Snowboard sailing anyone?
Paul Rybarczyk
I'm not interested in ice-boards so much (no good ice around here). I
would be more interested in some type of snow board that I could
attach a sail to and sail in any big flat snowy field (farm field, etc).
Do you know where you can buy these?
Any idea how much they cost?
Do they work very well?
How fast do they go?
Thanks for any info.
Paul.
________________________________________________________________________
| Paul R. Rybarczyk | pry...@heartland.bradley.edu |
|_____________________________|__________________________________________|
| HELP....I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP....AAUGH, AND I'M IN PEORIA... |
|________________________________________________________________________|
brun...@brunelle.crd.ge.com
>Has anyone out there tried snowboard sailing?
I built a contraption to attemp this a number of years ago. I took
a big old pair of downhill skis , and mounted a platform on them,
with the skis about 18 inches apart, and canted in toward the middle
at about a 20 degree angle each. The cant was to make sure the
edges made contact with the ground, so I could use it on ice, too.
The problem on snow was that the inertia to get going was too high.
I never tried the thing on packed powder, since its hard to find a
big open field of packed snow. On a good field of snow, in a 15 mph
breeze, the board just wouldn't get going with a 5.5 sail. On crusted
snow (like we get after a good thaw or rain, followed by a freeze), I
could get it going, but it was very scary, since it came to a dead stop
on pushing through the crust. Also, bailing out was scary, since you
don't slide across crusted snow---you fall through it, and it has
sharp edges.
On ice, the machine worked much better, and I could manage
jibes and tacks, and sail upwind. I think the devices using
skates would work much better, though, since their edges
would grip much better. The ski edges tended to slide
sideways across the ice.
Sorry I can't be more encouraging. We get a lot of snow, too,
and it would be great to keep in shape over the cold months.
The Alchemist
JU...@medcor.mcgill.ca
> Has anyone out there tried snowboard sailing?
>
> I'm not interested in ice-boards so much (no good ice around here). I
> would be more interested in some type of snow board that I could
> attach a sail to and sail in any big flat snowy field (farm field, etc).
I've sailed "Arctic Sail" sailboards on snow covered fields and frozen
lakes. These boards are about 8ft long, have a double-concave hull, and
steel runners along their rails - and no fin :-)
> Do you know where you can buy these?
>
> Any idea how much they cost?
I've only seen these board locally, in Quebec, Canada. You can pick
up a used one for around $50 can. (what is that now, about 2$ US :-)
> Do they work very well?
The main problem is rigging in -20C weather without freezing off your
fingers and cracking your sails, which tend to become very brittle at
low temperatures. We only rig our 10-yr-old sails that we never use
in the summer anyway. The boards themselves work fine.
> How fast do they go?
That depends on the surface - on packed powder, once you're planning
you can probably reach speeds similar to those you'd achieve on water.
On ice, it can get pretty scary (read: suicidal without a helmet).
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Paul.
Hope this helps. Given the choice, I'd rather sail on water any day,
but when you're desperate...
Julie
John D. Valois
of things. Can you jibe them like on the water ? How tight a turn
can they make ?
-John
--
--------------------------------------------------
John D. Valois (518) 276-4857
Computer Science Department val...@cs.rpi.edu
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180
Jonathan=Free%D...@bangate.compaq.com
were snowsailboarding at a trad. ski resort
Pearse Daniel David
>I really saw this on a Warren Miller film except they
>were snowsailboarding at a trad. ski resort
I have seen the same clip too.All the guy did was attach a
4m North Wave to a snowboard and board down the slope.I think it was just a
big gimmick though as the guy didn't look like he was under any power from
the sail. Every time he jumped the sail would backwind! I didn't see him try
to pull off any loops or anything.
Dan
Bradley Nowak
>Has anyone out there tried snowboard sailing?
yes
Buy the longest beat snowboard you can find. drill for your mast base
glue a some rubber on the deck I use 1/2 inch belting. I use 3 inch
fire hose for foot straps. take your snowboard an put golf spikes
or cork spikes on them preferabley the screw in type so you can still
use them to board.
I have tried a number of methods but it is not possible to jybe with
ordinary snowboard bindings, and some of the other methods that I used
too much snow built up on the deck.
the cork spikes make it easy to stay on the board while jybing.
to start flatten the snow for a takeoff and then you can fly, use a
larger sail than you figure you should and then trim or rig down to
adjust the fun factor.
>I'm not interested in ice-boards so much (no good ice around here). I
>would be more interested in some type of snow board that I could
>attach a sail to and sail in any big flat snowy field (farm field, etc).
>Do you know where you can buy these?
>Any idea how much they cost?
>Do they work very well?
much work has to be done, mostly technique.
>How fast do they go?
very.
>Thanks for any info.
>Paul.
> ________________________________________________________________________
>| Paul R. Rybarczyk | pry...@heartland.bradley.edu |
>|_____________________________|__________________________________________|
>| HELP....I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP....AAUGH, AND I'M IN PEORIA... |
>|________________________________________________________________________|
--
73
de VE7QBN
Brad Nowak