Wind Powered Watercraft
A sail driven watercraft includes a hull, a deck coupled to the hull, and a mast coupled to the hull to extend upwardly and carry one or more sails. The hull extends downwardly from the deck into water in which the sail driven watercraft floats.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/817,814, filed Apr. 30, 2013, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates to watercraft, and particularly to watercraft with a sail and mast where ease of use is valued. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a series of design details which enable easy rigging, sail use, improved stability, and trailering.
Although wind powered ships, sailboats, and the like have been known for thousands of years, the efficient and safe use of these vessels has required considerable skill and patience. The most easy-to-use designs available today still require significant effort to ready a boat for sailing, especially if it has just been transported by road, often requiring multiple people and special equipment. Once underway, these vessels require considerable strength and skill to properly configure the sails, and generally require the occupants to change positions frequently, due to changing angles of the deck, or to help balance the boat. In addition, sailboats do not allow the mast to be easily lowered on the water, if sailing under low bridges, for example, is required. Furthermore, if the boat is transported by road, an additional, specially designed trailer is needed, requiring the occupants to return to the launch location for further transport.
SUMMARYAccording to the present disclosure, a sail driven watercraft includes a hull, a deck coupled to the hull, and a mast coupled to the hull to extend upwardly and carry one or more sails. The hull extends downwardly from the deck into water in which the sail driven watercraft floats. The mast is arranged to locate the sails in wind to cause the sail driven watercraft to move through the water.
In illustrative embodiments, the sail drive watercraft further includes a mechanism for easy raising or lowing of a mast. The sail driven watercraft further includes a folding deck design that allows for greater stability on the water, and a unique integrated trailer design.
Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:
Referring now to the disclosure in more detail,
In addition to the deck folding mechanism, the current disclosure also includes a folding mast design illustrated in
The boat of the present disclosure allows, without limitation, the ability for one person to easily raise or lower the mast on or off the water, avoiding low bridges and/or obstructions above the road. The present disclosure also allows the boat to be significantly extended in width on the water, allowing more space for occupants, and a significantly more stable boat. This allows the boat to be sailed in relatively high winds without the typical heeling angle, and without the need for occupants to change positions in order to better balance the boat. The integrated trailer feature also allows the boat to be sailed to far-away places, and then retrieved from the water with any vehicle and hitch, not requiring a non-integrated trailer be first moved to the retrieval location. Overall the present disclosure allows for significantly greater ease of use compared to previously existing boats.
While the foregoing written description of the disclosure enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The disclosure should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.
Claims
1. A boat comprising
- a structural element,
- a first hull coupled to the structural element to move relative to the structural element between an extended position in which the first hull is a first distance from the structural element and a retracted position in which the first hull is a relatively smaller second distance from the structural element, and
- a second hull coupled to the structural element to locate the structural element between the first and second hulls, the second hull is movable relative to the structural element and the first hull between an extended position in which the second hull is the first distance from the structural element and the retracted position in which the second hull is the relatively smaller second distance from the structural element.
2. The boat of claim 1, further comprising a mast coupled to the structural element to move about a pivot axis between a raised position in which the mast is arrange to extend upwardly away from the structural element to cause the boat to have a first height and a lowered position in which the mast is arranged to extend along generally parallel to the structural element to cause the boat to have a relatively smaller second height.
3. The boat of claim 1, further comprising a deck including a first deck section coupled to the structural element to pivot about a first hinge axis between a flat position in which the first deck section lies generally flat and extends between the structural element and the first hull when the first hull is in the extended position and an upright position in which the first deck section lies generally upright relative to the first hull when the first hull in is the retracted position.
4. The boat of claim 3, wherein the deck further includes a second deck section coupled to the structural element to pivot about a second hinge axis between a flat position in which the second deck section lies generally flat and extend between the structural element and the second hull when the second hull is in the extended position and an upright position in which the second deck section lies generally upright relative to the second hull when the second hull in is the retracted position.
5. The boat of claim 3, further comprising a first hinge arm arranged to extend between and interconnect the first deck section and the structural element to cause the first deck section to pivot about the first hinge axis.
6. The boat of claim 3, further comprising a wheel unit coupled to the structural element to pivot about a pivot axis between a raised position in which the wheel unit is arranged to extend generally parallel to the first deck section when the first hull is in the extended position and a lowered position in which the wheel unit is arranged to extend downwardly away from the structural unit to cause a wheel included in the wheel unit to contact ground and support the boat for rolling movement over ground underlying the boat.
7. The boat of claim 6, further comprising a trailer arm coupled to the structural element to move relative to structural element between a retracted position in which the boat has a first length and an extended position in which the boat has a relatively greater second length.
8. The boat of claim 7, wherein the trailer arm includes an arm slide coupled to the structural element to slide back and forth along a longitudinal axis of the of the boat, a hitch beam including a proximal end coupled to the arm slide to cause the hitch beam to pivot about a trailer axis between a storage position in which the hitch beam extends from the trailer axis toward a rear end of the boat and a use position in which the hitch beam extends away from the trailer axis and the rear end of the boat, and a hitch receptacle coupled to a distal end of the hitch beam opposite the proximal end of the hitch beam and adapted to mate with a hitch included in a tow vehicle.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 22, 2014
Publication Date: Oct 30, 2014
Inventor: James Theodore Hotary (Holland, MI)
Application Number: 14/258,751
International Classification: B63B 1/12 (20060101); B63C 13/00 (20060101); B63H 9/04 (20060101);