Manually-operated boat canopy system

A retractable canopy system for manual operation upon a boat, comprising:

• a roller member adapted to rotate upon a central axis;
• a sheet of canvas material fastened to said roller member and wrapped about the central axis thereof in a retracted state ;
• an actuator assembly operatively connected for deploying said sheet of canvas material from said roller member, said actuator assembly including a paired set of tubular members telescopically disposed and normally contained coaxially in a retracted position subject to outbound spring loading forces to promote an extended telescopic movement, a first crossbar member forwardly mounted upon the paired set of tubular members and operatively connected to said sheet of canvas material to normally maintain the retracted position of the paired set of tubular members and otherwise draw the canvas from its retracted state upon a gradual release of the extended telescopic movement of the paired set of tubular members, and a second crossbar member mounted rearward of said first crossbar member between the paired set of tubular members to move together therewith in support of the deployed sheet of canvas material;
• gear box means operatively connected to said roller member along the central axis thereof to control rotation in either direction for gradually releasing the extended telescopic movement of the paired set of tubular members thereby manually controlling deployment of said sheet of canvas material;
• and
• tab means operatively connected between said sheet of canvas material and said actuator assembly for preventing said canvas material from billowing when deployed, said tab means comprising one or more tab members made to project from said second crossbar member in position to engage said canvas material during deployment.