Patent Abstract:
Sail handling system and associated methods for sail raising, dousing, reefing, and stowing when operating sail-powered craft. The present invention allows these operations to be carried out single-handed from the safety of the cockpit in a wide range of wind and water conditions. The sail shape can be controlled continuously at any position as the sail is raised and lowered, offering a much wider range of sail configurations to suit wind conditions. The sail can self-fold/pleat neatly on top of the boom when lowered, ready to be covered. Preferred embodiments of the system incorporate one or more self-adjusting lazy jacks.

Full Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]     The present non-provisional patent Application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 60/649,940, filed on Feb. 4, 2005, by Ma and titled SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE SAIL HANDLING SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS SAIL CONTROL TO BE CARRIED OUT SINGLE-HANDED FROM THE SAFETY OF THE COCKPIT, wherein the entirety of said provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to an improvement in sail raising, dousing, and stowing. It allows these operations to be carried out single-handed from the safety of the cockpit. The sail shape can be controlled continuously at any position as the sail is raised and lowered, offering a much wider range of sail configurations to suit wind conditions. The sail can self-fold/pleat neatly on top of the boom as lowered, ready to be covered.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     A conventional main sail set-up in the representative form of Bermudan rig  1  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The rig  1  includes a mast  2 , boom  3 , and sail  4  rigged to the mast  2  and boom  3 . The sail  4  includes a leading edge or luff  5 , a bottom edge or foot  6 , a trailing edge or leech  7 , a lower forward comer or tack  8 , a lower rear corner or clew  9 , and a top corner or head  10 . The sail is raised or lowered by controlling tension on the halyard  11 .  
         [0004]     Sail handling further involves operations such as partially lowering and reefing sail  4  when underway. This reduces the effective size of the sail  4  for de-powering depending upon wind conditions. As sail  4  is lowered, the sail tends to fold, collapse, or otherwise lose its shape unless tension is maintained along leech  7 . Conventionally, leech tension is restored by tying off reef points  12  at boom  3 . Sail  4  may include one or several lines of reef points  12 . For purposes of illustration, sail  4  includes a single line of these.  
         [0005]     The lowering of sail  4  typically requires at least one crew member to be on the deck in any weather conditions to fold/pleat or otherwise gather the sail  4  manually along the boom  3  and then tie it down using sail ties via the reef points  12 . This operation has been awkward at least and often is dangerous in a rising sea and in windy conditions. Sail lowering also is a difficult and risky activity when sailing short handed, especially single-handed. This method of sail lowering also is uncontrolled, relying mainly on gravity. The loose sail itself is a hazard and may injure or knock crew overboard, block the view, fall onto the deck affecting the performance of other duty, and/or fall overboard into the water.  
         [0006]     The lazy jack systems (not shown) are an inexpensive way to control a main sail and boom when lowering a sail. A wide variety of lazyjack systems are known, but all generally are intended to help support the main sail up on the boom, out of the way, until the sail is folded and covered. Lazy jacks are effective for fully battened sails. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,281, for example, uses lazy jacks to guide the sail when it is lowered and uses a sail cover (bag) to catch the sail. U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,842 constructs a multiple-line lazy jack on each side of the sail to form essentially a basket or nest to effectively catch the sail as the sail is lowered. Inconveniently, the height of the lazy jack lines of this system are not self adjusted with the falling sail. The sail also lacks a self-flaking system. This highlights a drawback of the lazyjack systems in that the sail still needs to be folded/pleated manually along the boom.  
         [0007]     The roller furling system offers another way to manage sail handling. In these systems, a sail can be furled around a mast or boom. These furling systems have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,371,037 and 4,057,023. Both forms of this technology, boom furling or mast furling, are relatively convenient to use. They do not require crew to leave the cockpit to operate. However, they are expensive, require complete replacement of the existing rigging system, and they affect sail shape especially in light air. In addition, furling is not as suitable as might be desired for battened sails.  
         [0008]     Other sail handling systems are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,506 uses two or more lines threaded back and forth through vertically aligned rings in the sail to fold and hold the sail on to the boom when it is lowered. This system is for a fully battened sail and requires sail cover modification.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,750 uses luff shackles and leach flaking devices to pleat the sail. U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,952 flakes the sail using brailing lines to suspend the sail leech to the topping line. However, these two systems lack a mechanism to prevent side blowing of the sail when not tied to the boom.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     This invention provides a sail handling system and associated methods for sail raising, dousing, and stowing when operating sail-powered craft. The present invention allows these operations to be carried out single-handed from the safety of the cockpit in a wide range of wind and water conditions. The sail can self-fold/pleat neatly on top of the boom when lowered, ready to be covered. Preferred embodiments of the system incorporate one or more self-adjusting lazy jacks. The system is useable for many types of sails, including fully battened, short battened, no battens; main, jib, Bermudan or Marconi rigs, lug sails, sprit rig sails, combinations of these, and others.  
         [0011]     The system may be easily fit onto new or existing rigging systems without alteration of existing rigging. In other words, the system adds to, but need not supplant existing rigging components. This invention is non-intrusive to conventional sailing activity, i.e. friendly to conventional sail reefing operation. Thus, this invention can be seamlessly employed or detached with no impact on the normal sail operation. This invention is simple, easy to handle, economical, and light weight.  
         [0012]     In one aspect, the present invention relates to a sail handling system comprising at least one control line routed along a leech and a head of a sail in a manner such that a tension on the at least one control line helps to support the leech and exerts a downward force on the sail head.  
         [0013]     In another aspect, the present invention relates to a sail head bridge. The bridge includes at least one bar member and at least one block attached to the bar member. Bridge is attached to a head of a sail in a manner such that the bridge moves up and down with the sail head.  
         [0014]     In another aspect, the present invention relates to methods of using the sail handling system and/or the bridge for sail handling. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional, Bermudan main sail rig of the prior art.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows hardware components and rope basket lines of a sail handling system of the present invention incorporated into a Bermudan main sail rig.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows the sail head bridge used in the sail handling system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0018]      FIGS. 4   a  though  4   d  show how a control line is incorporated into the sail handling system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0019]      FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  show how sail lowering is carried out using the modified Bermudan rig of  FIGS. 2, 3 , and  4   a  through  4   d.    
         [0020]      FIG. 6   a  shows an alternative embodiment of a sail handling system of the present invention incorporated into a Bermudan main sail rig that includes additional side rope rails/lazy jacks and sail catching rope nests/baskets on each side of the sail.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6   b  shows the sail head bridge used in the sail handling system of  FIG. 6   a.    
         [0022]      FIG. 7   a  shows an alternative embodiment of a sail handling system of the present invention incorporated into a Bermudan main sail rig invention that uses multiple control lines.  
         [0023]      FIG. 7   b  shows the sail head bridge used in the sail handling system of  FIG. 7   a.    
         [0024]      FIG. 8   a  shows an alternative embodiment of a sail handling system of the present invention incorporated into a Bermudan main sail rig invention that uses multiple control lines with additional side rope rails/lazy Jacks and side sail catching rope nests/baskets on each side of sail.  
         [0025]      FIG. 8   b  shows the sail head bridge used in the sail handling system of  FIG. 8   a.    
         [0026]      FIG. 9   a  shows an alternative embodiment of a sail handling system of the present invention incorporated into a Bermudan main sail rig using additional side rope rails/lazy Jacks and side sail catching rope nests/baskets on each side of sail.  
         [0027]      FIG. 9   b  shows the sail head bridge used in the sail handling system of  FIG. 9   a.   
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]     The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention.  
         [0029]     The present invention can be used to enhance sail handling and control of a wide range of sailing rigs. For purposes of illustration,  FIGS. 2 through 5   b  illustrate use of one embodiment of a sail handling system  20  of the present invention with respect to a Bermudan rig  22 . The rig  22  includes a mast  24 , boom  26 , and sail  28  rigged to the mast  24  and boom  26 . A portion  29  of sail  28  has been removed for purposes of illustration to allow components of system  20  to be seen more readily on the other side of sail  28 . The sail  28  includes a leading edge or luff  30 , a bottom edge or foot  32 , a trailing edge or leech  34 , a lower forward comer or tack  36 , a lower rear comer or clew  38 , and a top comer or head  40 . The luff  30  is attached to the mast  24  via luff hanks  46 . Luff hanks  46  are attached to sail  28  via grommets  45 . Luff hanks  46  are also slidably coupled to mast  24  for smooth raising and lowering of sail  28 . The sail is raised or lowered by controlling tension on the halyard  42  led to head  40  through halyard block  44  fixed to the top of mast  24 . Deck block  49  directs the main halyard toward the cockpit for easy operation.  
         [0030]     System  20  also includes an optional, but preferred, lazy jack functionality that helps to gather and support lowered portions of the sail  28  at the boom  26 . As the sail is lowered, the folds, or pleats, of sail  28  gather in “rope baskets” provided by the system  20 . The lazy jack functionality is self-adjusting, and, therefore, is retained regardless of sail position.  
         [0031]     System  20  is easy to fit or retrofit onto a new or existing rig  22 , as its hardware and rigging components are easily attached to rig  22  with minimal modifications being required. Advantageously, the sail handling system  20  is fit or retrofit to a new or existing rig without any alternation of the original rigging. The system can be used with a wide variety of sails, including main, jib, or other sails that are full, short, battened, boomed, boomless, batten-less, and the like. The system does not interfere with sail shape, but rather helps maintain useful sail shape over a wider range of positions than is available with conventional rigs. Thus, system  20  is simple to implement as well as simple to use.  
         [0032]     In more detail, system  20  includes a bi-directional, auto stopping winch  52  that is used for taking in and paying out a portion  53  of leech tension control line  54  from the safety of the cockpit (not shown) while raising or lowering the sail  28 . The bi-directional auto-stop winch  52  helps to take in and pay out the control line  54  and provide suitable tension to the line to prevent it from tangling up. Winch  52  is conveniently mounted to a deck or cockpit top. The attachment is desirably reinforced sufficiently to handle loads from line  54 . Deck block  55  takes the control line  54  from winch  52  and sends the line upward to the sail head bridge  56 . Sail head bridge  56  advantageously moves upward and downward with head  40  of sail  28  and serves as a dynamic control point for rigging lines to be routed to and from sail head  40  regardless of the hoisted position of sail head  40 . The ability of bridge  56  to follow head  40  up and down is an important factor in maintaining leech tension as well as in allowing the lazy jack functionality to be self adjusting. Preferably, therefore, sail head bridge  56  is most desirably attached to sail head  40 , although bridge  56  could be slidably coupled to mast  24 . Aft boom block  58  redirects the control line  54  from boom elevation upward to the head bridge  56 . Terminal  60  is used to fasten the fixed end of the control line  54 . Blocks  62  and  64  are hardware constituents of the self adjusting, lazyjack functionality. These blocks  62  and  64  are attached to lines  66  and  68 , respectively. Lines  66  and  68 , in turn, are attached to boom  26 . Rope baskets are thus formed at least in part by lines  66  and  68  on each side of boom  26  for gathering lowered portions of sail  28  as will be described further below.  
         [0033]     Leech hanks  67  are attached to leech  34  and help guide line  54  along leech  34 . As shown in the Figures, the leech hanks  67  desirably are long enough to let the sail  28  take its shape freely when loaded with wind. On the other hand, leech hanks  67  are desirably short enough to confine the leech movement when the sail  28  is loose. By way of example, leech hanks  67  having a length of  15  cm have been found to be suitable for an exemplary sail have an area of 140 ft 2 , a foot having a length of 10 ft, a luff having a length of 28 ft. and a leech having a length of 31 ft.  
         [0034]     Preferably, each leech hank  67  is preferably matched to a corresponding luff hank  46  so that each leech hank  67  and luff hank  46  of a corresponding pair are at the same height above boom  26 . In other words, an imaginary line connecting each leech hank  67  and its corresponding luff hank is preferably parallel to boom  26  when a portion of sail  28  including the pair is raised. This correspondence is shown by the interconnecting dotted lines among corresponding hanks  67  and  46  in the Figures. This correspondence greatly facilitates self-folding/pleating of the sail  28  as sail  28  is lowered.  
         [0035]      FIG. 3  shows features of sail head bridge  56  in more detail. Bridge  56  includes bar member  70  having first end  72  positioned relatively proximal to luff  30  and second end  74  positioned relatively proximal to leech  34 . Luff block  76  is pivotably mounted to first end  72 , and leech block  78  is pivotably mounted to second end  74 . Shackle  80  is attached to bar member  70  at a convenient location intermediate between ends  72  and  74 . Shackle  80  may be used to attach bridge  56  to sail head  40 . The halyard  42  may also be attached directly to shackle  80  if desired, or alternatively directly to sail head  40 . Bridge  56  helps to manage control line traffic at the sail head  40 . The length of the bar member  70  and the location of the shackle preferably are selected such that luff block  76  sticks out from the luff  30  while leech block  78  is positioned rearward a short distance from leech  34 .  
         [0036]      FIGS. 4   a  through  4   d  best illustrate how sail handling system  20  is rigged. As will become apparent from the following discussion, control line  54  advantageously performs many functions within system  20 . Referring first to  FIG. 4   a , control line  54  is routed from the cockpit to winch  52 . Line  54  leaves winch  52  and is routed through deck block  55 . By passing deck block  55  and going upward, it reaches luff block  76  on bridge  56 . Luff block  76  directs line  54  back down towards block  62 .  
         [0037]     As shown in  FIG. 4   b , block  62  directs line  54  aft towards boom block  58 . Boom block  58 , in turn, directs line  54  up along leech  34 .  
         [0038]     As shown in  FIG. 4c , line  54  follows leech  34  upward towards leech block  78  of bridge  56 . Line  54  is routed through each of luff hanks  67  along leech  34 . This allows line  54  to be tensioned as desired to control leech tension. At the head of the sail  28 , leech block  78  helps direct line  54  downward toward block  64 . Thus, tension on line  54  lifts block  62  (and block  64  on the other side of sail  28 ), causing line  66  (and line  68 ) to form a rope basket constituent of a lazy jack system.  
         [0039]     As shown in  FIG. 4   d , block  64  helps to direct line  54  back at terminal  60  where the end of line  54  is secured. Respective portions of line  54  extending aft toward block  58  or terminal  60  from blocks  62  and  64 , as the case may be, thus provide respective rope rails for additional sail catching nest/basket functionality along the boom  26  as part of the lazy jack system. Because line  54  is attached to bridge  56 , which moves up and down with sail head  40 , the resultant lazyjacks continuously self-adjust as the sail  28  is raised and lowered. Additionally, by selecting the length of lines  66  and  68 , the location of attachment points of these lines along the boom  26 , and/or the location of attachment points of blocks  62  and  64  on these lines, one can easily adjust and achieve optimal sail catching/gathering over the boom  26 .  
         [0040]     Another rope rail is formed by portions of line  54  that extend along leech  34  in the preferred embodiment. This rail confines the movement of the leech hanks  67  at all times. This rail also helps to prevent the leech  34  from falling away from the boom  26  when the sail  28  is lowered.  
         [0041]     System  20  is easy to use and most if not all sail handling operations can take place single handed from the safety of the cockpit.  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  illustrate sail  28  being completely lowered. As a preparation step, it is preferred to sail the boat into the wind, as has been done conventionally. In order to lower the sail, one releases the halyard  42  while maintaining a tension on the halyard  42  to prevent the sail  28  from falling freely. At the same time, winch  52  takes in and maintains some tension in control line  54 . As shown in  FIG. 5   a , the tension of line  54  can be moderate for sail dousing. With halyard  42 , the head  40  and bridge  56  are pulled down under the downward force exerted by line  54 . The lazy jacks and rope rails formed by line  54  along the boom  26  self-adjust automatically. The leech section of the control line  54 , or leech rail, takes a new angle, but is shortened as well. The lowered sail  28  is therefore being confined within boundaries formed by the two lines  66  and  68  (functioning as lazy jacks), the rope rails formed by portions of line  54  extending aft of blocks  62  and  64  to the end of boom  26 , and the leech rail portion of line  54 . Within the limited space of these boundaries, the lowered sail takes a natural wavy shape with the help from each of the leech-luff hank pair alignments, as well as the fabric conformability of the sail  28  itself.  
         [0042]     Referring now to  FIG. 5   b , while continuing to take in the control line  54  while maintaining some halyard tension, the head  40  will come down toward the boom  26  with corresponding leech hank and luff hank pairs aligned with each other. As a consequence, the sail  28  self-pleats/folds and gathers within the cradle/basket of the lazy jacks and rope rails over top of the boom  26 . The sail  28  is therefore well nested on the boom  28 , ready for the sail cover (not shown).  
         [0043]     For reefing, the sail  28  is only partially lowered. Also, more tension is maintained in line  54  in order to tension the leech appropriately and thereby establish good sail shape in the reefed sail. If sea conditions require reefing, the reef points  33  are fastened to the boom  26 . Because the pleated sail  28  is well supported by its rope supports, this is safer to do than with a conventional sail rig.  
         [0044]     Raising the sail  28  is also simple. One uses the halyard  42  to pull up the head  40  of the sail  28  while letting the winch  52  pay out the control line  54 . As the sail  28  gradually moves up, the control line  54  is extended accordingly. The auto stop mechanism of the winch  52  can maintain a proper level of tension on the control line  54 . This helps to avoid having an excessive amount of line  54  foul or otherwise entangle the sail  28  or other hardware or rigging. In short, the system  20  of this embodiment allows sail raising to occur in a conventional manner and its presence is transparent to the user. On the other hand, if in some urgent situations the sail  28  needs to be lowered quickly, the only task that needs to be done is to release the halyard  42  and let the sail  28  drop. There is no need to deal with the control line  54  at that moment and it will fall together with the sail  28 .  
         [0045]     In order to test the operability of the invention, the Bermudan main sail of a MacGregor  26  sailboat was rigged in accordance with the principles of system  20  described herein. Sail raising and lowering were performed successfully from the cockpit in 15 to 20 knots windy conditions.  
         [0046]     An alternative embodiment of a sail handling system  120  is shown in  Figs.6   a  and  6   b  fitted to Bermudan rig  122 . Features of rig  122  similar to that of rig  20  described above are identified by a similar reference numeral incremented by 100. Thus, whereas rig  20  includes mast  24  and boom  26 , rig  122  includes mast  124  and boom  126 , etc. However, as compared to system  20  described above, system  120  includes additional, self-adjusting lazy jack functionality added to each side of the sail  128  to enhance the sail catching performance of the device. A modified bridge  156  also is included to handle the additional rigging traffic at sail head  140 . Specifically, the additional lazy jack functionality is accomplished with additional blocks  169  (starboard side) and  171  (port side) and lines  186  (starboard side) and  188  (port side).  
         [0047]     The modified bridge  156  is seen best in  FIG. 6   b . Bridge  156  includes starboard and port bar members  170  and  177 . A starboard, mid-bridge, starboard block  190  is mounted to starboard bar member  170 , and a second mid-bridge, port block  191  is mounted to port bar member  177 . Bridge  156  further includes luff block  176 , leech block  178 , and shackle  180 .  
         [0048]     In this embodiment, control line  154  still goes through blocks  155 ,  176 , and then  162 . However, instead of going back directly to aft boom block  158  as was the case for system  20 , line  154  goes up to block  190  on the bridge  156  and comes back down toward block  169  to form one more lazyjack on the starboard side of the sail  128 . Leaving block  169  and  158 , line  154  turns back up and goes through the leech hanks  167  to arrive at block  178  to complete the leech rail as before.  
         [0049]     On the port side of the sail  128 , line  154  comes down from block  178 . Line  154  goes through block  164  and turns back up to block  191  to form a first lazy jack. Line  154  comes down from block  191 , goes through block  171 , and then terminates at terminal  160  to finish the second lazy jack and the rope rail. With one more lazy jack on each side and the resultant denser rope nest, the system  120  can catch/gather sail  128  on the boom  126  more effectively.  
         [0050]     Instead of using a single control line  54  or  154 , multiple control lines can be used. Such an alternative embodiment of a sail handling system  220  fitted to rig  222  is shown in  Figs.7   a  and  7   b , where features in common with system  20  are identified by the same reference numeral incremented by  200  except as expressly noted herein. System  222  is identical to system  20  except (a) starboard and port control lines  254  and  257 , respectively, are used instead of a single control line  54 ; (b) an additional port deck block  259  is used to help direct line  257 ; and (c) a modified bridge  256  is used.  FIG. 6   b  shows single winch  252  being used to handle both control lines  254  and  257 , but separate winches can be used for each of lines  254  and  257  if desired.  
         [0051]     The modified bridge  256  is shown in  FIG. 7   b . Bridge  256  includes starboard and port bar members  270  and  277 , respectively. A starboard, luff block  276  is mounted to bar member  270 , and a port luff block  279  is mounted to bar member  277 . Bridge  256  further includes shackle  280  and one or more line attachments  278  proximal to the sail leech  234 .  
         [0052]     One can see in  FIG. 7   a  that the starboard control line  254  goes through block  255 , block  276 , and block  262  to form a starboard lazy jack. Line  254  then passes through aft boom block  258  and goes up through part or all leech hanks  267  to terminate at an attachment  290  on bridge  256 , which completes the rope rail on the starboard side and at least a portion of the leech rail. Line  257  does the same on the port side of the sail  228  to complete port lazy jack and rope rail there. It also goes up from block  258  and passes part or all leech hanks  267  to terminate at attachment  278  on bridge  256 .  
         [0053]     The embodiment of system  320  shown in  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b  is similar to system  120  shown in  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  with similar features being identified by the same reference numerals incremented by  200 . However, system  320  uses separate starboard and port control lines  354  and  357 . Additionally, system  320  includes an additional port deck block  359  to help guide control line  357 . Further, a modified bridge  356  suitable for system  320  is seen best in  FIG. 8   b . Bridge  356  is similar to bridge  156  except that bridge  356  further includes starboard luff block  376  and luff block  379 . The leech end of bar members  370  and  377  provide an attachment point  378  for the control lines  354  and  357 , respectively.  
         [0054]     More specifically, port control line  357  goes through deck block  359 , then through block  379  on the bridge  356 , and then through block  364  to form the first lazy jack. Line  357  then goes up to mid bridge block  391  and comes back to lazy jack block  371  to form the second lazyjack. From block  371 , line  357  proceeds to aft boom block  358 . From block  358 , line  357  ends at attachment  378  after passing through all or part of leech hanks  367 . Hence, line  357  finishes the port side formation of the rope rail and the leech rail system. Starboard control line  354  is routed through winch  352 , blocks  355 ,  376 ,  362 ,  390 ,  369 , and  358 , leech hanks  367 , and is secured at attachment  378  in a similar fashion.  
         [0055]     Another embodiment of a sail handling system  420  is shown in  FIGS. 9   a  and  9   b . System  420  is similar to system  220  of  FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  with similar features being identified by the same reference numerals incremented by  200 , except system  420  includes additional blocks  461  and  463 . These additional blocks  461  and  463  allow portions of starboard control line  454  to perform the lazy jack function via portions of line  454  constituting lazy jack lines  466  and  468 . In this case, unlike in  FIG. 7   a , after control line  454  leaves block  462  (upper roller), it goes to aft boom block  461 . In stead of going directly up from block  461  along leech  434  to terminate at the bridge  456 , starboard control line  454  heads for starboard lazy jack block  463 . From this block, line  454  is split. One portion  454  is routed back through lazy jack block  462  and is secured to boom  426  by point  482  to form starboard lazy jack suspension  466 , while the other split is routed through lazy jack block  464  and is secured to boom  426  at a point similar to point  482  to from port side lazyjack suspension  468 . When sail  428  is lowered, the shortened control line  454  reduces the lengths of lazy jack suspensions  466  and  468  such that the sail catching/gathering basket/cradle/nest shrinks along with the lowered sail. In the meantime, port control line  457  is routed in a similar fashion as port control line  257  of  FIG. 7   a , terminating at  478  of bridge  456 . The bridge assembly for this case is shown in  FIG. 9   b.    
         [0056]     Other embodiments of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of this specification or from practice of the invention disclosed herein. Various omissions, modifications, and changes to the principles and embodiments described herein may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention which is indicated by the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1