SAIL STORAGE AND REEFING DEVICE

Abstract: A device for reefing and storing a sail comprises a hollow mast (1), and a rotatable wind-up member (27) inside the mast to which the sail (8) may be attached. Tracks (6, 6′) and a top pulley (15a) are provided on the wind-up member for raising the sail up the wind-up member. The sail is reefed by rotating the wind-up member to wind the sail around it and draw the sail into the mast through a slot (5) in the mast. The wind-up member is usually rotatably mounted on a tensioned central wire (20) or rod.

Description: Title: "Sail Storage and Reefing Device" The present invention relates to a reefing device for reefing and storing a sail by winding the sail inside a mast. Conventionally, the main sail of a sailing boat when lowered is furled around the horizontal boom. However, arrangement is untidy and sometimes inconvenient. Australian Patent Specification 512,289 discloses a sail furling device wherein the sail is reefed by winding up the sail around a vertical rotational wind-up member held inside the mast. The vertical'edge of the sail enters the mast through a longitudinal slot. This arrangement not only allows the sail to be conveniently furled but also facilitates reefing, i.e. reduction in sail area, by drawing into the mast a desired portion of the sail. However, this arrangement suffer from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it employs a two-part swivel, one part of which slides up the slot in the mast. Such swivel is liable to become jammed. Secondly, the wind-up member is itself held in tension by means of a turn-buckle take-up. This leads to wear on the top and bottom swivel mountings of the wind-up member and possible jamminy. Also, only a single sail may be attached to the mast. It is an object of embodiments of the present. invention to mitigate these disadvantages. The present invention provides a reefing and storage device for a sail, which device comprises a hollow mast having an internal cavity and a longitudinal slot through which said sail may be drawn into said cavity for reefing and storage; a longitudinally extending wind-up member disposed within the internal cavity of said mast, the wind-up member being rotatably mounted with respect to the mast for enabling the sail to be wound around said wind-up member by rotation thereof and thereby to be drawn through said slot into said cavity; rotation means connected to said wind-up member for rotation thereof; a halyard to one end of which said sail may be attached; a guide mounted to an upper end of the wind-up member, said halyard running longitudinally of the wind-up member and around said guide; a first track being provided to said wind-up member and extending longitudinally thereof, said first track being adapted to slideably secure an edge of said sail for slideably connecting the sail to said wind-up member, whereby said sail may be raised by attaching the sail to said one end of the halyard and pulling on the other end of the halyard so as to draw the halyard around the guide and slide said sail along said first track and up said wind-up member. The guide is usually a pulley rotatably mounted on the top of the wind-up member, and sex'ires to guide the halyard. However, any conventional guide means may be used such as part-circular channels or tubes. Preferably, the wind-up member is rotatable about a tensioned fixed central wire or rod, thereby removing any need to tension the wind-up member itself. Preferably, the halyard runs -up said first track and down a second track in the wind-up member. Generally, the mast will have a cut-out near the gooseneck where the boom is attached to the mast, for use in attaching the sail to the halyard and to the first track, raising the halyard, and also for tensioning the sail. Usually, each track will be the form of a longitudinal channel in the wind-up member. At least the first channel may have re-entrant edges so as to retain a bolt rope forming part of the sail edge. The first channel may also include a cut-out opposite the mast cut-out to enable the bolt rope to be threaded into the first channel. The device may be operated as follows. The top of the sail is passed through the cut-out and attached to one end of the halyard. The sail edge is then attached to the first track and the sail is raised by pulling on the other end of the halyard, for example by drawing in a rope attached to the other end of the halyard. The sail may be furled by rotating the wind-up member using a motor, wind-up handle or other winding mechanism. Preferably, the sail is furled from the cockpit using a remote pulley arrangement. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a cross-sectional elevation of a mast embodying the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the mast with the sail in its fully extended position, Figure 3 is the same view as Figure 2 but showing the sail partially retracted into the mast, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional plan view along lines IV IV, Figure 5 is a sectional elevational view of the top of the wind-up member, Figure 6 is a sectional elevational view of a portion of the bottom of the wind-up member, Figure 7 is a cross-sectional plan view through the top track casting showing the two pulleys, and Figure 8 is a cross-secticnal view through a central portion of the wind-up member. Figure 1 shows an extruded mast 1 having therein an intermediate wall 2 dividing the mast into a forward internal cavity 3 and a rearward internal cavity 4. A vertically extending longitudinal wind-up member 27 is rotatably mounted in the rear cavity 4 for winding thereon a main sail 8. The mast 1 is provided with a head fitting 38 and the lower end of the mast is attached to the deck or keel of the boat. The rearward side of the rear cavity 4 is provided with a vertically extending slit 5 having rounded sail supporting edges through which the sail is drawn into the mast by rotation of the wind-up member 27. A cut-out section 34 is provided at the base of the mast to allow the sail to be attached to the wind-up member and for enabling the sail to be hoisted. Around the cut-out 34 is disposed a gooseneck 11 supporting the boom 42 by means of a double swivel 44. The boom has an I beam track 12 along its length and an out haul line 33 running around pulleys is attached to rear corner 31 of the sail. Out haul pulleys 32 are provided to allow correct out and down pressure on the sail. Boom topping lift 40 is attached between the rear end of boom 42 and head fitting 38. A conventional jib halyard 39 runs through the front cavity 3. The wind-up member 27 comprises a centre strut 45 having therein longitudinal channel-shaped tracks 6, 6' and 7, 7'. Each pair of tracks 6, 6' and 7, 7' is for mounting a respective sail. Thus, two sails may be attached to the wind-up member, as shown in Figure 8. Each sail track 6,7 has a cut-out 29 at a lower end Opposite mast cut-out 34 for threading bolt rope 46 attached to the front edge of the sail into the track. The centre strut 45 also comprises a central longitudinal bore to allow the wind-up member to be rotated around a wire rope 20. The wire rope 20 is secured to the head fitting 38 by means of a suadge eye, and is attached by means of a turnbuckle 36 to a lower casting 37 secured inside rear cavity 4. The wind-up member is rotatable about wire 20 by means of gear 9 bolted to the bottom of strut 45 and co-operating worm drive 10 have attached thereto handle 13. The gear and worm drive may of course be replaced by an electric reversing motor for automatic furling operation. In a preferred alternative embodiment, the gear and worm drive are replaced by a remote pulley arrangement operable from the boat cockpit. The pulley is mounted around the strut 45 opposite mast cut-out 34. An endless loop of rope passes around the pulley, through the mast cutout, and is led via idler pulleys to a winch adjacent the cockpit As shown in Figures 5 to 8, the wind-up member also comprises a top track casting 14 attached by means of bolts 48 to the top of strut 45. Mounted within the top casting 14 are two pulleys 15a and 15b mounted respectively above pairs of tracks 6, 6' and 7, 7' in recesses 17a and 17b respectively. The pulleys cr sheaves 15a and 15b are rotatably mounted on shafts 16a and 16b. Halyard 24 passes up sail track 6, around pulley 15a and down halyard track 6'. The lower end of the wind-up member 27 is shown in Figures 4 and 6 (in Figure 6, the worm drive and handle are omitted for clarity). The lower end of strut 45 is rotationally attached to lower casting 37 by means of top thrust washer 18 and bottom thrust washer 19 held between track retainer 21 and gear 9. A block and tackle 23 is provided between track retainer 21 and a main sail halyard slide 22 attached to one end of halyard 24. Lower casing 37 is held in place in the rear cavity 4 by means of screws 43. Worm drive 10 is mounted on lower casing 37 by means of bearings 49. In an alternative embodiment, a long threaded rod is attached to the slide 22, passes along the halyard track 6' and through holes in the track retainer 21 and gear 9 (or the pulley of a remote pulley arrangement). A nut and washer are attached to the free end of the rod protruding beyond the gear 9. The halyard tension is adjusted by tightening the nut. In this arrangement the gear and worm drive will be raised so as to be accessible through cut-out 34. The bottom front corner 28 of the sail is held in position by an adjustable strop 41. Alternatively, a further adjustable threaded rod arrangement such as the type just described may be used. The operation of the reefing device will now be described with particular reference to Figures 1 to 3. In Figure 1, the sail 8 is shown in the hoisted position with the top corner 26 of the sail attached to halyard 24. The halyard 24 extends around pulley 15a and down inside halyard track 6' and terminates in halyard slide 22. When the sail is to be furled, out haui line 33 is slackened and the wind-up member rotated- by means of the handle 13 or by a winch adjacent the cockpit. Rotation of the wind-up member causes the sail 8 to be wrapped around the centre strut 45, thereby drawing the sail through the slit 5 and reducing its external area. The sail may be unfurled by applying tension to line 33 and operating handle 13. The sail may be lowered by attaching a further removable halyard to slide 22 through cut-out 34, and then releasing slide 22 from block and tackle 23 ( or from the tensioning rod). The sail may then be pulled downwards along sail track 6 and removed through cut-outs 29 and 34. At the same time, halyard 24 travels around pulley 15a and down sail slide 6 until top corner 26 of the sail comes to the cut-out 34, thereby allowing it to be removed from the halyard. When a new sail is to be hoisted, the reverse procedure is adopted. Thus, the top corner of the sail is attached to the free end of halyard 24 through mast cut-out 34. The sail bolt rope is threaded into track 6 via track cut-out 29. The removable halyard is then drawn out so as to pull slide 22 downwardly in halyard track 6', and thereby hoist the sail. If necessary, a second sail may be hoisted by means of the second pair of tracks 7, 7'. This facility is useful in that it allows a further sail to be hoisted should the main sail rip in bad weather or jam in the track. The use of wire 20 to mount the wind-up member, helps prevent jamming of the wind-up member and removes the need to tension the member itself. The wind-up member, wire and lower casting 37 may be readily removed through the end of the mast for servicing. The overall arrangement is simple, convenient to use and not susceptible to jamming.

Claims: THE CLAIMS: 1. A reefing and storage device for a sail, which device comprises a hollow mast (1) having an internal cavity (4) and a longitudinal slot (5) through which said sail may be drawn into said cavity for reefing and storage; a longitudinally extending wind-up member (27) disposed within the internal cavity of said mast, the wind-up member being rotatably mounted with respect to the ntast for enabling the sail to be wound around said wind-up member by rotation thereof and thereby to be drawn through said slot into said cavity; rotation means (9,10,13) connected to said wind-up member for rotation thereof; a halyard !24) to one end of which said sail may be attached; a guide (15a) mounted to -an upper end of the wind-up member, said halyard running longitudinally of the wind-up member and around said guide; ; a first track (6) being provided to said wind-up member and extending longitudinally thereof, said first tract being adapted to slideably secure an edge of said sail for slide ably connecting the sail to said wind-up member, whereby said sail may be raised by attaching the sail to said one end of the halyard and pulling on the other end of the halyard so as to draw the halyard around the guide and slide said sail along said first track and up said wind-up member. 2. A device according to claim 1 wherein a tensioned fixed central member (20) is provided on which is rotatably mounted said wind-up member, the central member passing along a longitudinal bore in said wind-up member, and being secured at each end thereof under tension to means functionally integral with said mast. 3. A device according to claim 1 or 2 which further comprises a second track (6') provided to said wind-up member at an opposite side of said guide to said first track, whereby said halyard may run up said first track and down said second track. 4. A device according to any preceding claim which further comprises cut-out (34) in said mast, said cut-out being disposed near a gooseneck where a boom for said sail is attached to said mast, said cut-out enabling access to said cavity for attaching said sail to the halyard and to said first track. 5. A device according to claim 3 wherein said first and second tracks are each in the form of a longitudinal channel having re-entrant retaining edges. 6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein said rotation means comprises a gear (9) mounted on a lower end of said wind-up member and meshing with a worm drive (10) having a winding handle attached thereto. 7. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said rotation means comprises a further guide mounted on a lower end of said wind-up member, a winch mountable in a boat cockpit, and an endless loop for connecting said further pulley to said winch. 8. A device according to claim 3 or 5 which comprises one pair of first and second tracks (6,6'! for a first sail, and a second pair of first and second tracks (7,7') for slideably securing a second sail to said wind-up member.

Inventors: HUTTON, CARL JOSEPH MICHAEL
Applicants: HUTTON, CARL JOSEPH MICHAEL
Application year: 1981
Main classification: B63H9
IPC codes: B63H9