Patent ID: 6857380

Claim:
A bowsprit extending system for a bow of a sailboat hull having a deck above a waterline of the hull, said system placing an elongate bowsprit having a forward end and an aft end in either a retracted position with the bowsprit forward end near the forward end of the sailboat, or in an extended position with the bowsprit forward end forward of and substantially further above the waterline than is the sailboat deck, said system comprising: a) a bowsprit positioner having a forward position and an aft position and mounted generally fore and aft on the sailboat bottom at the bow, said bowsprit's aft end positionable at either of the forward and aft positions of the positioner; and b) a bowsprit support element mounted on the hull vertically above and forward of the positioner forward position, and in supportive connection to the bowsprit between the ends, said bowsprit having the retracted position when the bowsprit aft end is positioned at the positioner aft position and the extended position when positioned at the positioner forward position, thereby placing the bowsprit when in the extended position with the forward end thereof substantially farther above the waterline than is the deck.