United States Patent (19) (11) 4,059,063

Hood et al. (45) Nov. 22, 1977

(54) ROLL-FURLING MANSAL 3,678,876 7/1972 Alter .................................... 114/102
3,795,215 3/1974 Butler ..................................... 14/90
(75) Inventors: Frederick E. Hood; Donald K. 3,835,804 9/1974 Jackson .............................. 14/90 X
Mitchell; Gary S. Uhring, all of
Marblehead, Mass. Primary Examiner-George E. A. Halvosa
73) Assignee: Hood Sailmakers, Inc., Marblehead, Assistant Examiner-Sherman D. Basinger
Mass. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenway & Jenney
(21) Appl. No.: 718,870 57 ABSTRACT
22). Filed: Aug. 30, 1976 In the roll-furling mainsail arrangement disclosed
5ll Int. Cl’............................................... B63H 9/10 herein, the clew of the sail is trimmed to a boom by
52 U.S. C. ...................................... 114/106; 114/39; means of a car which is freely slidable along the boom.
114/102; 114/111 An outhaul line rigged to pull aft from the tip of the
58) Field of Search ................................ 114/104-109, boom passes forward through a block on the car, thence
114/111, 115, 102, 97,98, 90, 101, 219, 39 through a block at the clew of the sail and then back to
the car where it is secured. The balance of forces on the
(56) References Cited car automatically bias it to a position providing an ad
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS vantageous drawing angle for shaping the mainsail,
even at varying stages of partial furling.
601,282 3/1898 Sands ................................... 114/108
2,965,407 12/1960 Meisen........ ... 114/219 X
3,534,700 10/1970 Marshall ................ ---. 114/101 X 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures
U.S. Patent Nov. 22, 1977 Sheet 1 of 2 4,059,063

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U.S. Patent Nov. 22, 1977 Sheet 2 of 2 4,059,063

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1.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the boom of the
ROLL-FURLING MAINSAIL boat of FIG. 1, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of
FIG. 2.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Corrresponding references characters indicate corre
The present invention relates to roll-furling mainsails 5 sponding parts throughout the several views of the
and more particularly to apparatus for securing the drawings.
clew of such a sail to a boom at varying stages of partial. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
furling. EMBODIMENT
At the present time, roller-furling jibs for cruising 10
sailboats are enjoying a great degree of popularity and hullReferring now to FIG. 1, there is indicated at 11 the
of a cruising type auxiliary sailboat having a con
roll-furling mainsails are attracting increased interest. ventionally
Various roller-furling mainsail rigs have been proposed furling, e.g.stayed mast 13 adapted for internal mainsail
which provide roller-furling on a rotatable rod sup Jackson U.S.asPat. described in the previously mentioned
ported under tension just aft of the mast, More recently, 15 patent, the mainsailNo. 3,835,804. As described in that
roller furls along its luff edge in a
it has been proposed that such a mainsail be roller-furled compartment within the mast and exits through an aft
within a tubular compartment inside the mast with the facing slot from that compartment. The mainsail, desig
sail being drawn out through an aft-facing slot in the nated 15, is loose-footed and is trimmed to a boom 17 as
mast. Such an arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. described in greater detail herein. The boat is also pro
3,835,804 issued on Sept. 17, 1974 to Patrick T. Jackson 20 vided with a jib 19 and, in order to provide the maxi
of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. mum flexibility in ease of setting and furling sail area,
By and large, such roller-furling mainsails, whether this jib is preferably also provided with conventional jib
furled within or without the mast proper, are of a gener furling gear as indicated diagrammatically at 21.
ally loose-footed construction. In other words, the foot In accordance with the present invention, the clew of
of the mainsail is not secured to a boom along its entire 25 the mainsail 15 is secured to a car which is freely slid
length as is more conventional for a mainsail. Rather, if able along the length of the boom. The car, designated
a boom is used at all, only the clew is secured to the 23, is illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. The car
boom. Further, if the clew is secured only to the tip of of a construction which is essentially conventional for
the boom, i.e., by an outhaul line, it has been found travellers and the like and employs ball-bearing jour
difficult to effectively trim the sail at varying stages of 30 naled wheels 25 adapted to roll along an elongate track.
partial furling, even though adjustments are made in the As illustrated, the track, designated 27, is integrally
tension of the outhaul, the main sheet, and a topping lift. extruded with the boom 17. It should be understood,
Among the several objects of the present invention however, that a conventional commercially-available
may be noted the provision of an improved arrange track might be suitably fastened to the boom, either
ment for securing of the clew of a roll-furling mainsail 35 inside or outside of the usual tubular extrusion section.
to a boom; the provision of such an arrangement which The car 23 carries a first block 31 while a second block
provides an advantageous drawing angle for the main 33 is attached to the clew 35 of the mainsail 15.
sail at varying stages of furling; the provision of such an An outhaul line 41 is rigged to pull aft from the tip of
arrangement which is easy to operate and which is of 40 the boom by means of a sheave 43 journaled at the
relatively simple and inexpensive construction. Other boom tip. From the sheave 43, the outhaul line 41 passes
objects and features will be in part apparent and in part forward and through the block 31 on the car 23, thence
pointed out hereinafter. through the block 33 on the clew of the sail, and then
back to the car 23 where it is secured, e.g. by a shackle
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION as indicated at 45. Preferably, a doughnut shaped buffer
45 46 constructed of a relatively soft plastic is placed
Briefly, the present invention relates to a sailboat
having a mainsail which is roll-furling at the luff edge around
prevent
the line 41 between the two blocks 31 and 33 to
the blocks from jamming together. For ease in
thereof. In particular, the invention relates to outhaul adjustment, the control end of the outhaul line 4 is
apparatus for securing the clew of the mainsail to a preferably led forward inside the boom as shown in
boom at varying stages of partial furling. The apparatus FIG. 2 to a feedthrough
employs a car which is freely slidable along the boom be adjustably secured as 47 and a cleat 49 where it may
shown in FIG. 1.
and which carries a first block. A second block is se Preferably, the boom 17 is also provided with a top
cured to the clew of a mainsail. An outhaul line, rigged ping lift, indicated at 51 in FIG. 1, which is fed over a
to pull aft from the tip of the boom, passes forward second sheave mounted parallel to the outhaul sheave
through the block of the car, thence through the block 55 43, the topping lift then also being led forward inside
at the clew of the mainsail and then back to the car the boom, where it may be conveniently secured near
where it is secured. This arrangement provides a bal the gooseneck.
ance of forces on the car which bias it to a position The singular advantage of this form of rigging for the
along the boom providing an advantageous drawing mainsail clew is that the position of the car 23 does not
angle for shaping the mainsail. have to be independently controlled in a manner which
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS would require additional lines. Rather, the car 23 is
freely slidable along the boom and is acted upon by a
FIG. 1 is a side view of a cruising type sailboat having balance of forces which dynamically urge the car to a
ia roll-furling mainsail, the clew of which is secured to a position automatically providing an appropriate draw
boom by apparatus constructed in accordance with the 65 ing angle for shaping the mainsail. Further, this essen
present invention; tially automatic seeking of the desired position of the
FIG. 2 is a side view to enlarged scale of the clew outhaul car allows the boom to maintain an essentially
securing apparatus; and normal height. Accordingly, the mainsail sheet, desig
 4,059,063
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nated 30, can operate conventionally to control the What is claimed is:
angle of the boom with respect to the relative direction 1. In a sailboat having a mainsail which is roll-furling
of the wind. at the luff edge thereof, outhaul apparatus for securing
In general, the car 23 will tend to seek a position the clew of the mainsail to a boom at varying stages of
which is something less than halfway out along the 5 partial furling, said apparatus comprising:
boom from the clew of the sail. Further, the car will a car which is freely slidable along the boom in dy
tend to seek such a position for varying stages of partial namic response to forces exerted on said car;
furling. As will be understood from the general propor a block carried by said car;
tions of FIG. 1, the mainsail is, in that drawing, shown a block at the clew of said mainsail; an outhaul line
in a substantially furled position, i.e., with the working O rigged to pull aft from the tip of the boom, said line
area of the sail substantially reduced. Such a partially passing from the tip of the boom forward through
furled attitude might be suitable for sailing in quite the block on said car, thence through the block on
heavy winds. Under lighter wind conditions, however, the sail and then back to the car where it is secured
the outhaul line can be tightened while letting off of the 15 to the car, whereby the balance of forces exerted
roller-furling apparatus so that more of the mainsail area on said car by said line bias said car to a position
is exposed to the wind. As this happens, the clew will along said boom providing an advantageous draw
move aft a corresponding distance while the car 27 will ing angle for shaping said mainsail.
move a portion of that distance, again seeking a position 2. Outhaul apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein
which will provide an advantageous drawing angle for 20 said car rolls on wheels in a track extending along said
boom.
shaping the mainsail, owing to the advantageous bal 3. Outhaul apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein
ance of forces exhibited by the particular rigging ar said boom is an extrusion and said track is extruded
rangement. integrally with the boom.
While the particular roller furling mechanism used 4. Outhaul apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein
forms no part of the present invention, a preferred form 25 said sailboat includes a conventionally stayed mast and
of mechanism is shown in co-assigned U.S. patent appli wherein said boom is attached to the mast at a goose
cation Ser. No. 718,949, filed Aug. 30, 1976 and entitled, neck fitting and wherein the end of the boom opposite
Boom Gooseneck Fitting Providing Mainsail Roller the mast carries a sheave for directing said outhaul line
Furling, being filed of even date herewith. in toward the gooseneck fitting for convenient opera
In view of the foregoing, it may be seen that several 30 tion.
objects of the present invention are achieved and other 5. Outhaul apparatus as set forth'in claim 4 wherein
advantageous results have been attained. said mainsail roller furls into a tubular compartment
As various changes could be made in the above con within the mast and may be drawn from said compart
structions without departing from the scope of the in ment through an aft-facing slot in the mast.
vention, it should be understood that all matter con 35 6. Outhaul apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further
tained in the above description or shown in the accom comprising a doughnut shaped buffer around said line
panying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and between said blocks.
not in a limiting sense.

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