Abstract:
A watercraft for towing a performer equipped with a water sport implement having a support surface on a deck thereof adapted to support a water sport implement and a performer of the water sport for the performer to put on the water sport implement.  
     A first abutment is secured to the watercraft and protrudes with respect to the support surface of the watercraft, such that a water sport implement laid on the support surface is abutted against the first abutment when a performer is putting on the water sport implement.

Description:
[0001]    The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application of Eck et al., Serial No. 60/458,368, filed Mar. 31, 2003, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention generally relates to water sports and, more particularly, to watercraft used for towing a performer of the water sport.  
           [0004]    2. Background Art  
           [0005]    One popular form of water sport has a performer towed by a watercraft skimming the surface of the water. The performer so towed performs a slalom motion with respect to the path of the watercraft, performs aerial manoeuvres, for example, by using the wake of the watercraft, or simply follows the path of the watercraft.  
           [0006]    Water sport implements used for such water sports come in various types. Two well known implements amongst these types are water skis and wakeboards. Water skis come in pairs, or as monoskis, wherein both feet are secured to one ski. As a general rule, when a pair of skis is used, both feet are generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the ski, and when a monoski is used, the forefoot is generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the ski. Wakeboards have less of an elongated shape than skis, and are used with both feet planted generally transversely to the longitudinal axis of the board. While greater speeds can be attained with skis, wakeboards are more frequently used to perform the aerial manoeuvres.  
           [0007]    Both these water sport implements have bindings in order to secure the feet of the performer to the board/ski. Taking into consideration the forces resulting from the skimming of the water sport implement on the water and the speeds attained by the watercraft, the bindings must ensure that the performer is safely anchored onto the water sport implement. Therefore, some bindings completely cover/wrap the feet of the performer. Putting on the bindings includes fitting the feet. into the bindings and adjusting the bindings to obtain a suitable anchoring so as to prevent dislodging of the feet of the performer while being towed by the watercraft. The performer usually prefers leaning on a solid surface to put on the bindings. The performer may, for instance, be docked before his performance, or may use the deck of the watercraft to put on the bindings of the water sport implement. In this latter case, the watercraft is not always very stable, making it difficult to put on the bindings. The performer may also slip into the bindings while being kept afloat by a buoyant jacket, but this involves some skill, and could result in the feet not being suitably anchored to the water sport implement. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an apparatus to aid a performer in putting on a water sport implement.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0008]    It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a system to aid a water sport performer in putting on water sport implements.  
           [0009]    It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a method for installing the system to a watercraft.  
           [0010]    Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a system for providing support to a water sport performer in putting on a binding of a water sport implement on a watercraft, comprising an abutment, and a fastener for securing the abutment in a given position with respect to a support surface of a deck of a watercraft with the abutment protruding from the support surface of the watercraft, such that a water sport implement laid on the support surface is abutted against the abutment for providing stability to a performer in putting on a binding of the water sport implement.  
           [0011]    Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a watercraft for towing a performer equipped with a water sport implement to skim the surface of a body of water, comprising a watercraft actuatable to tow a performer, the watercraft having a support surface on a deck thereof adapted to support a water sport implement and a performer of the water sport for the performer to put on the water sport implement, and a first abutment secured to the watercraft and protruding with respect to the support surface of the watercraft, such that the water sport implement laid on the support surface is abutted against the first abutment for providing stability to a performer in putting on a binding of the water sport implement.  
           [0012]    Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for installing a system for providing support to a water sport performer in putting on a binding of a water sport implement on a support surface of a watercraft, comprising the steps of: i) providing a first abutment and a fastener; and ii) fastening the first abutment with the fastener in a given position with respect to the support surface of the watercraft with the first abutment protruding with respect to the support surface of the watercraft, such that a water sport implement laid on the support surface is abutted against the first abutment for providing stability to the performer putting on a binding of the water sport implement. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof and in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a watercraft having a water sport implement leverage system in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the watercraft of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is an.enlarged top rear perspective view of a stern of the watercraft, illustrating the leverage system of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is a top rear perspective view of a protruding abutment of the leverage system of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a top side rear perspective view of a water-sport implement retained for leverage in the leverage system of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a top side rear perspective view of another water sport implement retained for leverage in the leverage system of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial rear elevational view of the stern of the watercraft with the water sport implement of FIG. 6 thereon;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a personal watercraft having the leverage system of the present invention; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the personal watercraft of the FIG. 8. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a watercraft, having a water sport implement leverage system in accordance with the present invention, is generally shown at  10 . The watercraft  10  has a bow B, a stern S, a port P and a starboard D. The watercraft  10  has two main parts, namely a hull  12  and a deck  14 . The hull  12  buoyantly supports the watercraft  10  in the water., The deck  14  has a recessed passenger area  16  designed to accommodate passengers. The hull  12  and the deck  14  are drawn together at bond line  18 . An engine (not shown) is disposed between the hull  12  and the deck  14 . The engine is operatively coupled to a propulsion unit (not shown) to propel the watercraft  10 .  
         [0024]    An aft portion of the watercraft  10 , between the recessed passenger area  16  and the stern S, defines a generally planar surface  20 . Edge portions  21 , affixed with a “D” or a “P” in FIG. 2 to indicate respectively the starboard side or the port side, protrude upwardly from the planar surface  20 . It is pointed out that like elements positioned on opposed sides of the watercraft  10  will be affixed with letters “D” and “P” in the figures to indicate the starboard side or the port side. An engine cover  22  sits on the edge portions  21 , and is hinged to the deck  14  for engine access. The engine cover  22  has a padded portion  23  (FIG. 2) to accommodate a person in a sitting or lying position when the watercraft  10  is not in operation.  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 3, the surface  20  is shown from a stern view, and has a pair of handles  24  bridging depressions  26 . The handles  24  are coplanar with the surface  20 , and are provided to help bathers climb into the watercraft  10 . The water sport implement leverage system in accordance with the present invention has a protruding abutment  32  aft of the surface  20 . The abutment  32  is atop a tail  33  protruding aft in the deck  14 . Abutments  34  are provided at aftmost edges of the edge portions  21 . As shown in FIG. 3, the deck  14  is shown having slanted edge portions  36  between the surface  20  and the bond line  18 .  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 4, the protruding abutment  32  is shown having an elongated shape of oblong horizontal cross- section, and also shows slight flaring from top to bottom (e.g., also referred to as a grommet). The protruding abutment  32  consists of a resilient material, such as a rubber or other such polymer, and is preferably fixed to the surface  20  of the watercraft  10 , for instance, by way of fasteners, such as bolts and nuts, rivets or the like, or of a suitable adhesive. The tail  33  is shown defining a depression  42  that accommodates a bottom of the protruding abutment  32 . The protruding abutment  32  could also be secured directly onto the surface  20 . The abutments  34  have a similar configuration and are also fixed to the watercraft  10 . The abutments  34  are at the intersection of the surface  20  and the edge portions  21 .  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a method of using the leverage system of the present invention to slip into bindings of water sport implements. In FIG. 5, a wakeboard  50  is illustrated having bindings  52 . The wakeboard  50  also defines a fin on its underside, yet not visible in FIG. 5. In order to use the leverage system of the present invention, the wakeboard  50  is laid onto the surface  20  of the deck  14 . Opposed longitudinal edges of the wakeboard  50  are held between the protruding abutment  32  and one of the abutments  34 , i.e., the abutment  34 P in FIG. 5. In this captive position of the wakeboard  50  with respect to the abutments  32  and  34 , a performer (not shown) has the wakeboard  50  immobilized so as to slip his left foot into the corresponding binding  52 , the corresponding binding  52  being on the starboard side D in FIG. 5. As shown by arrows A, the wakeboard  50  is pivoted thereafter to hold the wakeboard  50  captive between the abutment  32  and the abutment  34 D so as to enable the insertion of the right foot of the performer into the free binding  52 . Obviously, the performer may perform the above-described steps in a.reverse order, with the right foot being slipped into the corresponding binding  52  first, then followed by the left foot.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIG. 6, another water sport implement, a monoski  60 , is shown held captive between the protruding abutment  32  and one of the abutments  34 , namely the abutment  34 D. The monoski  60  has a front binding  62  and a rear binding  64 . A fin  66  (FIG. 7) is provided on the bottom rear end surface of the monoski  60 . With the monoski  60  held captive by the leverage system, the performer may slip into the bindings  62  and  64  from a sitting position on the padded portion  23  of the engine cover  22 , or simply by standing on the surface  20 . The slanted edge portions  36  provide clearance for the fin  66  of the water sport implement  60  to allow the latter to be more centrally positioned on the surface  20 , and thus, e.g., enable the performer to be seated on the padded portion  23  while getting geared up with the water sport implement  60 .  
         [0029]    The above description illustrates the preferred embodiment of the leverage system of the present invention, but the latter may adopt other suitable forms. Firstly, abutments such as the abutment  32  may be provided on any generally planar surface adjacent to edges of the watercraft that could be used for slipping into water sport implements of the types described herein. It is, however, preferable to provide such a leverage system at the stern S.  
         [0030]    Although it is preferred to have more than one abutment, such as the abutments  32  and  34 , a watercraft could be suitably provided with a single abutment  32 . For example, the water sport implement could be held between the abutment  32  and a portion of the deck  14 .  
         [0031]    The abutments  34  protect the deck  14  (typically made of a fiberglass molding with paint coatings) from the edges of the water sport implement. On the other hand, it is preferred that the abutments  32  and  34  be resilient so as not to damage edges of the watercraft implements. Considering that the watercraft will be subjected to the sun and to water, the material of the abutments  32  and  34  must be chosen not to age or change characteristics prematurely under these conditions.  
         [0032]    The leverage system of the present invention, although shown and described.above for a midsize watercraft (e.g., jet boat), may also be used with a personal watercraft. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a personal watercraft having the leverage system in accordance with the present invention is generally shown at  110 . The personal watercraft  110  includes a bow B′, a stern S′, a port P′ and a starboard D′. Similarly to the watercraft  10 , the personal watercraft  110  has a hull  112  and a deck  114 , with the hull  12  buoyantly supporting the personal watercraft  110  on the water. A driver/passenger seat is generally shown at  116 . An engine (not shown) is disposed between the hull  112  and the deck  114 . The engine is operatively coupled to a propulsion unit (not shown) to propel the personal watercraft  110 .  
         [0033]    An aft portion of the personal watercraft  110 , between the passenger seat  116  and the stern S′, defines a generally planar surface  120 , where an abutment, such as the abutment  32  of the above described leverage system, may be positioned. As an example, an abutment  132  is shown protruding from the generally planar surface  120 , to provide leverage to a performer slipping into a water sport implement. A water sport implement laid on the generally planar surface  120  overhangs edges of the deck  112 , whereby the fin of the water sport implement will not interfere with the deck  112 .  
         [0034]    Although the above description contains specific examples of the present invention, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.