Patent ID: 6904861
Filing Date: 2005-06-14
Classification: B60P

Abstract:
1. A docking system for a V-shaped-bow marine vessel comprising: a trailer platform having a plurality of support surfaces that interface with the hull of said vessel upon said vessel being docked upon said trailer platform; oppositely disposed goalposts attached to said trailer platform wherein said goalposts interface with the gunwales of said vessel to thereby guide said vessel on said trailer platform upon said vessel being docked; an elastic U-shaped harness attached to opposite sides of said trailer platform and positioned to provide a length of said harness that traverses a path of said vessel upon said vessel being docked upon said trailer platform, said length of said harness being suspended to a height that interfaces the bow of said vessel by stretchable cords strung from said goalposts to said harness; and a latch attached to said bow, wherein said latch is disposed to snag said harness at a location along said length of said harness wherein said harness substantially elastically elongates and retracts to absorb the kinetic energy of said vessel and arrests motion of said vessel upon said vessel being docked upon said trailer platform, said latch defining a hook and having a spring-biased, weighted, rotatable cam that moves to an open position upon said harness contacting said cam while moving towards said hook and that snaps to a closed, latched, position upon said harness moving past said cam and entering said hook.