Sail line stopper

Abstract

A sail line stopper is provided for controlling the rate of movement of a sailing line prior to or subsequent to the locking of a line in a fixed position. The sail sheet stopper has a base with a channel formed therethrough. A plurality of closely spaced links are mounted for pivotal movement in the base and each of the links has an opening with the line openings forming a channel through which the line to be controlled is positioned. A handle is coupled to the links for controlling the pivotal movement of the links in the base. In a first position the handle aligns the openings allowing the line to move freely through the channel, and in a second position the openings are out of alignment thereby restricting the size of the channel through which the line moves to lock the line in the channel. Intermediate handle positions are provided which control the amount of pivot of the links between the first and second positions to control the size of the channel which permits movement of the line through the channel in accordance with the size of the channel. The channel can be opened regardless of the pressure on the line and the line may be selectively controlled depending on how much the handle is pivoted. In one embodiment the handle contains a pivotal link which may be positioned three ways to allow either of three sizes of line to be accommodated by the sail stopper, and in a second embodiment the handle moves an eccentric cam into a locking position which is retained therein by a spring until released. The sail stopper can be opened no matter what the pressure is on the line and the line can be controlled where it may be eased out slowly and locked in with no slack remaining when the line is locked in place. The sail stopper is used for controlling halyards or sheets in sailboat racing.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.