GB2174661A

GB2174661A - Sail assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2174661A
Application number: GB08610689A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Sales
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-05-01
Filing date: 1986-05-01
Publication date: 1986-11-12
Also published as: GB8511044D0; GB8610689D0; GB2174661B

Abstract

A sail assembly for a small craft such as a dinghy or sailboard has a sail 2 with a sleeve 3 in which is received a mast 1. A batten 4 in a pocket 5 of the sail extends away from the mast 1. Displacement of the inner end 6 of the batten 4 around the mast 1 is restricted by a saddle 7 secured to the sleeve 3. The saddle 7 comprises two components 8 located on opposite sides of the sail 2 to straddle the mast 1 and secured together by bolts 12. The saddle 7 restrains the inner end of the batten 4 from displacement out of contact 8 with the mast 1 to maintain a smooth profile between the sail 2 and the mast as the sail is rotated during a manoeuvre. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A sail assembly TECHNICAL FIELD & BACKGROUND ART The present invention relates to a sail assembly and is primarily concerned with such an assembly as is commonly used on small sailing craft like a dinghy or a sailboard. With this type of assembly, a sail is attached to a mast by means of a sleeve formed along an edge of the sail and within the mast is received. The efficiency, and hence performance, of the sail is frequently improved by the use of battens which assist in the formation of a preferred aerodynamic shape to the sail.

These battens are usually located in pockets in the sail so they extend away from the mast and the aforementioned sail edge. It is recognised that the battens improve the efficiency of a sail by ensuring that the sail will adopt a preferred aerofoil shape in use. It is also recognised that the flow of air over a sail should be smooth and uninterrupted by sharp edges or projections. In an attempt to alleviate these latter interruptions, the ends of the battens should preferably abut the mast and, approximately, extend tangentially away from the periphery of the mast. However, tension applied to the sail tends to draw the end of the batten forwardly of its point of contact with the mast - thereby forming the edge of the sail with an angular interruption which generates turbulence and thereby reduces the said efficiency.A further problem arises when the sail is turned through the wind and the direction of wind pressure on the sail may reverse so that rather than the sail being pushed away from the mast, it is urged towards it. Theoretically this reversal should result in the sail rotating around the mast to take up a mirror image orientation on its opposite side. However, when the battens have been drawn forward of their point of contact as previously mentioned, they frequently jam against the mast as the assembly is rotated and thereby prevent rotation of the sail.

A previously proposed means of alleviating the aforementioned difficulty is to locate within the sail sleeve a device which rotatably bears on the mast and has arms which engage the ends of the battens within the sleeve. However, it is found that this proposal requires the use of an enlarged sleeve and has the disadvantage that such a sleeve fills with water following a capsize of the craft. Furthermore, there is the disadvantage that a sail has to be specially manufactured to provide the enlarged sleeve within which the mast and aforementioned armed device is accommodated and the manufacture of such a special sail is relatively expensive. A further disadvantage is that the location of the armed device and mast within the enlarged sleeve will usually make the rigging of the sail assembly difficult and time consuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sail assembly which alleviates the disadvantages as discussed above of the prior proposals.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION & ADVANTAGES According to the present invention there is provided a sail assembly comprising a sail having a sleeve at an edge thereof and within which sleeve a mast is received; at least one batten located in a pocket in the sail to extend from said edge, and saddle means secured to the outside of the sleeve and engaging with the batten or battens to restrict displacement thereof around the mast.

Further according to the present invention there is provided saddle means for attachment to the sail of a wind propelled craft adjacent to the end of a batten pocket thereof, the saddle means being provided with a slot for receiving an end of a batten in said pocket to control the angular displacement of the batten and the sail in the region of said pocket.

By the present invention the saddle means may simply and readily be secured outside the sleeve of the sail unlike the prior proposal which is fitted within the sleeve. The saddle means may comprise two components one of which is the mirror image of the other and which are secured outside the sleeve and on opposite sides of the plane of the sail. The two components are conveniently secured together and to the sail by bolts, rivets, stitching or other fastening means which may pass through the sail. The saddle means may additionally be secured as part of the sail assembly by use of "hook and eye" resilient fastening means such as that sold under the Trade Mark "VELCRO".

The present invention has the advantage that it can be applied to use with conventional sails having relatively small sleeves within which the mast is received thereby alleviating the expense of a specially manufactured sleeve and also problems which may be encountered by relatively large sieeves filling with water after a capsize.

DRA WINGS One embodiment of a sail assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sail assembly; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the assembly taken on the line I - I of Fig. 1, and Figure 3 is a plan view of a saddle incorporated in the assembly of Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The sail assembly partly illustrated is primarily intended for a sailboard and comprises a mast 1 to which is secured a sail 2. The sail 2 has a sleeve 3 formed along an edge thereof and within which sleeve 3 the mast 1 is received in conventional manner. A batten 4 is located within a pocket 5 of the sail to extend away from the mast 1. An inner end 6 of the batten 4 at the bottom of the pocket 5 is restrained from displacement in the longitudinal direction of the batten by abutment against the surface of the mast 1 which, as shown in Fig. 2, is of substantially circular cross section.

Incorporated in the assembly is a saddle shown generally at 7 comprising two identically formed components 8 which are conveniently of metal or plastics. Each of the components 8 has two parallel and part-arcuate limbs 9 on each of which is provided a bearing surface which subtends approximately 90" and has a radius of curvature corresponding to that of the mast. Each limb 9 incorporates a flange 10 which extends radially outwardly of the mast 1. Formed in each of the components 8 and located between and joining the limbs 9, is an arm 11 which extends approximately tangentially from the arcuate bearing surfaces of the limbs 9 towards a plane in which lie the respective flanges 10.

In the construction of the sail assembly, at least initially, the sail 2 is secured to the mast 1 and the batten 4 located in its pocket 5 in conventional manner. The two components 8 are then located on each side of the sail 2 with the bearing surfaces of the limbs 9 abutting the sleeve 3 and, through the sleeve, the mast 1. In effect therefore the saddle 7 straddles the mast 1. The flanges 10 of one component 8 oppose the respective flanges 10 of the other component 8 and the batten 4 extends within the pocket 5 between the opposing free ends of the arms 11. The two components 8 are now secured together and to the sail 2 by bolts 12 which extend through bolt holes provided in the respective flanges 10 and in the sail 2.Consequently the sail 2 is clamped between the respective pairs of flanges 10 although it will be appreciated that the sail may be cut-away at locations coinciding with the flanges 10.

The components 8 are relatively rigid in their structure. As can best be seen from Fig.

2, the relatively flexible batten 4 can pivot about a position where it abuts one or other free or outermost end of the arms 11 while the inner end 6 of the batten 4 can move with the sail over the outer surface of the mast as the batten is pivotted; this latter movement is indicated by the arrows 13 within the confines of the arms 11. The saddle 7 can also rotate, with the sleeve 3 and sail 2, around the mast 1 thereby permitting the batten 4 to move relatively easily and accommodate changes in the orientation and configuration of the sail 2. It will be noted that the inner end 6 of the batten will abut one or other of the sleeve arms 11 where these arms extend from the sleeve 3 so that the batten 4 will be restrained so that its inner end 6 is maintained in contact with the mast 1. Consequently a smooth surface profile will be maintained at the effective join between the mast and sail to permit a smooth and efficient flow of air over the sail while the sail can easily be rotated about the mast 1.

Claims

1. A sail assembly comprising a sail having a sleeve at an edge thereof and within which sleeve a mast is received; at least one batten located in a pocket in the sail to extend from one edge, and saddle means secured to the outside of the sleeve and engaging with the batten or battens to restrict displacement thereof around the mast.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the saddle means is provided with a bearing surface which abuts the mast through the sleeve.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the bearing surface is profiled to compliment the profile of the mast in the region of an end of said batten adjacent the mast.

4. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which said saddle means has arms extending outwardly of the mast and which converge towards the batten at a position remote from the mast to provide pivot points for the batten.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the saddle means comprises two components which are located and secured on opposite sides of the sail to effectively straddle the mast.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 in which the two components are substantially identical.

7. An assembly as claimed in either claim 5 or claim 6 wherein the two components are secured together by means which extends through the sail.

8. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 5 to 7 in which the two components are secured together by bolts.

9. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 5 to 8 when appendant to claim 4 in which each component has a said arm which extends outwardly of the mast.

10. A sail assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.

11. Saddle means for a sail assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

12. Saddle means for attachment to the sail of a wind propelled craft adjacent to the end of a batten pocket thereof, the saddle means being provided with a slot for receiving an end of a batten in said pocket to control the angular displacement of the batten and the sail in the region of said batten pocket.