Sailing vessel
AssigneeSarah-May Steenkamp
InventorKeith Louis Featherstone Cronwright
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A keel canting mechanism for a sailing vessel having a hull, a keel and a mast is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a worm gear co-axial with the longitudinal axis of the vessel about which the keel rotates during a canting movement. There is a double enveloping worm in mesh with the worm gear and means for driving the worm. The worm gear is fast with the keel and, when rotated by the worm, displaces the keel through a canting movement. The gear has a plurality of holes in it into which pins can be inserted to lock the gear, and hence the keel, in the position to which it has been moved by the worm.
Claims13
A sailing vessel having a hull, a mast, a keel extending from the underside of the hull and a keel canting mechanism for varying the angle of the keel about an axis extending longitudinally of the sailing vessel;
- the keel canting mechanism including a worm gear arranged for rotation about said axis, a worm in mesh with said worm gear and means for driving the worm;
- said sailing vessel including a mast canting mechanism for varying the position of the mast about a further axis extending longitudinally of the sailing vessel;
- said mast canting mechanism including a further worm gear arranged for rotation about said further axis, a further worm mesh with said further worm gear and means for driving the further worm;
- and including a further lock for locking the further worm gear in the angular position to which it has been rotated by said further worm.
A sailing vessel having a hull, a mast, a keel extending from the underside of the hull and a keel canting mechanism for varying the angle of the keel about an axis extending longitudinally of the sailing vessel;
- the keel canting mechanism including a worm gear arranged for rotation about said axis, a worm in mesh with said worm gear and means for driving the worm, said sailing vessel including a ballast bulb for providing ballast at the base of the keel, there being control apparatus for controlling adjustment of the ballast bulb in relation to the keel, wherein the ballast bulb includes:
- a first rotating mechanism for rotating the ballast bulb around a lateral axis of the ballast bulb to vary the pitch of the ballast bulb in relation to the keel and a second rotating mechanism for rotating the ballast bulb around a longitudinal axis of the ballast bulb to vary the roll of the ballast bulb in relation to the keel.
A sailing vessel having a hull, a mast, a keel extending from the underside of the hull and a keel canting arrangement that is rotational about a longitudinal axis of the sailing vessel;
- the keel extending from a rotational housing that extends axially around the longitudinal axis;
- and wherein the rotational housing is hollow and a superior portion of the rotational housing is within the hull of the sailing vessel, a part of the rotational housing which extends below the hull when the keel is in a neutral position being generally cylindrical,
- wherein an upper part of the rotational housing is of a generally truncated conical shape, the rotational housing having opposing lateral sides and each of said lateral sides having an upper portion that is profiled from fore to aft with an overall conical shape;
- the conical upper portion of each of the lateral sides being configured to act as a foil;
- the rotational housing being configured such that windward canting of the keel causes the windward lateral side of the rotational housing to be retracted into the hull and the leeward lateral side of the rotational housing to be deployed from the hull by the canting rotation, such that the profiled conical upper portion of the leeward lateral side of the rotational housing is in the water and acts as a foil promoting lateral resistance in the water and generating lateral lift which opposes leeward drift of the sailing vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.