Ships – Sail or control means therefor – Specific sail structure or arrangement
Patent
1989-10-20
1991-12-31
Basinger, Sherman
Ships
Sail or control means therefor
Specific sail structure or arrangement
114 391, 114103, B63H 906
Patent
active
050761862
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns the field of construction of sailing boats, and has as an object a sailboat provided with an anti-heeling and support device.
At present, with conventional sailboats of the single hull or multi-hull type, the aerodynamic thrust of the wind on the sails is substantially normal to these latter and generally strongly oblique with respect to the axis of the boat, such that there is created a very substantial leeward heeling torque, which must be offset by a restoring torque generated by the weight forces, including the weight of the boat, the weight of the keel, which is often very heavy, and the weight of the passengers, who are sometimes positioned for purposes of adjustment. Under the action of these different weights and the vertical component of the aerodynamic thrust on the sails, the hull or hulls have a tendency to become submerged in the water, such that in any event a significant volume of the boat is submerged, resulting in a hydrodynamic drag exerting the principal braking action on the advancement of the boat.
Moreover, any increase of the aerodynamic thrust results in a corresponding increase in the speed and requires to increase in a corresponding manner the weight of antiheeling ballast. An increase of the hydrodynamic drag thus occurs for two reasons, namely, because of the increase of speed, and because of the increase of the submerged volume, whereby the actual gain in speed of movement is relatively slight in comparison to the increase in aerodynamic thrust.
To overcome these disadvantages, it has been proposed to replace the sails typically fixed to the mast of sailboats with riggings in the form of wings mounted at the head of the mast and maneuverable from the deck by means of ropes. These riggings have as their object to assure simultaneously the propulsion and to act on the heeling of a boat and thus to limit the weight of the keel, but effect a concentration of the forces acting on the mast at the head of this latter, such that its section must be maintained very strong, especially at the level of its attachment to the deck.
Moreover, these riggings do not permit reducing in any significant way the volume of the submerged volume and the hydrodynamic drag.
The present invention has as an object to overcome all these disadvantages by providing a nearly complete elimination of the submerged keel volume, and thus of the drag, while compensating the heeling torque so as to effect a considerable lightening of the sailboat, which may thus move at a high speed by gliding on the surface or above the surface of the water, according to the force of the wind.
Specifically, it has as an object a single hull or multi-hull sailboat provided with at least one mast for securing one or several sails, a centerboard and a rudder, characterized in that it is provided with an anti-heeling and support device connected at the head of the mast for limited pivotal movement about this latter.
The invention will be better understood thanks to the following description, which refers to preferred embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, and explained with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a sailboat according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the sailboat according to FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 of a different embodiment of the invention, and
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the sailboat according to FIG. 3.
According to the invention, and as is more particularly shown by way of example in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, the sailboat, of the catamaran type, which is provided with a mast 1 for fixation of one or several sails 2, a centerboard or drop-keel 3 and a rudder 4, is provided with an anti-heeling and support device 5 connected at the head of the mast 1 for limited pivotal movement about this latter.
The anti-heeling and support device 5 is advantageously constituted in the form of a wing connected to the head of the mast 1 by means of an arm
REFERENCES:
patent: 2858788 (1958-11-01), Lyman
patent: 3593684 (1971-07-01), Cogliano
patent: 3720180 (1973-03-01), Stangeland
patent: 3884172 (1975-05-01), Takahashi
patent: 4027614 (1977-06-01), Jones
patent: 4563970 (1986-01-01), Walker
patent: 4610212 (1986-09-01), Petrovich
patent: 4674427 (1987-06-01), Finot
patent: 4788924 (1988-12-01), Hamel
patent: 4852507 (1989-08-01), Ryan et al.
Basinger Sherman
Braham Thomas J.
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