World Blokart Championships

Land Sailing (Blokarting)

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"All You Need to Know Is Whether It's Windy or Not."

- from Blokart's official Web site

Nobody likes an oxymoron. Low-sodium bacon? Working vacation? Hollywood marriage? Athlete scholar? In this sense, land sailing - despite having eight different size- and shape- classes (not to mention record speeds of 116.7 miles per hour) - can't compete with its easily assembled, inexpensive, and cleverly-named brethren, blokart, "the best toys on the planet." (Pronounce it "blow cart," and the name makes some sense.)

This wind-powered vehicle, invented by New Zealand's Paul Beckett, sails across the sand powered solely by wind. Three wheels support the cockpit, which is attached to the sail, and the driver steers with one hand and pulls the sail's sheet with the other. The easy-to-assemble-and-maneuver kart, weighing all of 65 pounds and transported in a bag (matching shoes, optional), is often seen careening about parking lots, beaches, and tennis courts from South Africa to Lithuania, from South Beach to Japan (not the same vehicle, of course).

The International Blokart Racing Association holds competitions around the globe, including the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain World Blokart Championships in New Zealand. Karting for fun, drivers may balance on two wheels or pull 360-degree turns; during races, however, blokarts reach top speeds of nearly 55 miles per hour. Race officials point out that the slowest recorded speed of a blokart is 0 miles per hour, in which case the vehicle could be called a slokart. And that, as we know, is an oxymoron, which no one likes.

Do you have two arms and weigh less than 265 pounds? You fit the blokart criteria! Check out www.blokart.com.

No Dribbling the Squid

World Blokart Championships Dates, Location and Further Information

The Blokart World Champs are a roaming event, sail on over to www.blokart.com for this year's dates and details.

More World Blokart Championships