Patent ID: 8307773

Claim:
A suspension system for a passenger module of a water vessel having a fore-and-aft axis, the suspension system comprising: a) a shock absorbing assembly for resiliently suspending a passenger module relative to a vessel, wherein the shock absorbing assembly tends to cause the passenger module to remain in an upper at-rest position and to return to the at-rest position on cessation of a force causing the passenger module to move generally vertically towards a bottom position; and b) a spar assembly comprising a plurality of spars, each spar pivotally attached at a proximal end to the vessel and at a distal end to the passenger module, the spar assembly configured to provide an aft tilt to the passenger module as the passenger module moves towards the bottom position, wherein: c) the spar assembly comprises two spars, an upper spar and a lower spar; d) the distal end of the upper spar is attached to the passenger module at a greater height on the passenger module than the distal end of the lower spar; e) each spar pivots relative to the vessel responsive to upward or downward movement of the passenger module relative to the vessel and in doing so each spar causes the portion of the passenger module in the vicinity of the distal end of the spar to move generally parallel to the fore-and-aft axis of the vessel; and f) there is a differential in the fore-and-aft movement caused by the spars in that an arc defined by the distal end of the lower spar as the passenger module moves towards the bottom position includes greater relative forward displacement than an arc defined by the distal end of the upper spar as the passenger module moves towards the bottom position; whereby, as the passenger module moves towards the bottom position, the differential in the fore-and-aft movement induces the aft tilt.