Manually operated catamaran vessels, steering apparatus for such vessels and method of steering such vessels
OwnerAlan Horaisinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A catamaran-type sailboat with a steering mechanism preferably located at the level of the catamaran deck. This steering mechanism may include a rotatable or generally linearly moveable pad or element. The pad is usually actuated by foot, leaving the users hands free to operate a sail, but it can also be actuated by hand. The movement of the pad is generally simultaneously transferred to rudders at the rear of each catamaran hull by a push-pull cable unit, thereby steering the sailboat. An elastic band attached to the pad keeps the steering mechanism self-centered when not in use. When the user wishes to maneuver the sailboat, he simply moves the pad in the proper direction with his foot or hand.
Claims16
A manual operable catamaran-type sailboat having a sail, a pair of spaced apart floatable hulls, a deck extending between the hulls for supporting a user, a pair of rudder mechanisms that each have a rudder rotatable about a generally upright axis, one rudder mechanism being located generally at the rear of each of the hulls,
- and steering apparatus comprising:
- a) an elongated push-pull cable mechanism comprising a support-guide defining an elongated guide pathway and an elongated cable unit of a single cable section extending along said pathway and longitudinally movable in both directions along said pathway, said cable section having opposite ends, each of said cable section ends being connected to one of said rudder mechanisms so that longitudinal movement of the cable section acts to generally simultaneously rotate both rudders to generally the same angle so as to steer the sailboat, and
- b) a manually operable control mechanism supported on the sailboat and having a manually movable control element, said control element being in position to be accessible to and movable by a user on the deck, said control element being operatively connected to said cable unit so that movement of said element by the user imparts desired longitudinal movement to the cable section, rotation of the rudders, and resultant steering of the sailboat.
A manually operable catamaran-type sailboat having a sail, a pair of spaced apart floatable hulls, a deck extending between the hulls for supporting a user, a pair of rudder mechanisms that each having a rudder rotable about a generally upright axis, one rudder mechanism being located generally at the rear of each of the hulls, and
- steering apparatus comprising
- a) a single elongated push-pull cable supported on the sailboat, said cable being connected at each end to one of the rudder mechanisms so that longitudinal movement of the cable acts to generally simultaneously rotate the rudders of the rudder mechanisms to generally the same angle so as to steer the sailboat, and
- b) a manually operable control mechanism supported on said sailboat and having a manually movable control element, said control element being in position to be accessible to and movable by a user on the deck, said control element being operatively connected to the cable, the movement of said element by the user imparting desired longitudinal movement to said cable, movement of the rudders, and resultant steering of the sailboat.
A method of sailing and steering a manually operable catamaran-type sailboat that has a sail, a pair of spaced apart front-to-rear extending floatable hulls, a deck extending between the hulls for supporting a user, a pair of rudder mechanisms each with a rudder tiltable about a generally upright axis, one rudder mechanism being located at the rear end of each hull, and a steering apparatus that comprises
- a) an elongated push-pull cable mechanism comprising a support-guide defining an elongated guide pathway and an elongated cable unit of a single cable section extending along the pathway and longitudinally movable in both directions along the pathway, the cable section having opposite ends, each of the cable section ends being connected to one of the rudder mechanisms so that longitudinal movement of the cable unit acts to generally simultaneously rotate both rudders to generally the same angle so as to steer the sailboat, and
- b) a manually operable control mechanism supported on the sailboat and having a manually movable control element, the control element being in position at about the level of the deck and so as to be accessible to and movable by a user on the deck, the control element being operatively connected to said cable unit so that movement of the element by the user imparts desired longitudinal movement to the cable section, rotation of the rudders, and resultant steering of the sailboat,
- said method comprising:
- a) the user standing upon the deck and operating the sail with her hands, and
- b) the user generally simultaneously moving the steering control member one way or the other with her foot to steer the sailboat.
A manually operable catamaran-type sailboat that has a sail, a pair of spaced apart front-to-rear extending floatable hulls, a deck extending between the hulls for supporting a user, a pair of rudder mechanisms each with a rudder tiltable about a generally upright axis, one rudder mechanism being located at the rear end of each hull and, a steering apparatus that comprises
- a) an elongated push-pull cable mechanism comprising a support-guide defining an elongated guide pathway and an elongated cable unit of a single cable section extending along said pathway and longitudinally movable in both directions along said pathway, said cable section having opposite ends, each of said cable section ends being connected to one of said rudder mechanisms so that longitudinal movement of the cable section acts to generally simultaneously rotate both rudders to generally the same angle so as to steer the sailboat, and
- b) a manually operable control mechanism supported on the sailboat and having a manually movable control element, said control element being in position to be accessible to and movable by a user on the deck, said control element being operatively connected to the cable unit so that movement of said element by the user imparts desired longitudinal movement to the cable section, rotation of the rudders, and resultant steering of the sailboat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.