Europaisches Patentamt 19 European Patent Office Office europeen des brevets (n) Publication number: 0 392 848 B1 12 EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION @ Date of publication of patent specification @ int. ci.5: B63H 9/06, B63B 15/02 29.12.93 Bulletin 93/52 (21) Application number: 90303981.6 (22) Date of filing : 11.04.90 @) Sail rig and staysail system. (30) Priority : 12.04.89 GB 8908276 (73) Proprietor : Hewlett, Ian Charles Chestnut Cottage Beaulieu, Hampshire S042 7YB (GB) (43) Date of publication of application 17.10.90 Bulletin 90/42 (72) Inventor : Howlett, Ian Charles Chestnut Cottage (45) Publication of the grant of the patent : Beaulieu, Hampshire S042 7YB (GB) 29.12.93 Bulletin 93/52 (74) Representative : Lomas, Geoffrey Michael et al Brettell & Boutland Prudential @ Designated Contracting States : Barker, DE FR IT NL Buildings 97-101 Above Bar Street Southampton S09 4GT (GB) (56) References cited : WO-A-86/00591 FR-A- 1 464 877 FR-A- 2 454 959 GB-A- 2 033 308 US-A- 3 968 765 US-A- 4 047 493 CO oo 00 CM o> CO Note : Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been LU filed until the opposition fee has been paid (Art. 99(1) European patent convention). Jouve, 18, rue Saint-Denis, 75001 PARIS 1 EP 0 392 848 B1 2 Description forestay 17 which extends between the mast 12 and the other end of the yard/boom 13. The main sail 15 This invention relates to a sail rig fora sailing ves- may be stiffened by battens 1 5a. sel, such as a yacht, or a vessel provided with auxil- The backstay 14 and forestay 1 7 are both preten- iary sail propulsion. 5 sioned. The tension in the backstay 14 is reacted by GB-A-2 033 308 discloses a sail rig for a sailing the forestay 17. The forestay 17 may or may not be vessel or a vessel provided with auxiliary sail propul- located at the extreme fore end of the staysail 16. sion. The sail rig comprises a mast unstayed to the The forces generated by the staysail 16 balance hull of the vessel, a continuous yard/boom mounted those produced by the main sail 15 and thus the force on the mast and rotatable relative thereto, the 10 required to sheet the rig to the desired angle for opti- yard/boom and aforesail or staysail being mounted on mum sailing is reduced. the mast, and a main sail located between the mast The entire mast 12 and yard/boom 13 may rotate and the yard/boom. together about the axis of the mast 12 or the mast 12 The present invention makes use of a similar sail can be fixed and the yard/boom 13 may rotate about rig and is characterised in that a backstay extends be- 15 the fixed mast 12. tween the upper end of the mast and the aft end of When sailing the leech tension in the main sail 15 the yard/boom, a forestay extends between the mast replaces some or all of the tension in the backstay 14 and the forward end of the yard/boom, said backstay thus maintaining tension in the forestay 17. and said forestay being pretensioned, tension in the Preloading tension in the mast 12 with the back- forestay being transmitted to the backstay, the pre- 20 stay 14 is necessary with a cantilever type mast 12 tensioned forestay being positioned rearwardly of the in order to allow for mast deflection when sailing. leading edge of the foresail. The staysail 16 is shown more clearly in Figure 2 The advantages of the present invention include and is generally of an aerodynamic configuration in the fact that the unstayed mast reacts with the sail transverse section. Under wind load the camber of surfaces and stays as a free cantilever structure 25 the sail 16 may change along its length. The staysail which may deflect sideways under wind pressure. 16 comprises a plurality of spaced apart ribs 18 which The fore and aft stays which are pretensioned in plan view have a rounded front end and taper in through the yard/boom, give forward and aft rigidity width to a trailing edge, said ribs 18 being slidably to the mast and the tensions are transmitted through mounted on the forestay 17, and a sail cloth or other the rigid yard/boom. The sail rig is similar to that of a 30 flexible material 19 spans the gaps between the ribs crossbow and provides a strong resilient structure. 18. The material 19 may be in one piece and extend The pretensioning of the forestay and backstay main- over each side of the ribs 1 8 or it may be discontinu- tain efficient sail shape when the mast is deflected ous at the ribs 18. The material 19 is fixed to the ribs sideways. 18 in any suitable manner. The staysail 16 is erected The forestay, mast, yard/boom and backstays 35 by a halyard (not shown) and can be reefed in order elements form an integral unitary structure which can to reduce its effective sail area. be fitted to a hull as a unit. The use of ribs 18 and the choice of position of An embodiment of the present invention will now the forestay 1 7 minimises the tensions required to op- be described, by way of example, with reference to erate and reef the sail 16 efficiently. the accompanying drawings, in which:- 40 The ribs 18 may be formed of wood, or metal, or Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sailing yacht pro- plastics material which may be fibre reinforced. vided with a sail rig according to the present in- The lowest rib 18 and boom 13 may be integral. vention; Figure 3 shows a plan view of a modified form of Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a rib 18 which has a flexible trailing end portion 18a stay sail according to the present invention; and 45 which allows the camber of the sail to change along Figure 3 is a plan view of a modified form of rib its length. showing how the camber along the sail can change. The sailing yacht 10 shown in Figure 1 comprises Claims a hull and a sail rig 11 which consists of a mast 12 un- 50 stayed to the hull. The mast may or may not be of the 1. Asail rig (11) fora sailing vessel (10) ora vessel cantilever type. The sail rig 11 further consists of a provided with auxiliary sail propulsion, compris- continuous yard/boom 13 mounted at the lower end ing a mast (12) unstayed to the hull of the vessel, of the mast 12, a backstay 14 which extends between a continuous yard/boom (13) mounted on the the upper end of the mast 12 and one end of the 55 mast (12), a main sail (15) located between the yard/boom 13, a main sail 15 which is slidable along mast (12) and the yard/boom (13), and a foresail the mast 12 and is located between the mast 12 and or staysail (16) mounted on the mast (12) and the the backstay 14, and a staysail 16 which is set on a yard/boom (13), said yard/boom being rotatable 2 3 EP 0 392 848 B1 4 relative to the mast (12), characterised in that a 2. Segeltakelage nach Anspruch 1 , bei welcher das backstay (14) extends between the upper end of Stagsegel (16) eine Vielzahl von Rippen (18) auf- the mast and the aft end of the yard/boom (13), weist, die entlang des vorgespannten Stags (17) a forestay (17) extends between the mast (12) 5 im Abstand voneinander angeordnet sind und and the forward end of the yard/boom (13), said durch welche sich das Stag erstreckt, sowie eine backstay (14) and said forestay (1 7) being preten- auliere Abdeckung (19) aus elastischem Materi- sioned, tension in the forestay (17) being trans- al, das in Beruhrung mit den Rippen aufgelegt mitted to the backstay (14), the pretensioned for- und an diesen befestigt ist. estay (17) being positioned rearwardly of the 10 leading edge of the foresail (16). 3. Segeltakelage nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei wel- cher das Stagsegel (16) im Querschnitt eine ae- 2. A sail rig as claimed in Claim 1 , in which the fore- rodynamische Ausbildung aufweist. sail (16) comprises a plurality of ribs (18) spaced apart along the pretensioned forestay (17) and 15 4. Segeltakelage nach Anspruch 2, bei welcher die through which the forestay extends, and an outer Rippen (18) einen elastischen Hinterendbereich covering (19) of flexible material placed in contact aufweisen, damit die Wolbung des Stagsegels with and secured to the ribs. (16) uberdessen Lange veranderlich ist. 3. Asail rig as claimed in Claim 1 orClaim2, in which 20 5. Segeltakelage nach Anspruch 2, bei welcher die the foresail (16) is of aerodynamic configuration Rippen (18) in Draufsicht ein abgerundetes Vor- in transverse section. derende aufweisen und in der Breite konisch zu einer Hinterkante zulaufen. 4. Asail rig as claimed in Claim 2, in which the ribs (18) have a flexible trailing end portion to allow 25 6. Segeltakelage nach einemderAnspruche 2 bis 5, the camber of the foresail (16)to change along its bei welcher die Rippen (1 8) aus Holz oder Metall length.