Improvements in and in Connection with Racing Yachts.
Year: 1899

page_text: Reprinted as amended in accordance with the decision of the Chief Examiner,
dated the 25th day of August, 1900.
[The Amendments are shown in erased and italic type.]
Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 12th Jan., 1900-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1900
Improvements in and in Connection with Racing Yachts.
I, THOMAS PATERSON, of 16, Freemason's Road, Custom House, London, E.,
Seaman, Ido hereby declare: the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The improvements in and in connection with racing yachts constituting my
invention consists, Firstly of a specially constructed form of drop-keel placed
amidships, or in other words approximately centrally of the length of the vessel,
Secondly of a pair of specially formed rudders placed fore and aft, the objects of my
invention being (a) to enable such a vessel to turn within its own length or nearly, so
after the manner of a front and hind steered velocipede, and (b) to enable such a
vessel whilst travelling to be moved in a lateral direction, or in other words to
leeward or windward, without in any way altering her head or direction of travel.
The improved drop keel constituting the first portion of my invention is of an
inverted shaped formation and consists of a whole or jointed rod or shaft passed
through a vertical passage formed in and through the hull, centrally or thereabouts
of the length and breadth of the yacht, the said rod or shaft after passing out
through the bottom of the yacht being supported by suitable stays placed beneath
and braced to the hull, and carrying at its lower end a heavily weighted metallic
plate or case, placed in alignment with the said hull, so as to offer a minimum of
resistance to its progress, and which renders the keel of T shape, and provide the
weight necessary for maintaining the balance of the yacht. The said keel rod is
provided with means whereby it may be raised or lowered, that the distance between
the said keel and hull may be varied as circumstances may require, such for instance
as when sailing in light or stormy winds.
+
In any suitable position between the said keel and the stern of the yacht I provide
a rudder which consists of a rod or shaft passing downward from the deck through
a passage formed through the hull, the upper end of the said rod being provided
with a simple or mechanical tiller for rotating the same in either direction. Upon
the lower end of the said rod is mounted a suitably shaped vertically disposed disc
which normally stands in alignment with the hull of the yacht, and operates as a
rudder, the said disc having pivotally mounted thereon a slotted balanced plate or
fin, running fore and aft. A similarly disposed like constructed rudder is provided
between the keel and the stern of the yacht, the fin upon which in combination
with the fin upon the fore rudder serving to prevent leeway when the yacht
is close hauled on a wind, and prevents the yacht from carrying a weather
helm.
In turning the yacht, the fore rudder rod would be so rotated that its dise pointed

page_text: to and cut the water in the direction in which the head of the vessel is to move,
while the aft rudder would be so rotated in a opposite direction that its disc was
placed in a position more or less at right angles with the disc of the fore rudder, the
said rudders thus operating upon both ends of the vessel after the manner of a front
and hind steered velocipede, and by means of which a yacht may be turned in little
more than its own length, the rod like formation of the keel serving as a pivot upon.
which the yacht turns. When the yacht is to be steered in the ordinary way the fore
rudder may remain stationary with its disc fore and aft, while the aft rudder disc
may be operated to act as an ordinary rudder, but when the yacht is to be steered to
windward or leeward, this may be accomplished without altering her head by placing
the fore and aft rudders parallel with each other in the proper direction.
I wish it understood that my improved keel and the particular design of, and the
system of employing fore and aft rudders, are indispensable to each other, as such
rudders could not be fixed upon a yacht having an ordinary keel by reason of their
being placed at or about one fourth of the length of the yacht from each end, and
further that a yacht could not possibly turn within anything like her own length
(as obtains with my invention) with an ordinary keel, while a yacht having only an
ordinary aft rudder could not keep her head to any course if provided with my
improved keel.
T: 1at dan of November 1900
Improvements in and in Connection with Racing Yachts.
I, THOMAS PATERSON, of 16, Freemason's Road, Custom House, London, E., Seaman, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The improvements in and in connection with racing yachts constituting my inven-
tion consist, Firstly, of a specially constructed form of drop-keel placed amidships, or
in other words approximately centrally of the length of the vessel, Secondly of a pair
of specially formed rudders placed fore and aft, the objects of my invention being (a)
to enable such a vessel to turn within its own length or nearly so, after the manner of
a front and hind steered velocipede, and (b) to enable such a vessel whilst travelling to be
moved in a lateral direction, or in other words to leeward or windward, without in any
way altering her head or direction of travel.
In order that my said invention and the manner of its operation may be fully
understood I have hereunto appended two sheets of drawings of which.
Fig. 1 Sheet 1 is the side elevation of the hull of a yacht (partly in section) to
which my improvements have been applied.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the fore-rudder, which will suffice to illustrate
the construction of the aft-rudder.
Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of Fig. 2 with its rod in section.
Fig. 4 is a much enlarged horizontal cross sectional view of the keel-stem and its
casing.
Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams hereinafter explained.
Fig. 7 Sheet 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1 viewed stern wise.
Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are diagrams hereinafter explained..

page_text: In carrying my invention into effect I form in the centre of the length and breadth,.
or thereabouts, of the hull A of a racing yacht, a suitably supported perfectly vertical
fixed passage B, preferably of elliptical formation in cross section, and which may
conveniently extend below the said hull for a distance equal to the depth of same
or thereabouts, and may be constructed of cast or wrought steel or other suitable
metal, the mouth B₁ of the said lower end being supported laterally by outside
stays C C, braced to the hull A, and if desired by other like stays running fore and
aft, as suggested by dotted lines at C². The upper end of the said passage B
may terminate level with or slightly above the deck D as may be found most
convenient.
The keel E may be formed of any number of metal plates rivetted together to form
a hollow body of suitable dimensions, pointed at each end, and of circular or elliptical
formation in cross section, the said body being ultimately loaded with scrap lead, iron,
or other metal or material, in order to impart thereunto the weight necessary for
maintaining the equilibrium of the vessel. The said body E is preferably
strengthened at its centre by supplementary or additional plates FF1, which may
also serve to support a hollow rod G suitably connected to the said body and extending
upwardly therefrom, and of such formation in cross section as to fit and slide freely
within the before mentioned casing or passage B, the said rod being supported inter-
nally by suitably disposed stays or braces H, as shewn by the enlarged view Fig. 4.
The said keel E is arranged to be raised or lowered at will, that the distance between
this and the hull A may be extended or lessened accordingly as the vessel may be in
deep or shallow water, or sailing in light or stormy winds, and I may employ any
suitable or convenient means or gearing for raising and lowering the said keel, but for
preference I attain this by the means of blocks and pulleys such as K, and a windlass
such as L, the said blocks being supported on deck in any convenient way, while a rope
or chain b passes therethrough and around a sheave or block c upon the upper end of
the rod G, to the windlass 1, the upper end of the tube B being extended in width at d
to accommodate the presence of the sheave or block c as this is raised and lowered
with the rod G and keel E, the highest position of the latter being when abut-
ting against the mouth B¹ of B as indicated by dotted outline in Fig. 1. I may
employ any suitable means or tackle for retaining or holding the keel E when so
raised, but for preference I effect this by forming a pivotal connection at a point a
between the upper end of the hollow rod G and a solid plate or rod J, so that
the latter, when raised by the raising of G as, indicated by dotted outline at J¹,
may be laid over upon the deck as indicated by dotted outline at J2, and be thereat
retained and held by any convenient means, a slot J³ (if necessary) being formed in
the upper end of the guide passage B to facilitate such laying over of J.
The bending strain upon the rod G and casing B, when the yacht is travelling, may
be partly taken up by the means of a rope or chain M, connected to a eye e in the
foremost end of the keel, and passing over and around suitable pulleys or sheaves / so
as to be tightened by suitable tackle on board according to the position of the said
keel.
According to my invention I steer the said yacht by the means of two rudders,
which I attain by providing in any suitable position between the keel rod G and the
stern of the yacht, and conveniently near to the latter, a rudder which consists of a
rod or shaft N passing downward from the deck D, through a suitable guide tube O,
placed at a suitable angle slightly out of vertical, truth in a backward direction, the
said guide for convenience being formed in two parts, bolted or otherwise connected,
to provide a bearing for a thrust block g formed upon the rod N, any convenient
means being provided for operating the oscillation or partial rotation of the said rod,
which for preference may be by that of a tiller h. At the lower end of the rod N
(Fig. 2) is fixed an approximately circular and vertically disposed disc P¹, preferably
of solid or hollow metal, and which operates as a rudder for actuating the lateral
movements of the stern end of the vessel according to the movements of the tiller h.
Upon the said disc P¹ is mounted a balanced plate or fin R (Fig. 3) the latter having
a slot m formed therein to enable it to be passed on to the disc P¹, the said fin being

page_text: pivotally connected thereto at a point n, the position of this being normally horizontal,
but while the back end is longest and may be heaviest it is free to rise by flotation
into the position shewn by the dotted line in Fig. 1, but it is prevented from sinking
below the horizontal level by reason of the fore end of the slot m therein engaging
with a notch p formed in the disc P¹ (Fig. 2).
In like manner a similar but, vertically placed rod N, having a thrust block g, and
carried in a guide tube O, is provided at the fore end of the vessel A, the lower end
of N carrying a disc P and fin R as in Fig. 2, and adapted to be actuated by a tiller h
in like manner, and operates as a rudder for guiding the lateral movements of the
fore end of the vessel A. The manner of operation is as follows.
One of the essential features of my invention is that such a yacht may be more
quickly handled and manipulated than is possible by the form of keel and rudder in
present use, as by the very large surface of keel presented to the water the vessel must
describe a large radius when turning, but according to my invention my improved
keel, while providing a sufficient weight to maintain the equilibrium of the yacht
presents but a small resisting surface, while the weighted keel E and its rod & would
operate as a pivot upon which the yacht may turn almost within its own length, and
to attain such rapid turning I should place the rudders P and P¹ into the positions
shewn by Fig. 8, or approximately at right angles to each other, so that while the
head of the vessel may move to the west the stern may simultaneously move to the
east, after the manner of a front and rear steered velocipede, but when the vessel is
to be steered in the ordinary way, the fore rudder. Pinay be fixed and remain in
alignment with the vessel, while the aft rudder P¹ may be moved in either direction
for steering the vessel as indicated by Fig. 10. In like manner when the yacht is
racing, and may be is held out of wind by the sails of its opponent, and under which
or other circumstances it would be desirable that the yacht should make a lateral
movement without altering her head, the fore and aft rudders may be both placed
in the position shewn in Fig. 9, or opposite thereto, as occasion may require, in which
case the vessel would be moved laterally without materially altering or retarding her
headway.
The purposes of the fins R are more particularly for use as a means for preventing
In such cases with
leeway when the yacht is close hauled on a wind, as in Fig. 6.
keels of ordinary construction the yacht would drift to leeward in the direction of
the wind, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6, for the reason, that such keels do not
offer sufficient resistance to prevent such drifting, but according to my invention,
when the yacht is so listed in a strong wind, the said fins, in combination with the
disc or rudders P P¹, would present to the water two angular surfaces at the points
indicated by in Fig. 6, and so materially retard, if not overcome such drifting. The
said fins being of metal as thin as possible, consistent with the strains imposed upon
them, would not offer more than an infinitesimal resistance to the forward progress
of the vessel, as these always assume an approximately horizontal position, by reason
of their pivotal connection with their respective rudders P and P, so that when the
vessel is riding bows up as at Fig. , these would change from their parallel
position shewn by full lines in Fig. 1, and dotted lines in Fig. 5, to that shewn by
full lines in the latter figure.
I wish it understood that my improved keel and the particular design of, and the
system of employing fore and aft rudders, are indispensible to each other, as such
rudders could not be fixed upon a yacht having an ordinary keel, by reason of their
being placed at or about one fourth of the length of the yacht from each end, and
further that a yacht could not possibly turn within anything like her own length
(as obtains with my invention) with an ordinary keel, while a yacht having only an
ordinary aft rudder could not keep her head to any course if provided with my
improved keel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I

page_text: (1) The improved keel and steering gear for racing yachts and means for
manipulating the same substantially as herein set forth and shewn.
(2) The application to racing yachts of a loaded keel fixed upon the lower
end of a vertical rod passing through the body of the vessel and adapted to be raised
and lowered at will, substantially as herein set forth and shewn.
(3) The application to racing yachts of fore and aft rudders with their attendant
fins, substantially as herein set forth and shewn.
(4) In an improved racing yacht the combination of a hull A, having a central
passage B, supported outside by stays or braces C and C¹ or and C2 the said passage
carrying a vertical hollow rod G having at its lower end a hollow loaded keel such
as E F F, with means for raising and lowering the said keel, for the purposes stated,
substantially as described and shewn.
(5) In an improved racing yacht as set forth in the preceding claim and
characterized by a central and adjustable keel such as E, the combination therewith
of fore and aft rudders, each consisting of rods Ng carried in guide tubes 0 and
connected to dises or plates P and P¹, each provided with a balanced plate or fin such
as R substantially as herein described and shewn by the drawings.
Dated this 12th day of January 1899.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
1, Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.