Subject of the Invention

The subject of the invention is a method of fastening a shade and a shade support structure onto a sailboat forward deck. The invention uses the existing elements and equipment on deck for fastening the shade and support structure and thus does not interfere with the supporting elements nor increase the hazard of water entering the boat. The invention uses the following elements for fastening: railing, two support pillars and outside attachments.

The invention belongs to the field of boat manufacturing.

Technical Problem

The technical problem that the invention solves is the fastening of the shade and support structure, namely the supporting elements of the shade so that they do not interfere with structural parts of the boat, do not increase the hazard for the use of the boat and do not impair the use of the boat.

Interference with the structural section of boat is delicate for several reasons, the most important of which is the static strength of the boat after such interference. An especially genuine risk is that final customers would want to install a shade by themselves and would thus interfere with the supporting structure without having the suitable expertise. Such interference can endanger lives. Any interference in safety railings that protect the crew against falling into the sea is also dangerous.

Prior Art

Shades are usually fastened in various ways, but most often by interfering in the supporting elements of the boat. Most often the elements of the shade are screwed into the deck or its parts approximately 25 cm deep. This increases the possibility of water leaking into the inside of the boat, because the force acting on the shade simultaneously also loosens the fastening screws.

Also, with the passing of time, the means of sealing also fail due to atmospheric factors. In many cases, in order to store the shade, the shape of the deck has to be adjusted so that the shade can be stored into a specifically made ingress. Many times, the ingress has to be drained via specially installed pipes. When installing the shade supporting elements in ingress as a fit, draining is required. But because fits are often installed inside, through the deck from the inside, this method increases the danger of water leaking in.

Solution to the Technical Problem

The above technical problem has been solved with an innovative design of the supporting structure for the shade and the fastening of the structure according to the present invention, and is presented in more detail in the figure showing:

Figure 1: side view of the support structure of the shade and the fastening elements

Such solutions were until now were only used on motor boats. For use on sailboats, the specific nature of the deck must be taken into account - the presence of the mast 4. The present invention refers to the method of fastening the shade 1 or the support structure for the shade 1 and the design and the manufacture of the front support 5 for the shade 1.

On the back side of the mast 4, the shade 1 is fastened at two points to the back supports that are outside attachments 2 that otherwise serve to provide stability to the mast 4. In this manner, it is possible to avoid the mast 4. The fastening is usually performed at a height of 2 m which enables comfortable movement of the crew under the shade 1.

At the forward section of the sailboat, the shade 1 is fastened at two points to the front supports 5. To fasten the shade 1 on the forward section of the sailboat, the forward pillars 12 of the railing are used. These are usually 70 cm high, and as such, are too low to fasten the shade 1 to. For this purpose, two coupling attachments 7 are used with which the pillars 12 are fixed to the deck 13. The coupling attachment 7 is usually around 2 cm high and can be used to install new elements as in the present invention for the installation of the front supports 5. The front supports 5 of the shade 1 are mounted to the two coupling attachments 7. For the front supports 5 of the shade 1, a type of supporting mast is used that is frequently used in windsurfing. This type of mast is suitable due to its elasticity. Namely, when the shade 1 is tensioned with the help of tensioning ropes 3, 11, the front supports 5 bend slightly under the force and thus provide the shade 1 suitable tension and stability.

To suitably fasten the front supports 5, the coupling attachments 7 have to be adjusted, compared to the original attachments that are supplied by the manufacturer of the pillar 12 of the railing. The outer diameter of coupling attachments 7 must be in accordance with the inner diameter of the front supports 5, in order to be able to mount the front supports 5 onto the coupling attachments 7. Adjustment of the existing coupling attachments 7 is carried out by grinding them off to suit the diameter of front supports 5, or new ones can be used. However, in this case, the cut-in thread into the deck 13 has to be adjusted to which the coupling attachment 7 is fastened to the deck.

When the front supports 5 are thus mounted to the coupling attachments 7 and thus placed each next to the appropriate front pillar 12, they are coupled with the front pillars 12 using the coupling clamp 6 that is usually the part of the mast for windsurfing and is used to disassemble the mast. In this way, the front supports 5 are finally fixed to the deck 13.

Shade 1 is then tightened via two hooks 10 that are located at the top of the front supports 5 and is, using tensioning ropes 11, fixed in a single point on the front railing. This affixing is carried out on the fastening ring 8, located on the front railing which enables simple handling, namely the setting up and removing of the shade 1.

The fastening to a single point is also made possible due to the above mentioned fact that the front supports 5 are somewhat flexible and bendable, but less bendable than in existing solutions used on motor boats. They are less bendable because the front supports 5 are fixed on the pillars of the railing 12 at a height of 70 cm, while with the existing solutions, the fixing is done at 25 cm from the ground which results in greater deviations. The existing solutions are thus less stable and require fixing at two points.

When the shade 1 is tensioned, it can also be lifted in the middle with the help of a lifting element 9 - a hook in the middle of the canvas. In this way, the shade 1 is given a characteristic tent shape, which in the event of rain enables the draining of water.