A vessel is provided with a mast, sail, and halyard for hoisting the sail. The sail includes dollies configured to be movable along the mast. The mast includes a guide member, the guide dollies configured to cooperate with said guide member, wherein the sail includes rigid panels, articulated two by two; the mast is equipped with a transit part positioned at the end of the guide member, which has a flared lower portion and is open at its opposite ends, wherein during hoisting of the sail, each dolly is received in the transit part and is guided along to leave it through its upper opening and cooperate with the guide member, while during its lowering, each dolly is disengaged from the guide member, is received in the transit part, moves along it, and escapes from it by following the movement of the portion of the sail with which it is integral.

One embodiment of a deployable reversible camber sail system, based on a deployable shell (58) contained within a mast-sail assembly (11, 12) and supported and controlled by additional assemblies (13-15), is disclosed. The embodiment may be easily and quickly configured into the furled, feathered, port tack and starboard tack sail forms. In addition, this embodiment represents a highly efficient sail module which may be controlled by a single human operator or automated computer-based control system. Additional embodiments, utilizing assemblages of the first embodiment sail system module, are described.

A ship-mounted auxiliary sail system featuring a plurality of sail units mountable and movable about the ship on a rail system. The sail units can have automatic reefing safety features and/or automatic mast release safety features.

The invention relates to a sailing rig system (SRS) for a sailing ship comprising one or more airfoil sails comprising one or more sail defining frames including at least three airfoil sail shape-defining edges and/or at least three airfoil sail shape-defining corners. The sail may be controllable, rotatable, pivotable, trimmable, reefable, stowable, slidable, windable, guidable, coaxial, weathervaning, wind/sun tracking, freestanding; it may provide cambering, reinforcing, sealing, boundary layer control, shielding means, sections and connections and it may be transparent. The frame may be a closable/deployable rotor sail frame. The frame may include rig components and the SRS may further comprise vertical/oblique/horizontal spars coupled with spar couplings. It may further comprise lateral, fore-and-aft, superposed sails, actuators, power generators, power sources, thermal management systems, defined rotor sails. It may provide sail twist. It may be coupled with a sailing ship with defined ship couplings. A sailing method is proposed.

A propulsion system for a boat comprises a plurality of aerofoils connected to a main mast. At least one of the aerofoils is a displaceable aerofoil adapted to be displaced along the main mast between an open position and a closed position. When the displaceable aerofoil is in its open position the aerofoils together form a sail of open sail area. When the displaceable aerofoil is in its closed position at least some of the aerofoils overlap to form a sail of closed sail area, the closed sail area being less than the open sail area. The propulsion system can include a displacement mechanism to displace the displaceable aerofoil between its open and closed positions; at least one of the aerofoils having a solar panel thereon; and/or a stub mast extending along and free to rotate about a stub axis and connected to the main mast by a stub pivot.

A five-device-in-one water-and-leaf-separating leaf-filtering water-collecting wind-blocking wind-redirecting marine-yacht-land-yacht-balcony-bumper-and-trailer-hitch-mountable sail comprises: a central-sail intersector; central-sail-supporting ribs; central-sail-rib-raising arms; an adjustable water-and-leaf-separating leaf-filtering central sail attached to the central-sail-supporting ribs for functioning as a water diverting device to predeterminately redirect the flow of water, functioning as a leaf filtering device to filter leaves from rain water when used upside down, functioning as a water collector to collect rain water when used upside down, functioning as a wind blocker to block wind, functioning as a privacy screen to provide privacy, functioning as an awning to angledly block rain and sun beams, functioning as a canopy to vertically block rain and sun beams, functioning as a wind redirector to redirect wind in and out of sail, and functioning as a sail-steering wind-powered device to steer the sail in multiple different directions; a ring-sail-rib intersector; primary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs for resisting bending and warping due to heavy winds, providing reinforced infrastructure for a sail when used on a wind-powered land vehicle, providing reinforced infrastructure for an emergency rainwater collecting device on a marine vessel, and providing reinforced infrastructure for a shade canopy; secondary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs for resisting bending and warping due to heavy winds, providing reinforced infrastructure for a sail when used on a wind-powered land vehicle, providing reinforced infrastructure for an emergency rainwater collecting device on a marine vessel, and providing reinforced infrastructure for a shade canopy; multi-rib-connecting automatically-centered-and-reinforced adjustable cores inserted into and screwed to the primary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs and the secondary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs, the multi-rib-connecting automatically-centered-and-reinforced adjustable cores for allowing manufacturers to shorten long ribs into the primary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs and the secondary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs to reduce the length and volume of the shipping package of the five-device-in-one water-and-leaf-separating leaf-filtering water-collecting wind-blocking wind-redirecting marine-yacht-land-yacht-balcony-bumper-and-trailer-hitch-mountable sail in a shipping container to save money from expensive shipping costs, and securely and reinforcingly connecting the primary automatically-centered-and-reinforced ribs to the secondary autom

A propulsion system for a boat comprises a plurality of aerofoils connected to a main mast. At least one of the aerofoils is a displaceable aerofoil adapted to be displaced along the main mast between an open position and a closed position. When the displaceable aerofoil is in its open position the aerofoils together form a sail of open sail area. When the displaceable aerofoil is in its closed position at least some of the aerofoils overlap to form a sail of closed sail area, the closed sail area being less than the open sail area. The propulsion system can include a displacement mechanism to displace the displaceable aerofoil between its open and closed positions; at least one of the aerofoils having a solar panel thereon; and/or a stub mast extending along and free to rotate about a stub axis and; connected to the main mast by a stub pivot.

A sail includes at least three sides, namely two longitudinal sides respectively called luff and leach, as well as a lower transverse side called foot consisting of an assembly of panels having transverse edges parallel to the foot and longitudinal edges parallel to the luff and the leach, each panel being hinged to the adjoining panel around an axis parallel to the foot. Each of the panels includes reinforcing elements distributed into the two following groups: (a) a first group in which they extend parallel and in proximity to said transverse edges, and (b) a second group in which they extend parallel and in proximity to the longitudinal edges of the panel. They are connected two by two by connection parts in the continuation of the reinforcing elements of the second group, so that the forces assumed by the reinforcing elements are transmitted longitudinally from one panel to another.

A method and a spinnaker launching and/or recovering system releasably attachable to the deck or integrated on the deck or into the hull of the sailboat for launching and/or recovering a spinnaker. The spinnaker setting and/or recovering system has a first spinnaker guide member, which is attachable, e.g., to the bow, a bowsprit or is built into the deck near the bow with an opening through which the tack line and/or a retrieval line attached to the clew corner or to the lower luff of an asymmetric spinnaker or retrieval lines attached to the tack corner and the clew corner or to the lower luff of a symmetric spinnaker. Running with the asymmetric spinnaker, tack corner may be taken forward by a second tack line operated from the cockpit. The first and second spinnaker guide members may be connected by a sleeve, e.g., made of textile, or a solid material.

A sail includes at least three sides, namely two longitudinal sides respectively called luff and leach, as well as a lower transverse side called foot consisting of an assembly of panels having transverse edges parallel to the foot and longitudinal edges parallel to the luff and the leach, each panel being hinged to the adjoining panel around an axis parallel to the foot. Each of the panels includes reinforcing elements distributed into the two following groups: (a) a first group in which they extend parallel and in proximity to said transverse edges, and (b) a second group in which they extend parallel and in proximity to the longitudinal edges of the panel. They are connected two by two by connection parts in the continuation of the reinforcing elements of the second group, so that the forces assumed by the reinforcing elements are transmitted longitudinally from one panel to another.