Power Kite Forum

Land Sailor vender at JIBE

acampbell - 8-5-2018 at 08:14 AM

Hey Gang

A couple of weeks ago I met up on Jekyll with Ismael of WindsAdventure out of Savannnah. Ismael is a US representative of the French company Seagull France, a producer of land sailors/ land yacht rigs.

These rigs are unique with a molded fiberglass belly pan/ seat, into which snap the rear fiberglass axles, front fork assembly and the mast/ boom rig. The whole rig, wheels axles and all, pops out of and stores into two easily carried custom bags.

I met up with Ismael on Jekyll on a day when winds were fresh from the north, skies cool and overcast and sands smoking (regular JIBE folks know that smoking sand = 20+ mph winds.) With a 3.5 meter sail, he was able to cut up the modest sized beach (1/2 tide) with great control and good upwind ability. I was recovering from a back injury and did not sail, but I enjoyed looking over the brilliantly clever rig .

Ismael will be down several times during the week of JIBE to show off his rigs. His knowledge and enthusiasm are infectious.

I hope you'll look forward to checking this out.

seagull2.jpg - 107kB

seagull1.jpg - 178kB

acampbell - 8-5-2018 at 08:29 AM

another pic from Ismael's file...

seagull3-001.jpg - 114kB

Windstruck - 8-5-2018 at 09:11 AM

That is a seriously cool looking ride! I love seeing innovative designs like this. There was a sizable investment made to the casting of that seat!

I'm intrigued by the bicycle pedals and old school toe clips on the front end. Are the two crank arms on their own respective ratchets? I'm imagining that when riding under wind power that you would ratchet each side to a position of comfort equidistant from your body and use then use your feet for steering like in a kite buggy. If the wind dies then you can pedal back to base camp, avoiding the dreaded Walk of Shame. Am I off base?

Curious how such a rig would hold up to high winds and fast runs on a hard playa like Ivanpah.

acampbell - 8-5-2018 at 10:04 AM

Good eye for catching those pedals; I meant to mention them. Ismael claimed that they are something of an experiment and agreed that they could be a problem in some conditions. Stock forks have standard foot pegs.

TEDWESLEY - 8-5-2018 at 02:02 PM

Looks like brake lever on one wheel as well.

Randy - 8-5-2018 at 02:04 PM

I like it! I'm hoping he makes one available for demo. Steve - regarding the seat: I think the mold was probably originally used as a toilet seat for a NBA or NFL locker rooms.

acampbell - 8-5-2018 at 03:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by TEDWESLEY  
Looks like brake lever on one wheel as well.


It is. Another aftermarket experiment

soliver - 8-5-2018 at 03:58 PM

Looks like the front end also has bicycle style pedals... assuming this gets you moving in a lack of wind???

Edit: should've read all of the above posts... I see now that Windstruck already inquired... my bad

mougl - 9-5-2018 at 10:00 AM

intrigued...