Zenith Leisure Land Sailing
A Short History
The first recorded use of the wind to power a land vehicle can be found on the walls of an Egyptian tomb almost four thousand years old. Since then, all manner of craft have been designed in an attempt to provide a viable means of moving people and goods over land. The invention of the steam engine solved the problem of mass transportation but the potential for harnessing the wind to create sporting and leisure craft continued to be explored. The birth of the modern land yacht is generally thought to have taken place in Belgium around the turn of the 19th century. The Dumont brothers built a series of fast, light weight yachts between 1900 and 1910 and gave birth to sport of land sailing.
Land Yacht Saltburn Circa 1909
The Local Connection
The beach at De Panne is still the home of the Royal Sand Yacht Club, established in 1924, and is generally accepted to be the world first club. However, the Sand Sailing Club based at Saltburn, was established in May 1909 with the local MP, the Right Hon. Herbert Samuel serving as President. Although only short lived, this club does have a reasonable claim to being the worlds first land yacht club and puts Redcar and Cleveland firmly in the vanguard of land yacht development.
The beaches of Redcar and Saltburn continued to provide a valuable proving ground for developers of land yachts through out the last century. Races were held regularly and during the 1970's the Cleveland Land Yacht Club operated from Coatham and organised local and national regattas. Older members of the British land sailing community have fond memories of sailing at Redcar and, although no longer used for organised events, it is still considered to be one of the best land sailing venues in the country.
The Modern Age
The sport in this country is now governed by the British Landsailing Federation (formerly The British Federation of Sand & Land Yacht Clubs) commonly referred to as the Fed. One of the Feds stated aims is to widen the appeal of the sport. It will provide support to any organisation seeking to promote the sport of landsailing but does expect clubs and affiliated commercial operators to adhere to very strict safety rules. The Fed is supported by the Sports Council.
Competition is organised around several classes of yacht. All racing yachts are built from lightweight materials with technically advanced sails. They are potentially very fast and are strictly governed by the Federation. You must have a pilots licence issued by the Federation after a lengthy period of assessment before sailing yachts in Classes 2, 3, 5 and Standart.
Mini Yachts
However, the so called 'mini' yacht does not require this strict regulation. The inexpensive mini-yacht is the perfect introduction to land sailing. The characteristics of a 'mini' make it an ideal first yacht, but it will put a smile on the face of more experienced hands too. Just about anybody can learn to sail it and it is perfect for outdoor family-sport. The mini is simply constructed. A frame supports three wheels, a seat and a mast. The sail is fixed to a sectional mast (for easy packing), the boom controlled by a simple rope and pulley system. Steering is performed with the feet. With a minimum of parts and simple construction, the craft is designed to provide a lifetime of land sailing pleasure with quick and easy maintenance. They are widely used by clubs and the country's few commercial operators like Zenith Leisure to give people their first experience of landsailing.
Zenith Leisure conduct Landsailing in various locations around the North East so please contact us for individual or group bookings.
