Ships – Sail or control means therefor – Reefing and furling
Patent
1999-06-28
2000-07-04
Avila, Stephen
Ships
Sail or control means therefor
Reefing and furling
114107, B63H 904
Patent
active
060822821
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a rolling reef system for the mainsail of a sailing vessel, as indicated in the preamble to claim 1, and is known from EP-A-0 011 582.
A generally known method for reefing the mainsail involves the use of a so-called rolling reef boom, with which the mainsail is reefed by rotating the boom about its longitudinal axis, thus winding the mainsail about the boom. This method, however, has several drawbacks. On account of the bellied shape of the mainsail, a bulge is formed in the under leech of the mainsail as it is being wound around the boom, which makes it impossible or difficult for the under leech to be drawn taut. Besides the fore leech, since it has to be secured to the mast, comprises more material than the after leech, so that during wrapping a thicker wad of material is created at the front of the boom (near the mast) than at the rear, resulting in the boom sagging (drooping) at the rear. Due to these drawbacks, the rolling reef method has never been widely adopted in practice.
From EP-A-0 011582 a reefing system is known, in which the boom comprises a disc for rotating the boom. Along the mast a guiding element is arranged for guiding the fore leech of the main sail at some distance of the mast. The purpose of this arrangement is to keep the hinge portion of the boom adjacent to the mast free from the main sail when it is wound up on said boom.
The present invention aims to improve the method of rolling reefing to such an extent, that the drawbacks as outlined in the foregoing can be avoided in a simple and highly effective manner.
According to the present invention this aim is achieved by means of an improved rolling reef system.
The battens, co-operating with the disc mounted at the front end of the boom, ensure that the under leech of the mainsail is automatically drawn taut towards the rear when it is wound around the boom. Since the fore leech constitutes of a rope of relatively small diameter, which is guided in a guiding profile separately secured to the mast, the sagging or drooping of the boom is effectively prevented. Thus the proposed measures ensure together that the mainsail can be reefed quickly and easily by wrapping it around the boom, without any of the above mentioned problems occurring.
It has to be noticed that from FR-A-2 693 975 a reefing system is known, in which battens extend from the after leech up to the fore leech. The purpose of these battens is however to prevent the unwinding of the main sail and they are not intended for drawing taut the under leech in co-operation with an abutment such as the disc.
The invention will be elucidated in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 schematically represents a sailing vessel, equipped with a rolling reef system according to the present invention:
FIG. 2 schematically shows detail II from FIG. 1 on a larger scale; and
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section along line III--III in FIG. 2 on an even larger scale.
A sailing vessel is schematically represented in FIG. 1, which vessel comprises a mast 2, a boom 3 and a mainsail 4. In the usual manner, the mainsail has an after leech 5, a fore leech 6, which is connected to the mast 2 and an under leech 7 where the mainsail is connected to the boom 3.
Detail II from FIG. 1 is represented on a larger scale in FIG. 2. This figure shows a section of the mast 2 and the section of the boom 3 that is connected to this mast. The boom 3 is connected to the mast in the usual manner, such that it is rotatable about its centre axis 8 and swivellable about the mast 2. At the end of the boom adjacent to the mast a disc 9 is mounted, which extends coaxially to the centre axis 8, said disc having a significantly larger diameter than the boom itself. On its periphery, the disc 9 has a V-shaped groove through which a rope (not drawn) can be guided in order to effect the rotation of the boom 3 about its centre axis 8.
As is clearly visible in FIG. 1, a set of two battens 11, 12 has been provided in the mainsail, said battens extending p
REFERENCES:
patent: 3132620 (1964-05-01), Court
patent: 4324192 (1982-04-01), Ingouf
patent: 5632215 (1997-05-01), Moessnang et al.
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