Patent ID: 9656726
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: B63B

Claim:
1. An inflatable craft, comprising: at least one inflatable sponson forming two opposing elongate members, comprised of substantially parallel rearward portions and frontward portions that converge towards a front of the sponson to form a bow; a transom linking the rearward portions of said elongate members, said transom configured to receive at least one motor or engine, each of said elongate members comprising, at least in the substantially parallel rearward portions thereof, plural tubular compartments that each have a substantially circular cross-section, one of said tubular compartments being an upper compartment, and another one of said tubular compartments being a lower compartment arranged longitudinally next to said upper compartment along a lower circumferential area of said upper compartment, said upper compartment having a cross-section greater than that of said lower compartment, said lower compartment held against said upper compartment by a flexible side shell that is made from cloth or fabric, said flexible side shell at least partially surrounding said lower compartment and is firmly fixed to said upper compartment, said flexible side shell being secured tangentially to said upper and lower compartments on an outer side of the elongate member; and a longitudinal keel arranged between a first structural element forming a floor of the inflatable craft and a second structural element that forms a watertight bottom of the inflatable craft, the floor being held, at least in a transverse direction, along said two elongate members, and said bottom being connected to peripheral edges of said floor, said longitudinal keel tensioning said bottom such that a hull of the inflatable craft formed by said bottom, tensioned by said longitudinal keel, is V-shaped, wherein two flaps, made from waterproof cloth or fabric, are attached in a watertight manner in a tensioned state, substantially symmetrically on either side of said longitudinal keel, each flap respectively arranged under one of two rear side portions of said V-shaped hull, each flap having an outer side edge along which said flap is connected to a lower portion of a corresponding lower compartment or a lower portion of said flexible side shell covering said corresponding lower compartment, and each flap having an inner side edge along which said flap is connected to said bottom along a line extending from a rear of the inflatable craft to a front of the inflatable craft and angled towards said lower compartment, a width of said flap tapering gradually from a tensioned, free rear edge thereof, proximate to said transom, to a front portion of said flap that is connected to at least one of said bottom, said corresponding lower compartment, and said flexible side shell covering said corresponding lower compartment, at a connection between said upper and lower compartments, each flap defining, with said corresponding lower compartment and said bottom, a channel converging from said front of the inflatable craft to said rear of the inflatable craft and angled towards a rear end of a ridge of said V-shaped hull, said channel configured to guide and accelerate a flow of water towards an area situated under a central portion of said transom and to increase lift of a rear portion of said V-shaped hull.