Improvements in and relating to the Securing or Bending of Fore and Aft Sails to the Masts of Yachts or other Vessels.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 8th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Securing or Bending of Fore
and Aft Sails to the Masts of Yachts or other Vessels.
I, JOHN JOSEPH WALTER of Eglinton Street, Ardrossan Ayrshire, Shipmaster,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to and comprises a new or improved method or modes
and means of securing, or "bending" fore and aft sails to the masts of yachts or
other vessels, whereby great advantages will be obtained over the methods here-
tofore employed of securing or bending the sails to hoops or lacing them openly to
the masts.
By my improvements I take and secure or bend the fore part of the sail
completely round the masts. This I would accomplish under one arrangement by
making the sail large enough to come round on one side to the centre front part, of
the mast, and I would stitch or otherwise secure a flap or strip of canvas to the
sail, some distance back from the fore part say a few feet from the fore part or
lough of the sail and of sufficient width to extend round the other side to the centre
front part of mast to meet the end of the sail, where the two parts would be
laced or otherwise secured together on the front part of the mast, and thus
encircle it.
Under another arrangement I would extend the fore end of the sail round the
mast, and then lace or otherwise secure it to the body part of sail, a short distance
abaft the mast, or alternatively I would make a mast cloth to encircle the mast, and
have the two ends or edges of the cloth meeting a few feet behind or abaft the
mast, and to which I would secure or hend the sail, by forming a series of eyelet
holes in both the sail and mast cloth, and lace them together, or I may stitch the
mast cloth to the sail and pass the two free or flap edges round the mast, and lace
or secure them together at the front part of mast.
To facilitate or accelerate the action of raising and lowering the sail on the
mast, I may stitch or secure small pieces of hard and smooth wood or bone on the
surface of the mast cloth or sail next the mast, so as to have less frictional action in
sliding up and down the mast.
By the methods heretofore in use of securing or bending the sails by hoops or
open lacing round the mast, the wind does not enter the sail until it strikes it some
distance abaft the mast, for it first strikes on the windward side of the mast, and
then eddies round the after part of the mast, and makes through the space between
the weather edge or lough, of the sail and the mast and so is lost.
While by my improved method of bending the sails to the masts, the wind is
gathered into the sail from the extreme weather side of the mast, where it meets it
at a tangent, and so increases the sail area, and gets the more direct action of the
wind, and with less gear for the wind to catch when the vessel is sailing close by the
wind, while the greater part of the mast, being enveloped in the mast cloth or sail,
the leewardly drag of the mast will be lessened or largely done away with, and be
of great advantage to ships, and especially to yachts and sailing ships, when sailing
close up to windward.
1002
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Securing or Bending of Fore
and Aft Sails to the Masts of Yachts or other Vessels.
I, JOHN JOSEPH WALTER, of Eglinton Street, Ardrossau, Aryshire, Ship-
master, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, that is to say :-
This invention has reference to and comprises a new or improved method or
mode, and means of securing or "bending "fore and aft sails to the masts of yachts
or other vessels, whereby great advantages will be obtained over the methods
beretofore employed of securing or bending the sails to hoops or lacing them
openly to the masts.
And in order that my said invention and the manner of performing or carrying
the same into effect or practice may be properly understood, I have hereunto
appended an explanatory sheet of drawings in which the same reference letters
indicate corresponding parts in the several figures where shown.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a yacht showing the main sail as secured round
the mast in accordance with one arrangement of my improvements.
Figure 2 is a detached elevation to an enlarged scale showing a portion of the
mast and sail to illustrate more clearly the arrangement shown in Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 show diagram views of the dial face of a mariners compass,
and
Figure 5 is a horizontal section corresponding to Figure 2 and indicating the
line of the sail.
The line N. S. indicates the centre plank of the deck of a vessel heading N.
The line round the mast meeting at a point and extending in a single line to the
S.W., represents the sail round the mast and continuing over the vessel's port
quarter. The wind, indicated by the arrow Figure 5 enters the sail at an angle of
about 45 degrees. Figure 6 is a view corresponding to Figure 5 showing the old
method of bending the sail to hoops, and the sail continuing over the vessels port
quarter, as in Figure 5. While Figures 7 and 8 represent views corresponding to
Figure 5, to show modified ways by which my improvements may be carried into
practice.
Referring to these drawings :-By my improvements I take and secure or bend
the fore part of the sail completely round the mast. This I would accomplish
under one arrangement, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and 5 by making the sail a
large enough to come round on one side to the centre front part of the mast A,
and I would stitch or otherwise secure at all a flap or strip of canvas a' to the
sail a, some distance back from the fore part say a few feet from the fore part
or "luff" of the sail a, and of sufficient width to extend round the other side to
the centre front part of the mast A to meet the end of the sail a, where the two
parts a, a', would be laced or otherwise secured together at a' on the front part of
the mast A, and thus encircle it.
Under another arrangement as shown in Figure 7, I would extend the fore end of
the sail a round the mast A, as at a' and then lace or otherwise secure it at all to
the body part of sail a, a short distance abaft the mast A. Or as shown in
Figure 8, I would make a mast cloth to encircle the mast by stitching the mast
cloth a¹ to the sail at a¹¹ and pass the two free or flap edges a', a', round the
mast A, and lace at a³ to secure them together at the front part of the mast A.
Or alternatively I may make the mast cloth a' to pass round the mast, and have
the two ends or edges a', a', of the cloth meeting a few feet behind or abaft the
mast, and to which I would secure or bend the "luff" of the sail a by forming
series of eyelet holes in both the sail a and ends of mast cloth a', a', and lace
them together at the point marked a" in these figures.
2.

page_text: To facilitate or accelerate the action of raising and lowering the sail on the
mast A, I may stitch or secure small flat pieces of hard and smooth wood or bone
on the surface of the mast cloth a' or sail a next the mast A, so as to have less.
frictional action in sliding up and down the mast A.
By the methods heretofore in use of securing or bending the sails by hoops b, as
shown in Figure 6, or open lacing round the mast A, the wind does not enter the
sail until it strikes at some distance abaft the mast, for it first strikes on the
windward side of the mast, and then eddies round the after part of the mast A,.
and makes through the space between the weather edge or "luff" of the sail and.
the mast, and so is lost as indicated by the darts in Figure 6.
While by my improved method of bending the sail to the mast, the wind is.
gathered into the sail from the extreme weather side of the mast, where it meets
it at a tangent, as indicated by the arrow. Figure 5, and so increases the sail area,
and gets the more direct action of the wind, and with less gear for the wind to
catch when the vessel is sailing close by the wind. While the greater part of the
mast, being enveloped in the mast cloth or sail, the leeward drag of the mast will
be lessened or largely done away with, and be of great advantage to ships, and
especially to yachts and sailing ships, when sailing close up to windward.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven--
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The method of securing or bending fore-and-aft sails completely round
the masts of yachts or other vessels, substantially as herein described, in reference-
to and by way of application shown in the accompanying drawings.
Second. The bending of the fore and aft sails of yachts or other vessels, by
carrying the end of sail round the mast and then lacing it to body of sail, or by
the use of an auxiliary strip or strips of sail cloth secured and laced, substantially
as and in the manner herein described in reference to and by way of application.
shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 7th November 1893.
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents..