US 6,371,037 B1 · Sail furling system

Abstract

A roller furling system for sailing yachts contains a rotating mandrel mounted within a boom of the vessel, and furls or reefs the sail within the boom. The furler includes the hollow boom which has a slot on the upper surface to permit the sail to enter, foot first. A rotating mandrel is mounted within the boom and a drum, attached to the after end of the boom and concentric with the mandrel, provides means to rotate the mandrel. A winding line is wound around the drum and is redirected by a series of pulleys out of the forward end of the boom. The boom is mounted on, and above a gooseneck fitting attached to the mast, thereby providing full access to the mast end of the boom slot. A sail feeder provides easy entry of the sail into the boom slot, and prevents jamming, particularly jamming caused by the forward end of the sail battens. The feeder has two sides along the boom slot, and an end piece, which prevents the batten ends from jamming above the end of the boom slot. The luff of the sail is attached to a luff extrusion having a U-shaped cross section, which rotates about an axis close to, and parallel to the mast to which it is attached. The weight of the drum and pulleys at the after end of the mast is supported by a boom vang. An offset halyard box is also used at the top of the luff extrusion to maintain an efficient airfoil. In an alternate embodiment, the drum is caused to rotate by a motor located in proximity to the drum, and coupled by a gear reduction train.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A sail furling system, for furling a sailboat sail attachable to a mast, comprising:

(a) a hollow boom having a longitudinal axis, an upper surface, a forward end and an after end, with a boom slot along the upper surface, and further comprising:
(i) a mandrel mounted within the boom, further comprising an after end and a forward end;
(ii) a drum, concentric with the mandrel, and affixed to the after end thereof;
(iii) means to affix a sail to the mandrel;
(iv) means to rotate the drum within the boom,
(b) a rotatable boom coupling, affixed at one end below the forward end of the boom, and affixed at the other end to the mast, creating a transverse axis of rotation thereby, said coupling further comprising a vertical axis of rotation substantially parallel to the mast, and
(c) a sail feeder, further comprising:
i) two side pieces, affixed on either side of the boom slot, and extending upwards along a forward end of the boom slot;
ii) an end piece, disposed between the boom slot and the mast, attached to each of the side pieces and to the boom itself,
the two side pieces and the end piece forming a un-shaped structure when viewed from above, so that the sail is guided into the boom slot by the sail feeder as the sail exits from the bottom of the luff extrusion, so that the entire boom slot is exposed, and whereby, when the drum is rotated, the sail is furled about the mandrel within the boom.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Sail furling system

Life of this patent

Sail furling system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19