Homemade Skateboard Sail
An hour or two is enough to make a handheld skateboard sail. The main issue is the material--plastic or cloth. Plastic sails are cheaper and easier to assemble, but they don't capture the wind as well as the cloth ones. The other issue is color. If you choose a plastic sail, it will take more time to paint it than to assemble it. Sail cloths have predefined colors. Use painting kits for plastic if you wish to dye your sail. Don't paint the cloth sail.
Things You'll Need
- Skateboard
- 2 4 1/2-foot long 1 1/2-inch PVC pipes
- 2 3-foot long 1-inch PVC pipes
- Connector
- Meter
- Pencil
- Scribing knife
- 9-foot by 6-foot plastic sheet/sail material
- Duct tape
- Scissors
- Needle and string
Instructions
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1
Find a large room or spot in your backyard with lots of space.
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2
Assemble the PVC pipes with connectors. Join two 3-foot long 1 1/2-inch PVC pipes. This is the horizontal part of the batten. Join two 4 1/2-foot long 1-inch PVC pipes with connectors. This is the vertical part of the batten. The horizontal pipe should be attached at 90 degrees at the height of 6 feet on the vertical pipe. The horizontal pipe should stretch 3 feet on both sides and vertical--6 feet downward and 3 feet upward.
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3
Assemble the sail. Put a 9-foot by 6-foot plastic sheet on the ground. Put the assembled pipes on the sheet and draw the shape of the sail: from the vertical pipe's top to left and right ends of the horizontal pipes and from the vertical pipe's bottom to left and right ends of the horizontal pipe. Cut the sheet with a scribing knife. It should be a geometric rhomboid, 9 feet high and 6 feet wide. Fasten the sheet to the pipes with duct tape. If you are using a cloth, cut it with scissors to fit the pipes and tailor the margin with needle and string. Use strings of similar color. Spread the cloth across the pipes and fasten it with duct tape.
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4
Paint the plastic sail (optional) using a paintbrush and a painting kit. Leave it 24 hours to dry.
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5
Hold the sail with both hands and go skate sailing.
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1
Tips & Warnings
You can use wooden sticks instead of PVC pipes. To make the base, use two 9-inch by 9-inch long sticks. Join them with hammer and nails, as in Step 2. Note that a wooden base is more likely to shatter than the PVC base.
Commonly used materials for a sail are tyvek (registered trademark), canvas tarps and polytarps. Tyvek is made of polyethylene and is hard to tear. It's always white. Canvas tarps may come in different colors. They are strong but they stretch easily. Polytarp is fairly strong but it degrades in sunlight. It is usually blue or silver.
Dimensions given in the article are for midsize and street skateboards. Adjust the sail size for other dimensions.
