At the same time mooring hook with its rope attached to the boat completely takes over mooring forces: wind force, wave force and force of water currents.

Technical problem and it's solution Technical problem In mooring procedure following steps are necessary: the buoy has to be approached by the right side of the stem (depending of the direction and wind speed, direction of water current, position of other moored or anchored boats), in time the boat has to be stopped, the mooring ring has to be seized with the mooring hook, the buoy, if possible, has to be lifted so that it can be reached by hand, mooring rope has to be pulled through the ring and fastened to the boat.

In fifteen years of sailing experience, the author has concluded that mooring action is one of the most unsuccessful. Especially because to catch the mooring ring is usually a task for female crew (skipper is always at the helm).

The usual mistakes or obstacles are: approaching the buoy with high speed or misjudging the distance to the buoy, or, sometimes, the increasing difficulty to reach the ring of the buoy due to the high position of the deck above the buoy (an obstacle especially present when it comes to motor yachts). The result of it all is a try to stop the boat with a boat hook attached to the buoy, which is mostly impossible, and it turns into a run along the boat's deck in hope of success, or a sailor lying down on the deck, trying to reach the buoy's ring in attempt to pull the rope through For a bystander, this is, more or less, a funny side of a story. One tragic accident happened, (and the author was a witness) when a motor-boat, due to the earlier mentioned reasons, could not complete the mooring operation, and finally a buoy went under the boat, the propeller grinded it and a buoy's steel rod ended up bent around propeller shaft.

So the technical problem which author wants to solve is a simple and secure mooring for all boats and yachts in all weather conditions in which nautical people and their boats can find themselves.

Solution of the problem

Introduction With the prototype of the mooring hook (photos in enclosure) author has, while sailing on Adriatic sea in summer of 1999 and 2000, successfully, in appearent weather conditions, moored his sailing boat of 36 feet of length, as a standard boat procedure: approaching the buoy, hooking, stopping and, at departure, opening the hook and continuing the trip. At that time the wind force was ranging from total calm to the wind called bura of 40 knots.

Description of the mooring hook use Mooring system (drwg. No 1, photo No 1) consists of : -mooring rope dia 12-16 mm, length 3-4 m, spliced around thimble and connected to the hook by the shackle -wooden or aluminium holding rod or pipe, dia 30 mm, 2-2,5 m of length with a connecting head to connect and lock the hook -automatic mooring hook with pulling rope dia 6 mm and the length of 4 m.

Mooring preparation is to: -tie the mooring rope to the bollard or deck cleat -tie the pulling rope to the boat's rail -push the holding rod into the mooring hook and turn it to the right to lock the hook To moor the boat it is necessary to: -approach the buoy with maximum speed up to 2 kn, up to the distance of the length of the holding rod -catch the buoy's ring with the hook -stop the boat -pass the rope through the ring -adjust the rope to the desired length Releasing the boat from the buoy is toi -loosen the mooring rope a bit (manually or by engine) -pull the pulling rope and take out the jumper of the hook so that hook can open. The hook is falling away and the boat is ready to sail -compose the hook, coil the ropes and store them in anticipated place.

Technical description Basically, the mooring hook corresponds to standard hooks used in transport technique. To obtain disconnection, the body of the hook is cut and sectioned into (drwg No 4):

A-mooring rope holder with side plates B-jumper C-base of the hook Besides that, there are also jumper's spring, securing plate D with its spring, mooring hook rod with holder E (detailed on drwg. No 6), and axles of jumper and base of the hook Of importance is the angle a between touching surfaces a and b and project line to the jumper's axle, which must be less than 90°.

Thus, wedging the jumper under the load does not allow uncontroled disconnection of the hook The permanent jumper's lean on position is obtained by its spring.

Pulling the jumper out by its rope, surface a does not have any more support from surface b, and the base of the hook turns around its axle, and frees the hook and the boat of buoy's mooring ring (drwg. No 5).

Elements of hook's calculation Studying various written sources concerning mooring and anchoring of the boats, author has concluded that the hooks of 5KN, 10KN and 15KN of SWL can cover the needs for boats up to 16 m of LOA and the wind speed up to 50 knots. To choose a certain hook is absolutely up to skippers decision. Hooks of all carrying capacities are of complete geometric similarity.

All metal parts are produced from stainless steel AISI 316L, with aM= 600-750 N/mm2 and safety factor = 2.5 to 3, which is generally used in construction of loaded nautical equipment.

Prototypes of hooks shall be tested in laboratory on breaking machines to check calculation results.

State of technique Author has observed and looked for the state of technique concerning the invention named in the Request only in nautical magazines and catalogues of nautical equipment. If there was something similar, certainly it would be offered to the market through firms like: West Marine, USA; Plastimo, France; Niemeyer, Germany; Motomarine, Osculatti, Italy; Kelvin Hughes, Telesonic, Cruisermart, England ; Watski-Gothardt, Sweden.

Through those companies a man can buy everything he needs for his boat.

Short description of drawings and photos -Drwg. No 1 It shows a completed mooring system: closed hook, mooring rope with shackle, rod to reach the buoy, pulling rope to open the hook

-Drwg. No 2 It shows closed hook-side look.

-Drwg. No 3 It shows opened hook-side look. drag. No 4 It shows inner elements of the hook-closed configuration.

-Drwg. No 5 It shows inner elements of the hook-opened configuration.

-Drwg. No 6 It shows locking elements of the mooring rod and the hook.

-Photo No 1 It shows a prototype of the system.

-Photo No 2. It shows closed hook.

-Photo No 3. It shows opened hook.

-Photo No 4 It shows approaching a quay and hooking in stand-by position.

-Photo No 5 It shows a hooking moment.

Photo No 6 The boat is moored to the quay.

-Photo No 7 It shows a moment of releasing the boat, by opening the hook.

-Photo No 8 It shows approaching the buoy and the hook in position to catch the ring.

-Photo No 9 It shows a moment of hooking to the buoy.

-Photo No 10 It shows a moment after unlocking-separating the mooring rod from the hook -Photo No 11 The boat is moored to the buoy.

-Photo No 12 Releasing the boat and sailing away.

Realisation of the invention The hook is produced by standard ways of machining metals :

-cutting out elements A, B, C, D from the stainless steel plate by torch or piercing machine, -grinding cut surfaces by grinding machines, -drilling the holes for axles, -machining axles on a lathe, -welding together all unmovable elements, -purchasing and assembling all springs, -assembling the hook and pressing the axles, interphase or final surface polishing of the hook, -purchasing and splicing the rope, setting the mooring rod to the rod locking element.