Articulating Bowsprit

Abstract

The articulating bowsprit permits deployment of sails from a point forward of the bow on sailing vessels. The unique characteristics include: simple installation and removal for stowage, high degree of flexibility for optimal point of attachment including deck or side mounting, ability for fixed length or telescoping configurations, horizontal support of bowsprit with deck mounting brackets, and pinned connections at each end which eliminates torque.

Claims

1. An articulating bowsprit comprising two connector tubes wherein each connector tube has a front end and a rear end, the connector tubes attached by a hinged connection at their front ends and wherein each connector tube is attached at its rear end to the bow of a sailing vessel such that the connector tubes create a triangular truss, wherein the primary function of the triangular truss is to extend a tack of a foresail forward of the bow.

2. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the rear ends of the connector tubes are attached to the bow by pinned connections, wherein the pinned connections prevent the connector tubes from being subjected to torsional loads.

3. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the hinge connection at the front ends of the connector tubes, allows variability of an angle between the tubes.

4. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the bowsprit can be placed at an optimal location for installation by altering the angle of the tubes.

5. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the rear ends of the connector tubes of the bowsprit are attached to mounting brackets attached to the bow.

6. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the bowsprit can be completely collapsed and folded for compact stowage.

7. The articulating bowsprit of claim 5, wherein the mounting brackets are deck mounting brackets and the rear ends of the connector tubes are pivotally attached to the deck mounting brackets.

8. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the connector tubes are configured as fixed length tubes.

9. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, wherein the connector tubes are configured as adjustable length tubes.

10. The articulating bowsprit of claim 9, wherein the adjustable length connector tubes are telescoping tubes.

11. The articulating bowsprit of claim 5, wherein the mounting brackets are side mounting brackets and the rear ends of the connector tubes are pivotally attached to the side mounting brackets.

12. The articulating bowsprit of claim 1, further including a bobstay attached to the hinged connection of the bowsprit and the bow of the sailing vessel.

13. An articulating bowsprit comprising two connector tubes wherein each connector tube has a front end and a rear end, the connector tubes attached by a hinged connection at their front ends and wherein each connector tube is pivotally attached at its rear end to a mounting bracket attached to the bow of a sailing vessel such that the connector tubes create a triangular truss, wherein the primary function of the triangular truss is to extend a tack of a foresail forward of the bow.

14. The articulating bowsprit of claim 13, wherein the triangular truss is configured as an isosceles triangle.

15. The articulating bowsprit of claim 13, wherein the mounting brackets are deck mounting brackets and the rear ends of the connector tubes are removably attached to the deck mounting brackets via pins.

16. The articulating bowsprit of claim 13, wherein the mounting brackets are side mounting brackets and the rear ends of the connector tubes are removably attached to the side mounting brackets via pins.

17. An articulating bowsprit comprising two connector tubes wherein each connector tube has a front end and a rear end, the connector tubes attached by a hinged connection at their front ends and wherein each connector tube is pivotally and removably attached at its rear end to a mounting bracket attached to the bow of a sailing vessel such that the connector tubes create a triangular truss, wherein the primary function of the triangular truss is to extend a tack of a foresail forward of the bow; and further wherein the bowsprit includes a bobstay attached at one end to the hinged connection at the front ends of the connector tubes and attached at another end to the bow of the sailing vessel.

18. The articulating bowsprit of claim 17, wherein the connector tubes are adjustable length, telescoping tubes.

19. The articulating bowsprit of claim 17, wherein the triangular truss is configured as an isosceles triangle.

20. The articulating bowsprit of claim 17, wherein the mounting brackets are selected from the group comprising deck mounting brackets and side mounting brackets.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]

TABLE-US-00001 FIG. Number Description 1 Side of hull (3) depicting; mainsail (2), bow (7), stern (10), cabin (4) and spinnaker (1), with tack (19), extended by the use of a bowsprit. 2 Top view of sailboat depicting; bowsprit (8), bow (9), cabin (4) and stern (10). 3 Top view of bow (9) showing general placement of two deck mounting brackets (15) with the bowsprit removed. 4 Side view of bow (7) in deck mounting configuration with bowsprit (8), attached by deck mounting bracket (15) and restrained by bobstay (5). 5 Top view of bow (9) with the bowsprit (8) in deck mounting configuration. 6 Top view of Hinged Connector (11) pinned by hinged bushing (12) indicating ability to hinge. 7 Isometric view of end connector (13) assembly. Depicting how the connector slots into the deck mounting bracket (15), is restrained by the end piece pin (14), and rests on the front mounting bolt (16) in a horizontal position 8 Isometric view of bowsprit (8) in the open configuration. 9 Isometric view of bowsprit (8) in the closed configuration. 10 Isometric view of side mounting bracket (17) assembly showing how the end piece (13) slides onto the bracket. 11 Side view of bowsprit (8) in a side mounting configuration. 12 Top view of bowsprit (8) in a side mounting configuration. 13 Top view of bow (9) with side mounting brackets (17) attached and bowsprit removed. 14 Telescoping bowsprit (18) in the extended and retracted configurations.

TABLE-US-00002 Drawing Item Number Description 1 Spinnaker: large sail deployed at the bow of a boat for improved downwind or reaching performance. 2 Mainsail: triangular sail used for both upwind and downwind sailing. 3 Hull: is the main body of a sailing vessel which provides structure and buoyancy. 4 Cabin: structure above deck level to increase accommodation space. 5 Bobstay: line running, from attachment to bowsprit to resist upwards forces imposed by spinnaker. 6 Bobstay attachment: anchors the bobstay to the leading edge of the bow. 7 Side of bow: front portion of boat. 8 Articulating Bowsprit: comprising of two connector tubes 8A, one hinged connector 11 and two end pieces 13. 8A Connector tubes. 9 Top of bow: the front deck area of boat. 10. Stern: rear portion of any boat. 11. Hinged connector: joins tubes at the front and allows angle to be adjusted. 12 Hinge bushing: hollow bushing that creates a pin for the connector hinge and a bushing for attachment of bobstay and sail tack control lines. 13 End piece: Connects the bowsprit tubes to the mounting brackets. 13A Rear pinned connection. 14 End piece pin: pins the end piece to the mounting bracket. 15 Deck mounting bracket: attaches the end piece to the deck. 16 Mounting bolts: Affixes the mounting brackets to the deck and supports the end piece in a horizontal position. 17 Side mounting bracket: facilities attachment of the end connector to the side of the Bow. 18 Telescoping tubes: Articulating bowsprit in telescoping tube configuration to increase to overall length of the bowsprit. 19 Tack: front attachment point of sail.

[0029] Articulating Bowsprit Description

[0030] The articulating bowsprit 8 comprises two connector tubes 8A having front ends 8B and rear ends 8C, the rear ends 8C of the connector tubes 8A are either deck or side mounted just behind the forestay. The front ends 8B of the connector tubes 8A are connected by a hinge connector 11. Each connector tube 8A is mounted at or near the side of the boat and forms an isosceles triangle, this shape is effective at resisting lateral forces imposed by the sail. Uplift forces are resisted by a bobstay 5 which attaches to the bow 9 just above the waterline level. The bowsprit 8 can be easily detached from its deck or side mounting by removing pins 14 and folded to a closed configuration for compact stowing. The front hinged connector 11 of the tubes 8A is a hinged joint which permits the angle of incidence of the tubes 8A to be altered. This facilitates flexibility in choosing an optimal location to attach the mounting hardware and simplifies the installation process. The connector tubes 8A are connected together by the hinge connector 11 at their front ends 8B and the rear ends 8C feature pinned connections 13A comprising deck mounting brackets 15, end pieces 13 and end piece pins 14 at the deck. (See FIG. 7.) These pinned connections 13A allow for rotation at the joints which places the tubes 8A in pure tension or compression and are not subject to off-center loads which create torque and potential structural failure. This configuration can also be fabricated from telescoping tubes 18 which facilitate adjustment of length, and alternate placement on the exterior of the boat over a male mounting bracket.