摘要 |
System for controlling a boat sail as it is dropped, the sail being made of flexible material and being folded to lie when it is a mainsail, for example, on top of the boom of the boat. One or more control lines run parallel to the mast from the boom to a topping lift. The control lines run through grommets in the sail, the grommets being disposed in horizontal alignment with respective sliding fastening means by which the sail is attached to the mast. Equidistant between each pair of successive horizontal rows of grommets and the respective sail fastening means aligned therewith there is a batten which extends from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the sail. The control lines run through successive vertically aligned grommets so as to lie alternately on one side and then the other side of the sail. As the sail is dropped, the control lines force the sail to be folded at the locations of the battens into a plurality of panels which lie atop the boom, successive battens being disposed on opposite sides of the boom.
|