Blokarts and landsailors in general. I got in contact with the active PNW dealer and planned to meet at Long Beach. Steve Irby was wonderful to meet and very helpful. After a basic review I finally got to try my first beach sail. As expected I became hooked! Controls are simple and effective. We knew we were getting one.
A few weeks later, we packed up our trailer and went to meet a few folks at Sunset Beach in Oregon. This included Kite Buggies and Blokart sailors. I took delivery of a slightly used kart and 2 new sails plus various bits and pieces to fine tune and go faster! We both got some runs up and down the beach. Marty had test sailed at the first Demo, and also got a good run in here immediately getting the hang of it. I recorded over 34 mph on one run.
After getting home and adding some more bits for comfort, tall foot perch in particular, I went to Pacific Beach and had some great runs and have a couple videos. Pac beach is nice as it has facilities, is away from the crowds at Ocean Shores and non-motor vehicles during certain parts of the year so less crowded overall. Winds and a nice hard packed beach had me over 30 mph again easily. Great fun.
As we got a few more beach trips in with varying levels of success, love fickle winds and forecasts, I began to see in the online chats a few folks were starting to plan on going to Alvord in early October! The Playa is 12 x 7 miles of flat dry lakebed with somewhat predictable winds. We had to try it out.
So there we were are in between no and where. It’s slightly chilly at night and upper 70s to low 80s during the day with fine powdery dust EVERYWHERE! It was super windy and we heard we missed a pretty wild day Friday. (We were still enroute. Over 9 hours from Aberdeen. We took a break in Bend Oregon Friday night.) Saturday late afternoon and evening did not disappoint. It’s exhilarating to be blasting along for over a mile or 2 whooping it up with your new besties! Some flags were placed for mark roundings and folks were practicing technique. Right of way rules are quite similar to water sailing but it is a new level of pucker factor when approaching speeds can be 50 – 80+ mph!
The US major annual race is held at Ivanpah early March outside of Las Vegas between California and Nevada. A few hundred folks show up with all sorts of rigs to compete in many different classes. Anything from clever and crude homebuilt contraptions to brand name built boats like Manta (now Odessey,) and Blokart. I was particularly intrigued by the miniskeeters now, finally seeing them in person at Alvord. Approachable by a home builder and pretty stinking fast! The larger yachts are very sexy and approach ludicrous speed.
Like anytime you plan on sailing one must also plan on patience. Sunday didn’t look like we’d have much and a few sucker puffs came through. I found myself stuck about 8/10s of a mile from camp and walked back in. Later I realized my phone had dropped out of my pocket and as I looked at the vast playa I imagined some future archaeologist finding a fossilized rectangle, despite my later sailing around the suspected area searching, when the wind filled in. Fortunately, Marty was able to get a signal and I walked out at the angle we already suspected I had walked in from and luckily, due to a clever woman, the phone finally became visible. I had sailed around that area several times and didn’t see it. I also saw some other yacht tracks, one of which missed the phone by inches. As the late afternoon progressed some clouds came through and unstable air started to develop. Soon we had Sciroccos, Dust devils and Haboobs, and 180 degree wind shifts. Not dull.
The night sky is something to behold out here. As sailors who’ve enjoyed some clear moonless nights in the San Juans, we were looking forward to the desert sky, since it had been several years since we’ve seen the galaxy on sea or from land. Imagine our surprise the second night walking the dog and we saw quite a bit of light to the north interfering and we started to wonder if there was a town close enough to cause that. Then we recognized some patterns and flashes from a few weeks earlier and realized we lucked out to see a small Aurora Borealis event, this far South.
Videos and sailor stories do not do this sport full justice. As an ex-biker with fast track days, sports car TT champion, and multihull skipper, this sport holds a special appeal for me and is something I can still do bad back and all. Marty is also able to sail but currently her knee is making getting in and out tough, to be honest. (There are setups that allow easier ingress even for those paralyzed.)
Here are some pro/con comparisons from this old commadore’s view.
Seacraft Drycraft
Can actually use a boat to go somewhere. Beach, Playa, or ice with blades.
Saltwater permeates everything. Dust and sand permeates everything.
Expenses: buying, upkeep moorage. Cheaper start, low upkeep.
Can freeze your aft off in PNW Can sweat your aft off and freeze
Some boats need crew to sail It’s up to you
Licensing, insurance, mooring Whaaaat?
Breakdown/becalmed, motor in. becalmed, be friends with Ebike folks
I sometimes have wistful fantasies about boat sailing, conveniently forgetting bottom cleaning, bird poop and salt corrosion. If your heart starts to race watching the hydrofoil F50 cats you might be a land sailing candidate. There is a video of the Grand Prix crews racing in the Blokarts having a great time.
Links here.
https://www.nabsa.org/about-north-american-blokart-sailing-association
http://www.nalsa.org/Manta/MantaIndex.htm
https://www.facebook.com/groups/306325711835827
