Double-hulled rowboat

Abstract

A rowboat is disclosed. The rowboat includes a first hull extending in a longitudinal direction and a second hull extending parallel to the first hull. The first hull is fixedly connected to the second hull. A seat is disposed between the first and second hulls. A first oar is pivotally connected to the first hull and a second oar is pivotally connected to the second hull. A method of operating the rowboat is also disclosed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS (IF APPLICABLE)

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/759,409, filed on Jan. 17, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sculling is a popular sport that allows a rower or several rowers to sit in a streamlined boat, called a shell, and row the shell at a relatively high speed across a smooth water surface, such as a lake or a slow moving river. For a single-person shell, the shell includes oarlocks on either side of the rower. An oar is pivotally connected to each oarlock to allow the rower to operate each oar with a single hand. The seat is mounted on sliding rails, and allows the rower to slide back-and-forth along the rails during each oar stroke, allowing the rower to generate additional power with each stroke.

The streamlined design of a typical shell makes the shell relatively unstable, requiring the rower to maintain balance within the shell in order to avoid losing his/her balance and tipping over. Such a design may intimidate a novice rower for fear that the shell may tip over and the rower may fall into the water. A mono-hull design may also pose a safety threat to a young or inexperienced rower. It would be beneficial to provide a boat that has the operative oar features of a scull, including the sliding seat of the scull, but is more stable than a typical shell, providing an increased stability for a novice user.

Additionally, typical sculling oarlocks allow for four degrees of freedom for an oar: back-and-forth (rotational); up-and-down (rotational); spinning or feathering (rotational) and in-and-out (translational). The in-and-out degree of freedom also allows the oar to be rotated about its longitudinal axis within the oarlock, as with feathering the oar. Such multiple degrees of freedom may be confusing and hard to master for the novice rower. It would be beneficial to provide a rowboat that included oarlocks that restricted the number of degrees of freedom of the oar, such as to two rotational degrees of freedom, in order to enable the user to slowly familiarize himself/herself with the operation of the oar, without introducing too many variables that may make it difficult and frustrating to learn how to use all at once.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention provides a rowboat. The rowboat includes a first hull extending in a longitudinal direction and a second hull extending parallel to the first hull. The first hull is fixedly connected to the second hull. A seat is disposed between the first and second hulls. A first oar is pivotally connected to the first hull and a second oar is pivotally connected to the second hull.

Additionally, the present invention provides a rowboat comprising first and second hulls fixedly connected to each other by a rib. A seat is slidably connected to the rib. An oar is operatively connected to each hull.

Further, the present invention also provides a rowboat comprising a first hull extending in a longitudinal direction and a second hull extending parallel to the first hull. The first hull is fixedly connected to the second hull. A first oar is pivotally connected to the first hull and a second oar is pivotally connected to the second hull. Each of the first and second oars each have no more than two degrees of freedom.

Additionally, the present invention provides a method of rowing a boat. The method comprises the steps of sitting between first and second hulls of the boat, wherein an oar operatively extends from each of the first and second hulls; and operating an oar with each hand, wherein operating the oar comprises operating the oar with no more than two degrees of motion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification. For the purposes of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments that are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are employed for designating the same elements throughout the several figures. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a double-hulled rowboat according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the double-hulled rowboat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the double-hulled rowboat shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the double-hulled rowboat shown in FIGS. 1-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. The terminology includes the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. As used herein, the term “forward” is defined to mean a direction in which a rower is facing when seated in the rowboat and “aft” is defined to mean a direction behind the rower when seated in the rowboat. The following describes preferred a embodiment of the invention. However, it should be understood based on this disclosure, that the invention is not limited by the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the figures in general, the present invention is a rowboat 100 having a plurality of hulls 110, 120. The plurality of hulls 110, 120 provide additional stability to the rowboat 100 and aid in the instruction of a novice rower, reducing the likelihood of the rower losing his balance and tipping over the side of the rowboat.

Referring in particular to FIG. 1, the first hull 110 extends in a longitudinal direction and includes a forward end 112 and an aft end 114. While FIG. 1 shows a blunt forward end 112 and a blunt aft end 114, those skilled in the art will recognize that the forward end 112 and the aft end 114 may be rounded or tapered to reduce drag on the rowboat 100 during operation.

The second hull 120 extends parallel to the first hull 110 and includes a forward end 122 and an aft end 124. Similar to the first hull 110, the forward end 122 and the aft end 124 may be rounded or tapered to reduce drag on the rowboat 100 during operation.

The first and second hulls 110, 120 are connected to each other by a pair of forward and aft ribs 130, 140, respectively, that each extend in a plane transverse to the longitudinal length of the hulls 110, 120. As seen in FIG. 2, the forward rib 130 includes a first riser 132 extending obliquely away from the first hull 110 and a second riser 134 extending obliquely away from the second hull 120. A connector portion 136 connects the first and second risers 132, 134 to each other. The connector portion 136 preferably extends in a horizontal plane.

The aft rib 140 includes a first riser 142 extending obliquely away from the first hull 110 and a second riser 144 extending obliquely away from the second hull 120. A connector portion 146 connects the first and second risers 142, 144 to each other. The connector portion 146 preferably extends in a horizontal plane, co-planar with the connector portion 136 of the forward rib 130.

A pair of seat rails 150, 152 are fixedly connected to the connector portions 136, 146, and extend generally parallel to the hulls 110, 120. A seat 154 is slidably connected to the seat rails 150, 152 for longitudinal translation along the seat rails 150, 152. The seat 154 may ride along the seat rails 150, 152 on roller bearings, as is well known in the rowing art. Preferably, the seat 154 and the seat rails 150, 152 imitate competition racing sculls.

A generally U-shaped footstretcher 160 extends forward from the forward rib 130. The footstretcher 160 extends sufficiently far from the forward rib 130 to enable the rower to place and maintain his/her feet on the footstretcher 160 while seated on the seat 154, with the seat 154 in any position along the seat rails 150, 152. The footstretcher 160 serves as a platform to allow the rower to push against to generate more power with each oar stroke.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, first and second outriggers 170, 180 extend from the first and second hulls 110, 120, respectively. The first outrigger 170 extends generally obliquely away from the first hull 110, and, as seen in FIG. 1, is generally V-shaped. A first oar lock 172 is connected to the apex of the outrigger 170 and extends in a generally vertical direction. The second outrigger 180 is similar to the first outrigger 170 and a second oar lock 182 extends generally vertically from the apex of the second outrigger 180. FIG. 3 shows a side view of the second outrigger 180, further illustrating the V-shape of the outrigger 180.

A first oar 174 is pivotally connected to the first oar lock 172 such that the oar 174 may operate in a forward-aft direction and an up-and-down direction, but is neither rotatable about its longitudinal axis nor translatable along the oar lock 172. Similarly, a second oar 184 is pivotally connected to the second oar lock 182 such that the oar 184 may operate in a forward-aft direction and an up-and-down direction, but is neither rotatable about its longitudinal axis nor translatable along the oar lock 182. Such operation of the oars 174, 184 allows for easier use of the oars 174, 184 for a novice rower, without having to deal with the oars 174, 184 rotating within the oar locks 172, 182 or sliding along the oar locks 172, 182.

For ease of construction, the rowboat 100 may be constructed from PVC pipe. For example, the hulls 110, 120 may be constructed from 4″ PVC pipe, with the ribs 130, 140, the footstretcher 160, and the outriggers 170, 180 being constructed from 2″ PVC. One advantage to this type of construction is that the materials are readily available and the rowboat 100 may be constructed by an individual without great expense. However, it should be recognized that such construction should take into account the user's weight to ensure that the rowboat 100 has sufficient buoyancy to support the user without sinking. For example, instead of 4″ PVC for the hulls 110, 120, 6″ PVC may be used to provide enhanced buoyancy. Additionally, all open ends and joints are preferably sealed to prevent water from entering the structure.

With such a PVC construction, the lateral cross section of each of the hulls 110, 120 is circular, as can be seen in FIG. 2. The circular cross section is highly hydrodynamic and reduces drag on the hulls 110, 120 as the rowboat 100 is operated.

Alternatively, other materials may be used to construct the rowboat 100, such as fiberglass, or any other suitable material. Additionally, the lateral cross section of the hulls 110, 120 may be other than circular.

The rowboat 100 as described above is well suited for a novice rower, who can use the rowboat 100 to learn how to row without worrying that the boat will tip over, or without having to deal with the oars rotating within the oarlocks. The two hulls 110, 120 provide the stability necessary to preclude the rowboat 100 from tipping over.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.

Claims

1. A rowboat comprising:

a first hull extending in a longitudinal direction;

a second hull extending parallel to the first hull, wherein the first hull is fixedly connected to the second hull;

a seat disposed between the first and second hulls;

a first oar pivotally connected to the first hull; and

a second oar pivotally connected to the second hull.

2. The rowboat according to claim 1, wherein the seat is slidable in the longitudinal direction.

3. The rowboat according to claim 1, wherein the first and second oars are each operable along no more than two degrees of motion.

4. The rowboat according to claim 1, wherein the first hull comprises a first outrigger extending therefrom and wherein the first oar is pivotally connected to the first outrigger.

5. The rowboat according to claim 4, wherein the second hull comprises a second outrigger extending therefrom and wherein the second oar is pivotally connected to the second outrigger.

6. The rowboat according to claim 1, wherein the first hull and the second hull each comprise a circular lateral cross section.

7. A rowboat comprising:

first and second hulls fixedly connected to each other by a rib;

a seat slidably connected to the rib; and

an oar operatively connected to each hull.

8. The rowboat according to claim 7, wherein the oars each have no more than two degrees of freedom.

9. The rowboat according to claim 7, wherein the first and second hulls each comprise a circular lateral cross section.

10. The rowboat according to claim 7, wherein each of the first and second hulls comprises an outrigger extending away from each respective hull, with the oars pivotally connected to each respective oarlock.

11. A rowboat comprising:

a first hull extending in a longitudinal direction;

a second hull extending parallel to the first hull, wherein the first hull is fixedly connected to the second hull;

a first oar pivotally connected to the first hull; and

a second oar pivotally connected to the second hull, wherein each of the first and second oars each have no more than two degrees of freedom.

12. A method of rowing a boat comprising the steps of:

sitting between first and second hulls of the boat, wherein an oar operatively extends from each of the first and second hulls; and

operating an oar with each hand, wherein operating the oar comprises operating the oar with no more than two degrees of motion.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of sitting in a slidable seat between the first and second hulls and sliding forward and aft in the seat during operation of the oars.