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11 October 2004 Dear Andrew, May I congratulate you on the amount of time and effort that you funnel into "Smooth Sailing". I recently spent time with my son Llew Barnard at Shashi in Botswana. Llew is well known to many catamaran sailors in South Africa particularly in the Dart and Hobie classes. Llew has built two land yachts and has become very involved with a group of 10 sailors who sail their craft at the Sowa Pan near Shashi. Another 2 craft should be taking to the "land" shortly and a great deal of interest by the locals may result in another 10 yachts being seen on the pans. Craig Harper is a most enthusiastic member of the group and seems to be the driving force behind the growth in the sport. The top speed attained to date is 55,5 kph. I could convert this to knots but kph seems more appropriate for this craft. The sails being used by these enthusiasts are cast-offs from normal yachts and sailboards and are too full in shape. The true speed potential of land yachts requires a very flat sail. The speed record for this type of craft is well over 150kph. Llew sailed his Dart cat on the Sowa pan after the summer rains in 2003.He also sails on the Shashi dam at times. The interest in the land yachts may result in quite a few of these sailors becoming interested in more conventional craft.
Regards and best wishes,
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