Abstract: According to a current limiting method in an electric power steering apparatus, a steering angular speed and the direction of a drive current are monitored. A condition in which a steering wheel is locked is discriminated from a condition in which the steering wheel is turned on the basis of combinations of the steering angular speed and the drive current direction. Processing of limiting a current value of an excessive drive current is executed only when the condition in which the steering wheel is locked is determined.

Abstract: A water vehicle comprising in combination an ovoid, inflatable tube with an open bottom, rigid seat platform suspended above the water line, a dry duffel compartment, a removable, dry, duffel day-pack and detachable wet and dry stowage compartments which allow the user easy access to stowage areas during operation and ease of portage of the entire water vehicle as a lightweight tote when stowed in a removable, dry, duffel day-pack or a backpack.

Abstract: A mooring system for a seagoing vessel, such as an oil tanker, employs a submerged buoy and a fluid swivel joint mounted in the vessel. The buoy is submerged to a depth sufficient enough to allow the moored vessel to drift over the buoy and other mooring elements without colliding with the same. A motor drive assembly is provided for a rotating shaft in the fluid swivel joint which maintains the shaft in the same position relative to the buoy, regardless of environmental induced changes in the heading of the moored vessel. This insures that one or more flexible hoses connected between the shaft and the mooring will not be twisted if the vessel begins to rotate about the vertical axis of the mooring. Positioning the fluid swivel joint within the vessel provides easy access to the joint for maintenance or repair and shields the joint from the seawater's detrimental effects.

Abstract: A sail tensioning device comprises a handle 70, an arm 73 and a tube 75 which fit together to form the device. The handle is fixed by a strip of webbing which fits in an opening 77 and is stitched to a sail to provide an anchor for the handle. The arm 73 fits in a cavity in the handle 70 to pivot about an intermediate point of the handle and urge the tube 76 against a batten (not shown), as the handle swivels about the anchor. Urging the batten in this way forces the batten against a remote end of a batten pocket to tension the sail.

Abstract: A shoulder adjuster which comprises: a guide rail shaped into a long plate and formed with a longitudinally extending slot at its central portion; a slider arranged along the vehicular compartment side of the guide rail and made slidable in a longitudinal direction of the guide rail; a female thread formed in the slider for mounting a shoulder anchor; and devices for retaining the slider on the guide rail at a predetermined interval. The slider has a cylindrical portion to be fitted in the slot, and the female thread formed in the inner circumference of the cylindrical portion.

Abstract: To reduce the total ship resistance and to improve a propeller efficiency and cavitation performance due to the reduced thrust loading on the propeller for ships or vessels having a sonar dome or an equivalently shaped designs located below the baseline of the hull, a teardrop-shaped bulbous bow is attached to the ship stem bow between the forward perpendicular of the bow and 12.7 ft forward of the forward perpendicular of the vessel, inclusive, and between the ship design waterline and the baseline. The bulbous bow is separate and discrete, and spaced from the sonar dome and has a shaped of a teardrop. The teardrop shaped bulbous bow is mounted to the ship stem bow with the round end portion pointing in the forward direction and the pointed end portion pointing in the aft direction.

Abstract: A boat hull includes a stern section known as a transom which comprises an outer transom wall, an inner transom wall spaced apart from the outer transom wall, and a core of syntactic foam comprising a plurality of microspheres encapsulated in a resin inserted between the outer transom wall and the inner transom wall.

Abstract: A skiboard system comprising a skiboard having a channel extending along a portion of the length thereof and two bindings secured, via the channel, to the skiboard. The bindings are design to be rotated between a locked starting position, where the long axes of the bindings extend parallel to the long axis of the skiboard, and a locked skiing position, where the long axes of the bindings extend transversely to the long axis of the skiboard. After the bindings have been rotated to a selected position, the bindings are secured in place via a locking mechanism that is operated by movement of a pivotally mounted handle. In addition, the bindings include a resilient front strap assembly and a resilient heel support for securing the user's feet to the binding while at the same time permitting a user to quickly and easily remove his or her feet from the bindings in the event of a fall.

Abstract: An improved twin hull vessel of the catamaran type, having a central bridgedeck and a pair of side hulls interconnected by lateral suspension arms. The suspension arms are pivotally connected with offset spaced connections to the bridgedeck and to each of the hulls for moving said hulls from a substantially horizontally locked position to a vertical position beneath the bridgedeck, while holding the hulls in the vertical orientation relative to the water surface, thus changing the vessel from a catamaran to a single hull vessel for moving the vessel into pier locations, or for trailering the vessel.

Abstract: A tensioner for drawing a point on a flexible wing's surface toward its leading edge. The wing's camber is thereby increased and maintained even at high airflow velocities and low angles of attack. The provision of a tensioner length adjustment system allows the wing's camber to be optimized for a particular set of conditions. The fitment of a plurality of such tensioners along the wing's chordlines and along its span allows the wing's shape to be fine-tuned both in terms of camber as well as twist.

Abstract: Ship with mooring structure, comprising a rotatable tube (15) which is connected to the ship (1) for rotation about a vertical axis which is concentric to the rotatable tube, by an axial/radial bearing structure (17) which can absorb axial and radial forces. The rotatable tube (15) has at its lower end structure (19) for fastening anchor chains or cables (21). The rotatable tube (15) is disposed inside the hull of the ship (1) within a fixed tube (3) through the lower end of which the rotatable tube (15) protrudes downwardly. An outer ring of the axial/radial bearing (17) is in integral assembly with a rigid ring (13) which is in turn fastened only to the lower end of the fixed tube (3). The fixed tube (3) encloses the rotatable tube (15) with clearance and is fastened to the hull of the ship only some distance away from and above the rigid ring (13) and is free from fixed securement to the ship below the rigid ring ( 13).

Abstract: Footwear which is versatilely useful for both land and water sports is described along with a method of production. A stretchable fabric vamp is conformable around the upper arch region of a user's foot. The vamp is joined to an upper edge of an elastomeric base piece including sole and fin portions. The flexibility of the vamp provides comfort and versatility for various walking, running, surfing or swimming activities. The base piece is more rigid than the vamp. The fin is stabilized by a toe support which contains the user's toes and is part of the same unitary base piece. The rigidity of the base piece provides hardness for the sole to protect the foot from harsh ground conditions and stiffness for the fin producing desirable water resistance qualities for enhancing swim power.

Abstract: A high capacity emergency bilge pump employs an inclined axial flow propeller in a tubular casing for discharging bilge water to a body of receiving water at a level submerged below the surface of the body of receiving water. The propeller of the bilge pump is driven by an outboard motor.

Abstract: A strut leading edge extension for a marine vehicle has an upper hull, a strut, a lower hull, and a foil. The strut leading edge extension includes a device for defining an extended strut leading edge, the device being adjustable to a plurality of positions including a fully retracted position and a fully extended position. The defining device is disposed at a front portion of the strut. An actuator moves the defining means to a plurality of positions; wherein a directional dynamic stability of the marine vehicle may be controlled by the position of the defining device.

Abstract: An Aquatic Amusement Device is disclosed. The device is a tethered hydroplane board having a pair of planar V-shaped members arranged perpendicularly. The device is divided into a forward section rotatably connected to an aft section. Tethering means are associated with the forward section and handle means are associated with the aft section, allowing a user who grasps the handle means to be towed by a tow means such as a powered watercraft through a body of water, both above and below the surface of the water performing a multitude of maneuvers by altering the pitch, yaw and roll axes of the hydroplane board relative to the direction of tow by changes of pressure applied to the aft section.

Abstract: An inflatable pneumatic boat with a non-flat rear board.An inflatable pneumatic boat comprising a rear board (5) extending transversely and approximately vertically between two lateral floats (2), characterized in that the rear board (5) is a non-flat one-piece component and has two lateral panels (6), each connected to a float (2), and a central panel (7) offset to the rear beyond the rear edge of the bottom (4) of the boat.

Abstract: A sailboat davit connectable into the ground adjacent a seawall, water's edge or other like supportive objects for lifting and lowering a small sailboat. The device includes an elongated upright support member having a radially outwardly extending boom connected at one end to the upper end of the upright support member. A generally horizontal spreader beam is connected at a mid-point thereof to the distal end of the boom so that the spreader beam extends in either direction preferably from a plane generally defined by the upright support member and the boom. A flexible cable and pulley arrangement, winch-activated, is provided having a flexible cable downwardly extending over a pulley at each end of the spreader beam, each end of each cable being connectable to the sailboat hull whereupon the sailboat is lifted and lowered in response to winch activation.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improved throttle opening control device for a marine propulsion arrangement. The invention allows an operator of a marine propulsion unit to shift from a forward or reverse operating state into neutral, in order to start or restart an engine, or to effect an urgent transmission shift change during operation, without having to execute an independent step of separately reducing the throttle opening beforehand. According to the present invention, the angle of throttle opening is automatically controlled by an interconnection to the transmission shifting system of the propulsion arrangement.

Abstract: A mounting member for use in a pontoon boat for mounting a boat structure onto a pontoon log flotation device comprising an elongated body having first and second protrusions extruded from the body and integral therewith. The first protrusion extends longitudinally of the body, and the second protrusion also extends longitudinally of the body generally parallel to the first protrusion. The first and second protrusions define a space therebetween for receiving an upper edge margin of the pontoon log, and are continuously sealed to the log along the lengths of the protrusions.A method of assembling a pontoon log is also disclosed.

Abstract: A shift interlock system for preventing the starting of an outboard motor when the motor is in gear, the outboard motor having an engine, a starter housing, a starter pulley enclosed by the housing, and a transmission shift lever having a neutral setting, a reverse setting and a forward setting. The system includes a subhousing secured to the starter housing, a plunger mounted in the subhousing for reciprocal linear movement between a retracted position, and an extended position in which the plunger engages the starter pulley to prevent the rotation of the pulley, the plunger being biased in the extended position, and a cam member disposed in the subhousing to pivot between a neutral position in which the cam member overcomes the biasing force and retracts the plunger, and at least one drive gear position in which the cam member permits the extension of the plunger.