US2312567A - Sailing craft - Google Patents

Description

SAILING CRAFT Filed May 8, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet l v EVEFT Z:7r-' Greece- 171.5507 1 ya;

Mm-c112, 1943. e. A. LYON SAILING CRAFT Filed M84! 8, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 2' G. A. LYON SAILING CRAFT March 2, 1943.

6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 8, 1939 March 2, 1943. A LYON 2,312,567

' SAILING CRAFT Filed May 8, 1939 e Sheets-Shet 4 v March 2,1943. G. A. LYON 2,312,567

SAILING CRAFT Filed May 8, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 2.2 ZLE-Z 22:1

March 2, 1943. .G. A. LYON' 2,312,567

SAILING CRAFT Filed May 8, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAILING CRAFT George Albert Lyon, Allenhurst, N. J.

Application May 8, 1939, Serial No. 272,397

3 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to sailing craft and is more particularly concerned with improvements in the construction and disposition of the sail elements, and means whereby these elements may be more conveniently controlled to the end that a greater degree of chiciency may be attained.

From tests which have been conducted on boats fitted with sails of the conventional type, it has become apparent that their resulting inefficiency has in the main been due to improper design and their inherent inability under the conditions encountered in sailing to direct the wind in paths which have been shown by well established principles of aerodynamics to produce the most efficient results.

The conventional sail has been found to be particularly ineflicient when attempting to sail close-hauled, as When pointing high into the wind. Under these conditions it is significant that all pressure intensities increase near the lufi of the sail and that the pressure falls off rapidly towards the leech. It will thus be evident that practically all of the driving force must be obtained from the sail portions in the immediate neighborhood of the luff, and that any interfer-' ence in the air flow at this portion of the sail will have a disadvantageous effect upon the sail efiiciency.

In the usual arrangement, where the mast is mounted on the center line of the boat, the air will strike the boat hull before it strikes the sail and set up eddy currents which cause such a disturbance as to prevent the most eflicient use of the wind. Moreover, the mast for supporting a the conventional sail seriously disturbs the flow of air at the luff of the sail and sets up an irregular and eddying flow behind the mast extending onto the luff of the sail. -This disturbance has been considered as accounting for the shaking of the sail near the luff when attempting to point too close to the wind. With the usual" fabric sail, the surface form is thus disturbed, when the sail once begins to flutter, so that smooth flow is materially interfered with and the efficiency of the sail decreased.

Another factor which has been found to be harmful to the efiiciency'of the conventional sail arrangement results from the twisting of the upper part of the sail relative to the lower portion of the sail adjacent the usual boom. With the angle of attack thus varied as between the upper and lower portions of the sail, the most effective angle for the entire sail must therefore be an inefficient compromise. Otherwise, the upper portion of the sail, where a considerable twist exists, may be spilling the wind when the lower portion is set at its most efficient angle of attack.

A further disadvantage of the conventional arrangement in which the mast is set at the center line of the boat results from the heeling of the boat when sailing close into the wind or when sailing on a reach. This tendency to heel results in spilling of the wind and a decrease in effective sail area and a consequent loss of efficiency.

From a study of the flow of winds over bodies of water, it has been ascertained that the wind may have a predominating upward direction at an angle to the water surface or to the deck of the boat. The conventional sail as now designed does not take this phenomenon into consideration, and is not as efiicient as it might be particularly when running free with the wind. Under such conditions, the sail merely acts as .a. wind vane and cannot be positioned to operate efficiently as an air foil.

The present invention therefore aims to provide an improved sail construction and mounting means therefor, which will overcome the above related disadvantages of the usual sail arrangement, and which will be particularly advantageous in sailing craft to be utilized for racing and enable the craft to be propelled more efficiently and with less sail area than required in the con ventional rigs.

By properly designing the mainsail so as to impart to it some of the advantages resulting from the use of additional sails such as spinnakers, balloon jibs and the like, it has been found possible to increase the speed of the sailing craft and actually utilize less sail area. These advantages, which are especially desirable in racing craft, are attained in the present invention in a single mainsail and it is not necessary to set additional sails as in the conventional arrangements. Moreover, a single sail may be shifted with greater speed than a plurality of sails to meet the varying sailing conditions, thus saving valuable time which might be the deciding factor of a race.

To the end that the above may be attained and the present disadvantages of conventional rigs overcome, it is proposed to provide in the present invention a self-supporting sail construction of a light but strong sheet metal, such as aluminum. The metal sheets forming the sail are prerolled or otherwise preformed before assembly with such curvatures that, when the sheets are assembled, the resulting sail will in general have a palm-leaf shape. The active surface of the 'sail is transversely and longitudinally curved to center line, this yoke being pivotally mounted on a sail carriage in such a manner as to permit tilting movement of the sail in forwardly and rearward directions substantially normal to the sail center line. The sail carriage-is pivotal- 1y supported at the boat center line, the pivot M of the carriage being in offset relation to the sail so that the yoke pivot is in reality disposed. 1

in such a position as to support the sail off-center' in its relation to the'boat center line.

In my novel arrangement, the sail operator travels withrthe sail'during shifting move ments of the sail between positions lying on' either side of the boat center line. For this purpose. a seatis provided on the sail carriage adjacent the pivotal connection of the sail thereto, and suitable controls are provided within easy reach of the operator for effecting shifting movements of, the sailand also forwardly and rearwardly tilting movements thereof. Any suitable control mechanism may be provided for shifting the sail. In the present instance, however, I have provided a geared steering wheel'which is placed infront of the operators seat for'effecting swinging movements of thejcarriage, and reversible ratchet levers are connected through worms and gears to the sail-supporting yoke'to enable tilting movements of the sail. The worm and gear mechanism automatically locks the sail in its tilted adjusted position, and a suitable brake is provided for holding the carriage in its adjusted position. 1 V t From a consideration of my improved arrangementas willhereinafter be described in detail. it will ,be appreciated 'that distinct advantages are secured over theconventi nal arrangements on the'differentpoints of sailing and under the varying conditions as usually encountered in sailing. p

" A very important'advantage is obtained by curving the sail in the direction of its length and up ardly so that the w nd will react to cause lifting of the sail. That is, two components of force are set up-one tending to propel the boat forwardlv'an'd the other tending'to raise the sail and boat. This latter condition is actually the opposite of the effect in the conventional sailing craft where the weight of the sail-and mast. as well-as the acting moments offorc'e. produce downwardly acting force componentstending tol push the hull further down into the water. V 4

When sa ling close-hauled or on a reach, in the conventional arrangement where the sail is associated with a mast stepped at the center line of the craft, the wind strikes the hull of the 'boat-beforeor at the "same time that it reaches thesail. Thus eddy currents of air are created which seriouslv affect and prevent the application "of the wind to the sail in a proper mariner to most efficiently obtain and utilize the greatest amount of its potential power for propelling the craft In my improved arrange merit, the sail-beingsupported err-- center relative to the boat and positionable so that it is curved upwardly and towards windward, the wind in reality reaches the sail before it reaches and is disturbed by the hull. Full advantage may therefore be taken of the wind before it strikes the boat.

On the above points of sailing, heeling of the boat becomes most prevalent. In the conventional arrangement, as soon as the boat heels, the effective sail area is automatically reduced and spilling of the wind results, thus materially decreasing the propelling efficiency of the sail. In

my arrangement, the opposite effect is produced. {The-sail area is increased. This is due to the fact that the windward side of the boat and the sail, which is set on the windward side of the boatcenter line and curved towards the wind, tend'to be bodily raised as the boat heels. consequence, more of the sail area is brought into the wind. Should the wind velocity become so great as to be difiicult to handle, the sail may bereadily easedwithout materially affecting the forward movement of the boat. When running free with the wind, with the sail at right angles to the forward movement of the boat, or on a broad reach; the sail may be easily tilted so as to take full advantage of the predominating upward movements of the air at an angle tothe surface of the water, and the wind may be easilyspilled simply by slightly turning" the "sail, Also, if there be too much wind; the sail forward. -Since the sail operator is shifted with the sail, his weight willalways be disposed in the most advantageous position, when the sail is properlypositioned for any particular condition of sailing, the operators weight acting to oppose forces tendingto heel the boat overor cause nosing of the b'ow.'- i

For exampla when running free, the sail .is

moved to therear of its pivot so that it is thus moved rearward relative to the hull thus causing more'of the boatto be. forward of the sail,

thereby enabling the bow to lift more freely and to'prevent the nose of the boat from going down in water. 7 I

Also,by tilting the sail'rearward or toward the boat stern it is possible to vary the lifting force of the wind on the sail. That is to say, it is therebyieasible to increase the amount of the force applied as a boat lifting component and to lessen the amount offorce applied to propel the boat forward. This arrangement enables a selective control of the application of the two componentsof force. ,I 7

- With'my improved arrangement, change of course is quickly'and easily accomplished with a' minimum of effort and loss of time. For example, when running "free, the course may be readily changed to a reach either on a port or starboard tacklsimply by swinging the sail to move its windward face across the boat center line ontothe desired side. In' doing this, the wind pressure is continually acting on the sail at all times, and the usual jibbing maneuver is eliminated. Such a jibbing movement not only results in a loss of wind pressure on the sail, but also necessitates the loss of Valuable time, and there is the ever present danger of the possibility of blowing out the usual canvas type of sail. This manner of changing course in my sail arrangement is of particular value when rounding a buoy from a running free course and coming into'a beat'oira close-haul or close-reach.

ay be easily and quickly tilted When sailing close-hauled or on a close-reach with the wing forward of the beam, for example, the course may be changed from one tack to the other by bringing the bow of the craft into the wind and simultaneously shifting sail until the said extends substantially in a fore and aft direction. At this point, the sail is quickly swung to carry its active surface through the wind and dispose it at an angle on the opposite side of the boat. The boat may now be steered so as to fall oil the wind onto the new tack, and the sail may be properly adjusted for the point of sailing desired on the new tack.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the herein described invention to provide an improved movable sail carriage which is also arranged to carry the person operating the sail, all of the controls for shifting and adjusting the sail being disposed within convenient reach of the operator at all times and moving with the sail and the operator.

A further object of the present invention is to eliminate the usual running rigging, sheets and the like as utilized in conventional sail arrangements and provide controls, which may be easily and quickly actuated with a minimum of effort from a single control station, thus enabling the sail to be more quickly adjusted to take advantage of the rapid and frequently varying conditions met with in sailing.

A further object is to provide a novel sail I mounting which enables the sail to be bodily shifted from one side to the other of the boat center line, and in which the sail operator moves with the sail, the operator being so disposed in Still another object is to provide an improved sail which may be constructed of sheet material, and in which the separate sheets making up the sail may be preformed as by rolling or other suitable means to have a proper curvature and integrally formed ribs so that, when the sheets are assembled and joined, the sail will be substantially rigid and self-supporting and have predetermined transverse and longitudinal curvatures.

It is also a further object to provide a sail constructed of sheet material having hollow ribs which maybe sealed to provide compartments that may be filled with a buoyant medium such as air.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sailing craft, in this instance a boat, having the sail and supporting gear therefor of this invention applied thereto, the sail being in its position for running with the wind;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the boat deck, showing the sail carriage mounted thereon and the manner in which it may be pivotally swung from one side of the boat center line to the other for bodily moving the sail and. bringing it into the wind, the position of the 1 sail in both positions being shown by dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the pivotal support for the sail carriage, and also showing the latching means for latching the carriage against swinging movements;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the sail carriage, a section being taken substantially on line IV--IV of Figure 3 to show details of the pivotal support for the carriage;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation showing the manner in which the sail is pivotally supported at its foot on the carriage, as viewed in looking towards the wind receiving side of the sail;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing details of the mechanism for tilting the sail;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing details of the actuating control for the tilting mechanism;

Figure 8 is a View of the entire sail as viewed when looking towards its rear surface, this view showing the arrangement of ribs thereon;

Figure 9 is a view diagrammatically showing the longitudinal curvature of the sail taken along the line IX--IX of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a similar view showing the transverse curvature of the sail, taken on line XX of Figure 8;

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a section of the sail adjacent its foot, when looking toward its rear surface, and showing the manner in which the sail is secured to the supporting yoke;

Figure 12 is a sectional view at the yoke taken through the adjacent sail portion substantially on line XIIXII of Figure 11;

Figure 13 is an enlarged fragmentary view of an edge portion of the sail, looking towards its rear surface;

Figure 14 is an edge marginal section through the sail, taken substantially on line XIVXIV of Figure 13; and

Figure 15 is a sectional View through a sail rib at a joint between the sheets composing the sail, showing a modified construction in which the rib is integrally formed with the edge margin of one sheet and lapped over the adjacent edge margin of a joined sheet.

As shown on the drawings:

Although the present invention will hereinafter he described in connection with its utilization on a beat, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theinvention may with equal facility be utilized on other wind propelled craft, and it is therefore not intended to limit the present invention solely to use on a boat.

In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 illustrates asubstantially rigid self-supporting sail structure, as generally indicated at A, which is mounted on a sail carriage, as generally indicated at B, this carriage being swingably associated with the boat hull is in a manner to permit unitary movement of the carriage and the sail, or independent movement of the sail relative to the carriage.

As shown more specifically in Figures 2, 3 and l, the sail carriage B comprises a base ring structure il having radially extending peripheral lugs 58 by means of which the base ring may be supported on a suitable frame structure connected to the boat hull. In this instance, the supporting f for the base ring comprises spaced supports E's-d8 connected together at their uppermost edges by cross beams 29-20.

The base member is preferably constructed as a single casting from a suitable metal such as aluminum. The base ring is preferably of hollow construction, being provided with internal strengthening webs 2|, and a central upwardly projecting portion 22 which serves as a stationary pivot for the sail carriage or supporting bracket.

The sail carriage comprises a pair of angularly outwardly diverging arms 2323 which are integrally connected at their innermost ends with a hub portion 24.

The hub portion 24 is arranged to fit over the pivot 22, and these relatively rotatable parts are preferably provided with anti-friction means such as ball bearings mounted in suitable retaining cages 25 and 26; The innermost cage 25 is held against removal from the pivot 22 by means of a retaining plate as shown at 21, whereas the outermost cage 26 is secured to and retained connected with the hub 24 by means of suitable retaining and clamping ring 28.

As shown in Figure 2, the arms 23-23 have 7 their end portions deflected to form the arm portio-ns 29--29 extending in substantially parallel relation. The outermost ends of the arms are preferably interconnected by a cross member 30 which braces the arms relative to each other and forms a support for a suitable seat 3! for the sail operator, this seat being disposed substantially midway between the bracket arms.

Directly ahead of the seat 3|, there is disposed a steering column or shaft 32 that is rotatably supported in upper and lower bearings 33 and 34 respectively, the upper bearing being supported on a suitable bearing bracket 35 from the arms 23, and the lower bearing 34 being integrally formed with the hub portion 24.

The uppermost end of the steering column is fitted with a suitable steering wheel 36 which is conveniently disposed in relation to'an operator sitting in the seat 3|, and by means of which the steering column may be rotated in one direction or the other. The lowermost end of the steering column carries a bevel gear 31 which is in meshed relation with a stationary ring gear 38 in concentric relation with the pivot 22 and preferably integrally formed with the base casting.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the sail carriage may be swung from one side of the boat center line as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, to a position disposed on the opposite side of the center line or any intermediate position therebetween, merely by turning the steering wheel 36 in the proper direction. Moreover, during such movement the steering wheel always remains in the same relative position to the operator and the operator is carried with the sail carriage during its movement. Since this adjustment of the sail resultsv in bodily moving the sail about the pivot 22, some means must be provided for maintaining the sail carriage in its adjusted position and oppose free movement of the carriage under the action of the wind pressure acting on the sail.

For such purpose, there is provided a segmental brake band 39 which is secured to one end of a double ended lever 40, this lever being fixedly mounted intermediate its ends on a shaft 4| supported for rotative movement, the ends of this shaft being trunnioned in suitable supporting lugs 42-42 depending from the arms 23-23. The other end of the lever 40 is deflected to form a foot treadle 43 which may be depressed by the foot of the sail operatorto bring the brake band 39 into engagement with an adjacent portion of the base member, this portion being suitably arranged to form a braking surface in any position of the sail carriage. The brake band is normally maintained in non-braking position by means of a coil spring 44 disposed around the shaft 4| and having one end anchored as at 45 in one of the lugs 42 and its other end anchored as at 46 to the lever 43.

Having described the sail carriage, the pivotal connection of the sail to the carriage will be explained and the control and tilting mechanasm, whereby the sail may be vertically tilted for raising and lowering the same and for adjusting the sail in proper position for most efficient engagement by the wind.

Referring .to Figure 5, the sail A is provided at substantially the center of its foot portion with a yoke or a mounting bracket 41 consistingof separately constructed parts which are secured together in any suitable manner and cooperate to form downwardly extending spaced apart arms 4848.

Each of the arm 48 is pivoted as shownat 49 at a point spaced from its extreme end to one of the outer ends of the portion 29 of the carriage. forms a sector gear 50 which is in meshed relation with a worm 5| rotatably supported in a suitable bracket 52 mounted on the adjacent porthe ratchet gear 54, this lever as thus mounted extending in a normal direction to the shaft 53 so as to bring the opposite end of the lever to' a position behind the operators seat 3| where it may be easily accessible to the operator. This latter end of each lever 55 is of hollow construetion and forms a hand gripping portion 56.

Adjacently disposed and cooperatively associated with the ratchet wheel 54 is a pair of opposed pawls 5T and58 which are mounted on a common pivot pin 59 between the two legs of the bifurcated'lever, a suitable spring 60 being provided to normally actuate the pawls into engagement with the ratchet wheel. It will be noted that the pawls 51 and 58 are arranged for moving the ratchet wheel in opposite directions.

There is also mounted on the pivot pin 59 a bell crank 6| having one of its arms formed with a deflected end flange 62 which underlies the pawls 51 and 58 so that when the bell crank is rotated in one direction one of the pawls will be raised and the other freed for movement into engage-'- ment with the ratchet wheel. When the bell crank is moved in the opposite direction, the other pawl will be raised and the remaining pawl lowered for engagement with the ratchet wheel. Movement of the bell crank is accomplished by means of a rod 63 disposed between the two legs of the operating lever. At one end, this rod is connected to the bell crank and at its other is supported in the hollow handle portion 56 for reciprocable movement. The rod extends through the handle portion and projects therefrom and, is fitted with a button 64 so that it may be moved thereby in an inward direction against the pressure of a coil spring 65 in the handle portion, one end of this spring bearing The extreme end portion of each arm 48 and the other end of the spring bearing against an abutment washer 65 which is retained against movement along the rod by means of a pin 6'! extending through the rod at this point. The spring 65 normally retains the rod 63 at its outward position of movement, the flange 62 of the bell crank in this position on the rod being in engagement with the pawl and raising it out of association with the ratchet wheel 54. However, the flange 62 is at this time released relative to pawl 53 so that this pawl may be moved by the associated spring into engagement with the ratchet wheel 54. Under these conditions, swinging movement of the lever 55 will result in the operation of the ratchet wheel and the worm 5| in such direction as to cause tilting movement of the sail supporting yoke in one direction. On the other hand, when the button E is depressed, the ratchet mechanism is reversed so that swinging movement of the lever 55 will result in tilting movement of the sail supporting yoke in the opposite direction.

Referring to Figure 8, it will be noted that the sail is of symmetrical construction and in general is of palm leaf shape, and is of greater overall length that its overall width. Substantially at the center of its foot portion, the sail is provided with a U-shaped opening 68 for receiving the supporting yoke bracket (l7.

As diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, the sail i curved both lengthwise and transversely. Lengthwise, the curvature along the line IXIX of Figure 8, this line being the center line of the sail, the curvature would be as indicated by the line 69 of Figure 9. In the transverse direction, the curvature along the line X-X of Figure 8 would be as indicated by the line 19 of Figure 10. The lines 69 and it have the same radius of curvature, and the sail surface the lengthwise direction of the sail would be generated by the movement of the line 69 laterally from the center of the sail in opposite directions, while the sail surface in a transversely extending direction is generated by vertical movements of the line 13. It will therefore be apparent that the surface of the sail conforms to the surface of a sphere having a radius the same as th radii of gyration of the lines 69 and '55. With this construction, it will be noted from an examination of Figure 1 that when the sail supporting yoke bracket is disposed vertically, the sail is curved rearwardly when going from the foot to the peak of the sail. This curvature is such that the sail may be positioned normally so as to take full advantage of the predominating upward direction of the wind at an angle to the surface of the water.

As shown in Figure 8, the sail is fabricated from a plurality of sheets H of relatively strong metal such as aluminum with their edges in abutting relation, these sheets radiating from the opening 58 and being of decreasing width as this opening is approached. The sheets H are secured at their edges by the radiating ribs 12, these ribs being disposed on the rear side of the sail surface.

As shown in Figure 12, each rib in cross section is substantially U-shaped and has each marginal edge deflected to form the lateral flanges 13-43 for engagement with the abutting sheets, when the rib is placed over the abutting edges of adjacently disposed sheets. These flanges are then spot welded to the abutting sheets. The bottom portions of the ribs may be reinforced by providing longitudinally extending beads as shown at M.

Each rib, as shown in Figure 13, is contracted at its outermost end 15 and sealed, the outermost end of each rib being disposed. adjacent the sail edge.

The outermost edge of the sail is reinforced by means of a peripheral flange strip which is bent back upon itself to form inner and outer L-shaped leg portions 76 and 7?, the inner leg portion being slotted as shown at 8 to permit lateral deflection and conformation of the edge strip to the curved edge of the sail. The peripherally extending flange strip is preferably secured to the associated portions of the sail as by spot welding as indicated at T9. In assembled position, the legs 15 and 77 project rearwardly of the sail.

While it would be possible to construct the sail as a single section, it has been found more convenient to construct the sail in symmetrical halves and joint these halves at the center line of the sail by a suitable joining strip 83 which may be either permanently or temporarily secured.

In order to secure the proper longitudinal and transverse spherical curvature of the sail as previously described, the sheets I! and ribs 12 may be preformed in any suitable manner, as by rolling, to have the proper curvature so that when they are assembled in their appropriate places, the proper curvature will be imparted to the fabricated sail structure.

In order to facilitate connection of the sail to the yoke bracket 47, the yoke portions are preferably made of angular cross section. As shown in Figure 11, the sheets and ribs at their termination at the U-shaped opening E58 of the sail are engaged against one of angular legs of the yoke and secured thereto, as shown in Figure 12. In the case of the sheets, spacing blocks 8! are placed between the rib ends overlying the sheets and these blocks are secured as by bolts 82 to the adjacent leg of the yoke bracket.

The secured ends of the ribs are each closed by an internal block 83, and the rib is secured to the yoke by means of suitable bolts 84.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that this construction provides hollow ribs of great strength and that the ribs cooperating with the associated marginal edges of the joined sheets, and the end filler blocks 83, form compartments disposed over the sail surface. These compartments may be sealed by means of any appropriate sealing compound and filled with a buoyant medium such as air, gas or some such material as cork.

Referring to Figure 15, there is shown an alternative rib and sheet construction. In this arrangement, instead of the ribs being separately formed, each sheet has a rib E2 integrally formed along the edge margin of the sheet. With this construction, instead of having the sheets with their edges abutting the non-ribbed marginal edge of one sheet is overlapped with the ribbed marginal edge of the other sheet and is spot welded as shown at 8-5. In this case, the sheet and integral rib would be initially preformed as in the previous construction. It will be noted that the sheets as thus overlapped cooperate to form a compartment which may similarly be filled with a buoyant medium.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the present invention provides an improved sail carriage for sailing craft, in which the sail operator is moved with the sail carriage and all the controls for operating the sail are conveniently disposed within easy reach of the operator; in which the sail may be bodily shifted from one side to the other of the boat center line, the weight of the operator in relation to the sail position being so disposed as to act in opposition to heeling and nosing down tendencies resulting from wind pressure acting on the sail; which includes improved sail and sail supporting'means permitting tilting adjustments of the sail and disposition of the sail in such position as to efiiciently take advantage of the predominating upward direction of the wind at an angle to the surface of the water; which provides an improved sail construction utilizing preformed sheets and ribs of such curvature that when fabricated a substantially rigid and self-supporting structure is obtained, and in which the fabricated sail structure will have a predetermined transverse and longitudinal curvature conforming to a spherical surface; and in which the ribs are of hollow constructionto provide compartments whichmay be filled with a buoyant medium.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of th appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1

1. In a self-supporting sail structure, a sail con-a structed from self-supporting material, a yoke to the surface of a common sphere, and thereafter form a sail of the desired shape and curvature.

coordinating said sheets in assembled relation to 3 As a new article of manufacture, a sail comprising a substantially rigid metallic body por-. tion .bordered by a foot portion and upper edges extending from said foot portion and buoyant elemerits on the surface of said saiLsaid buoyant elements comprising elongated, hollow, sealed chamber elements secured to the'surface of the sail and extending thereacross from the sail foot,

outwardly, to said edges. V

. GEORGE ALBERT LYON.

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