AU2007299570A1 - An accessory for a boat - Google Patents

Description

WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 "An accessory for a boat" Cross-Reference to Related Applications The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent 5 Application No 2006905206 filed on 20 September 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the field of boating. More particularly, this invention 10 relates to an accessory for a boat, to a boat including the accessory and to an installation tool for installing an accessory on an article such as, for example, a boat. Background to the Invention In power boats, the hull of the boat is generally inwardly stepped to define a 15 chine. The part of the hull above the chine is known as the hull side and the part of the hull below the chine is known as the hull bottom. A part of the chine protrudes above the waterline of the hull regardless of the state of loading of the boat when the boat is not underway , i.e. is in floating displacement mode. The point where the chine intersects the waterline when the boat is in floating displacement mode shall be referred 20 to in this specification as the "slap point". When a boat is in floating displacement mode and there are ripples on the water such as may occur when winds cause small waves on the water surface or as may occur as a result of the wake generated from a passing boat, these ripples impinge on the chine at the slap point and create a noise known as chine slap or slime slap. This noise 25 can be extremely annoying and may disturb the rest of people sleeping in a forward cabin of the boat. Also, in the case of fishing boats, the noise may frighten off fish which will avoid the area from which the noise emanates. As far as the applicant is aware, no reasonable remedies exist for reducing or eradicating chine slap. Various suggestions of which the applicant is aware include 30 placing packing material within the hull at a location corresponding to a slap point or placing floating booms about the bow of the hull. Neither suggestion is practical nor cures the problem.

WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 2 Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an accessory for a boat hull, the boat hull having a bow and a stern and a chine running along each side of the boat intermediate the bow and the stern, the accessory including 5 an elongate body member having a leading end and a trailing end and an operatively outer surface extending from the leading end to the trailing end; and a nose portion defined by the leading end, the nose portion being shaped to fit snugly in an intersection of the chine with a hull bottom of the boat hull and to lie forwardly of a slap point of the hull and at least a leading part of the operatively outer 10 surface of the body member curving smoothly outwardly from the nose portion towards the trailing end. By " smoothly" is meant that there are no discontinuities such as steps or shoulders in the operatively outer surface of the body member. A shape of at least an outer part of the body member may approximate that of a 15 round bottomed hull of a waterborne craft, i.e. the hull of a yacht. The body member may be shaped to approximate such a hull that has been bisected vertically along a longitudinal axis of the hull. The body member may be shaped so that an outer edge of the body member lies substantially flush with a hull side of the boat hull at least at the slap point, in use. 20 The body member may be a moulding of a suitable mouldable material such as fibre glass. By "suitable" is meant that the material is suitable for the purpose of being at least partially submerged in water. The body member may comprise a hollow member which defines a cavity, the cavity being charged with a lightweight filler material. The filler material may be a 25 settable material and may be a foamed plastics material. The leading end of the body member may be fabricated to be larger than required so that the leading end can be worked, for example, by cutting, to fit a particular shape of boat hull on which the body member is to be mounted. The body member may contain a vent for venting fluid trapped between the 30 body member and the boat hull. The vent may extend transversely to a longitudinal axis of the body member between an operatively inner part of the body member and the outer surface, the vent being arranged forwardly of the slap point, in use. Further, the inner part of the body member may define a channelling formation arranged adjacent the vent for channelling the fluid towards the vent. The channelling formation may be 35 in the form of a ledge member which is angled towards the vent.

WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 3 The accessory may include a mounting arrangement for mounting the body member to the boat hull such that, in use, the body member traverses the slap point and the nose portion is forward of the slap point of the hull and above the waterline of the hull irrespective of the state of loading of the hull member in use. 5 The mounting arrangement may comprises a recess defined in an operatively top region of the body member to be charged with bonding material to bond the body member to the boat hull. . In an embodiment, the mounting arrangement may further comprise a plurality of mounting formations for mounting the body member to the boat hull. Each 10 mounting formation may comprise an outwardly extending flange, the flanges being formed integrally with the body member as a one-piece unit and each flange defining an opening through which a fastener is receivable. Hence, a first, outwardly extending flange may be arranged at the nose portion and a second, outwardly extending flange may be arranged at the trailing end of the body member. 15 According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a boat hull which includes a hull member having a bow and a stem and a chine running along each side of the hull member intermediate the bow and the stem, the hull member having a hull bottom below the chine and a hull side above the chine; and 20 an elongate, bulbous formation defined on each side of the hull member at the chine, the bulbous formation having a leading end and a trailing end with a nose portion being defined at the leading end, the nose portion being arranged snugly in an intersection of the chine with the hull bottom and the bulbous formation widening smoothly from the nose portion towards the trailing end, the bulbous formation being 25 arranged at a position on the hull member which traverses a slap point on the hull member and the nose portion being forward of the slap point and above the waterline of the hull member irrespective of the state of loading of the hull member in use. The invention extends also to an installation tool for installing an accessory on an article, the tool including 30 an elongate arm; and a foot member pivotally attached to an end of the arm, the foot member carrying gradations for enabling a measurement of the predetermined part of the article to be carried out and the foot member further defining a holding formation for holding a marker to enable a marking to be applied to the article. 35 While the tool is intended particularly for use with the accessory as described above and, more particularly, for measuring a chine to enable an accessory of the WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 4 appropriate size to be fitted, it will be appreciated that the tool could be used to install other accessories on articles having regions which are hard to reach. The arm may be a telescopic arm having at least two nested sleeves slidably arranged relative to each other. The sleeves may be a tight fit with respect to each 5 other to retain them in their extended configuration. Instead, the arm may include a locking mechanism for locking the sleeves in their extended configuration relative to each other. The foot member may be a length of a rigid material of a predetermined shape. More particularly, the foot member may be an L-shaped member, which may 10 conveniently be of metal, with one flat being used to secure the foot member to the arm and an outer surface of the other flat carrying the gradations. The holding formation may be defined by the crook of the L-shaped member with a marker, such as a permanent marker, being receivable in the crook and being retained in that position by a retaining means. The retaining means may be a clip, or the like. 15 Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the invention are now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a plan view of an accessory, in accordance with a first embodiment 20 of a first aspect of the invention, for a boat hull, the illustrated accessory being fitted, in use, to a port side of the boat; Fig. 2 shows a side view of the accessory; Fig. 3 shows a bottom view of the accessory; Fig. 4 shows a front view of the accessory; 25 Fig. 5 shows a rear view of the accessory; Fig. 6 shows a side view of a boat hull including the accessory; Fig. 7 shows a bottom view of the boat hull; Fig. 8 shows a front view of the boat hull; Fig. 9 shows, on an enlarged scale, the encircled part in Fig.8; 30 Fig. 10 shows a three dimensional view of an installation tool, in accordance with an embodiment of another aspect of the invention, in a first configuration; Fig. 11 shows a three dimensional view of the tool in a second configuration; Fig. 12 shows a three dimensional view of an accessory, in accordance with a second embodiment of a first aspect of the invention, for a boat hull, the illustrated 35 accessory being fitted, in use, to a port side of the boat; Fig. 13 shows a plan view of the accessory of Fig. 12; WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 5 Fig. 14 shows a side view of the accessory of Fig. 12; Fig. 15 shows, on an enlarged scale, a sectional end view of the accessory of Fig. 12 taken along line XV-XV in Fig. 14; Fig 16 shows, on an enlarged scale, the part of the accessory of Fig 12 encircled 5 by circle 'A' in Fig. 14; Fig. 17 shows a front view of the accessory of Fig. 12; and Fig. 18 shows a rear view of the accessory of Fig. 12. Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments 10 Referring initially to Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designates an accessory, in accordance with a first embodiment of an aspect of the invention, for a boat hull. The accessory 10 comprises a body member 12 having a leading end 14 and a trailing end 16. The leading end 14 defines a nose portion 18 shaped to fit snugly in an intersection of a chine and a hull bottom of a boat hull, as will 15 be described in greater detail below. The body member 12 widens smoothly from the nose portion 18 towards the trailing end 16. As defined above, the term "smoothly" is to be understood to mean that at least a leading part of the body member 12 has no discontinuities from the leading end 14 to the trailing end 16. The accessory 10 further includes a mounting arrangement which comprises a 20 pair of outwardly extending flanges 20 and 22. In addition, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, an operatively upper region of the body member 12 defines a recess, as shown by the dotted line 24 in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The recess 24 accommodates a bonding material as will also be described in greater detail below. The recess 24 is formed by inserting an inner moulding 26 into the hollow body member 12 or filling 25 the interior of the hollow body member with some other filler material such as, for example, a marine bonding material. The body member 12 is a moulding of a suitable mouldable material such as, for example, fibre glass. The inner moulding 26 terminates below the edge of the body member 12 to define the fillable recess 24. 30 The shape of the body member 12 approximates that of part of the hull of a round bottomed hull of a waterborne craft, such as a yacht. More particularly, the body member 12 is shaped to approximate a half of the hull of the yacht, in other words, the hull having been bisected vertically along its longitudinal axis. In this way, a smooth, hydrodynamic nose portion 18 is defined as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 of the 35 drawings.

WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 6 The accessory 10 illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings is mountable on a port side of a boat. A similar accessory, but being a mirror image of the illustrated accessory, is mountable on the starboard side of the boat. The body member 12 has an angled, inner wall 28 (Figs. 1 and 5) to facilitate bearing against a hull bottom when the 5 body member 12 is mounted in position. The mounting flange 20 projects outwardly from the nose portion 18 of the body member 12. Similarly, the mounting flange 22 projects outwardly from the trailing end 16 of the body member 12. Both mounting flanges 20, 22 define mounting openings 30 through which suitable fasteners (not shown), such as self-tapping screws, are 10 insertable. It is to be noted that the body member 12 flares outwardly from the nose portion 18 and, further, that the nose portion 18 is offset with respect to a centre line of the body member 12 so that, when the body member 12 is mounted in position, the nose portion 18 seats snugly at the intersection between a chine of the boat hull and a hull 15 bottom. Referring now to Figs. 6 to 9 of the drawings, the mounting of the accessory 10 is described in greater detail. In Figs. 6 to 9, a boat hull is designated generally by the reference numeral 40. The boat hull 40 has a bow 42 and a stem 44 having a transom 46. Each side of the hull 40 defines a chine 48. The part of the hull 40 above the chine 20 48 is referred to as a hull side 50 and a part of the hull 40 below the chine 48 is referred to as a hull bottom 52. It will be appreciated that the boat hull 40 is symmetrical about a centre line 54 and an accessory 10 is mounted on either side of the centre line 54. A waterline is shown at 56 in Figs. 6, 8 and 9 of the drawings. As defined above, where the waterline 56 intersects the chine 48 a slap point 58 is defined. The 25 accessory 10 is mounted on the chine 48 so that it traverses the slap point 58 as shown in greater detail in Fig. 9 of the drawings. With hulls 40, particularly of powerboats, the hull 40 has the chines 48 which inhibit spray running up the side of the hull 40 when the boat is on plane. A problem occurs when the boat having the boat hull 40 is not underway, i.e. is 30 in floating displacement mode. In this mode, when ripples, as illustrated schematically at 60 in Fig. 9 of the drawings, occur, they "slap" against the chine 48 creating a noise known in the industry as chine slap or slime slap. This noise can be extremely annoying for occupants of the boat. It is particularly so in a forward cabin of the boat. Another problem occurs in fishing boats where the noise may scare off schools of fish. 35 The accessory 10 is mounted so that the nose portion 18 is above the waterline and the body member 12 traverses the slap point 58 with the trailing end 16 being WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 7 below the waterline, behind the slap point 58. Further, as described above, the accessory 10 is mounted so that the nose portion 18 fits snugly at the intersection between the chine 48 and the hull bottom 52. In this way, as the ripples 60 strike the chine 48, they are deflected outwardly by the accessory 10 thereby inhibiting the 5 occurrence of chine slap. While Figs. 6 to 9 have been described with reference to the accessory 10 being an after market addition, as will be appreciated, the accessory 10 could be moulded into the boat hull 40 during the fabrication of the boat hull 40. Such a boat hull would have bulbous formations at the slap point 58 which, in all material respects correspond in 10 shape to the accessories 10. The effect, however, of the bulbous formations is the same as the accessories and they operate to inhibit chine slap. An installation tool used for installing the accessories 10 is illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings and is designated generally by the reference numeral 70. The tool 70 includes an arm 72. A foot member 74 is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 76 15 to the arm 72. The arm 72 is a telescopic arm having a pair of nested, relatively slidable sleeves 78 and 80. The sleeves 78 and 80 can either be a tight fit with respect to each other so that the sleeves 78 and 80 are retained in their extended configuration or, instead, the sleeves 78 and 80 are retained in their extended configuration by a locking 20 mechanism such as, for example, a locking collar 82. The foot member 74 is a length of metal angle having a pair of orthogonally arranged flats 84 and 86. The pivot pin 76 projects through the flat 86 for pivotally retaining the foot member 74 on the arm 72. An outer surface of the flat 84 carries gradations 88 by means of which a depth of the chine 48 can be determined to enable 25 an accessory of the appropriate size to be fitted. Thus, in use, the foot member 74 is positioned as shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings and is placed beneath the chines 48 while the boat hull 40 is out of the water using the arm 72 to measure the depth of the chine 48. The slap point 58 is then identified and a marker (not shown) is placed in the 30 crook 90 defined between the flats 84 and 86 with the marker 90 projecting beyond an edge 92 of the foot member 74. The marker is retained in position by clips or other suitable fasteners carried by the foot member 74. The slap point 58 is marked with the marker and the installation tool 70 is then removed. 35 An accessory 10 of the appropriate size is selected.

WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 8 The accessory 10 is then loosely mounted in position by inserting self tapping screws through the openings 30 in the mounting flanges 20 and 22 of the body member 12 of the accessory 10. Once the desired position of the accessory 10 has been determined, it is removed from the boat hull 40. Antifouling paint is removed from the 5 boat hull 40 in the position where the accessory 10 is to be mounted by sanding the hull 40. An epoxy based bonding material is inserted into the recess 24 of the body member 12 to fill the recess 24. The accessory 10 is then re-mounted using screws through the openings 30 in the flanges 20 and 22 and the screws are tightened in position. Any excess bonding material which has extruded out due to the tightening of the accessory 10 10 in position is removed. The bonding material is then allowed to cure for about one hour followed by a light sanding of the accessory 10 and the application of a new coat of anti-fouling paint to the boat hull 40 and the accessory 10. The bonding agent used may be any suitable epoxy-based bonding agent used in marine applications. Referring now to Figs. 12-18 of the drawings, another embodiment of an 15 accessory for a boat hull is illustrated and is designated generally by the reference numeral 100. With reference to the previous drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts, unless otherwise specified. Thus, in this embodiment, the accessory 100 also includes a body member 12 defining a leading end 14 and a trading end 16. The leading end 14 defines an offset 20 nose portion 18, the nose portion 18 being offset with respect to a longitudinal axis of the body member 12. Once again, the nose portion 18 is shaped to fit snugly within an intersection of the chine 48 with the hull bottom 52 of the hull 40. Additionally, the nose portion 18 of the accessory 100 lies forwardly of the slap point 58 of the boat hull 40, in use. 25 As in the case of the previous embodiment, the body member 12 of the accessory 100 has an angled inner wall 28, at least at its leading end 14. Unlike the previous embodiment, however, the leading end 14 of the body member 12 of the accessory 100 is made substantially larger than the depth of the chine 48. In practice, part of an inner surface 102 of the body member 12 is sacrificial and is removed by 30 working, for example, by cutting, to fit the particular shape of chine 48 of the boat hull 40. The body member 12 is of such a length that it can fit any boat hull 40. The body member 12 of the accessory 100 defines a vent 104. A leading part 106 of the body member 12 defines a step formation 108 at its inner surface as shown more clearly in Fig. 13 of the drawings. The vent 104 is arranged immediately behind 35 the step formation 108. In use, the vent 104 is forward of the slap point 58. More particularly, the body member 12 is mounted on the boat hull 40 such that the vent 104 WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 9 is approximately 100 mm to 200 mm forward of the slap point 58. The vent 104 serves to allow the expulsion of any fluid, in particular, air that is trapped in the space behind the step formation 108, in use. To assist in directing trapped air to the vent 104, a channelling formation in the 5 form of an angled ledge 110 is arranged operatively rearwardly of the vent 104. The body member 12 is a moulding of a suitable material, for example, fibre glass and has a filling 112 (Fig. 15) of a foamed plastics material. As is the case with the previous embodiment, the body member 12 defines a smoothly curved outer surface 114 as shown most clearly in Fig. 13 of the drawings. 10 The body member 12 is shaped so that, when placed on the chine 48, the smooth, hydrodynamic nose portion 18 is a snug fit in the intersection between the chine 48 and the hull bottom 52 so that chine slap or slime slap is inhibited. In use, with this embodiment, it is not generally necessary to use the installation tool 70 described above. Rather, the slap point 58 is generally easily identified due to a 15 slime line forming on the boat hull 40. The slime line coincides with the water line 56 and, the slap point 58 is defined by the position at which the slime line intersects the chine 48. Thus, an installer will generally be aware where the accessory 100 is to be mounted. The accessory 100 is mounted in position after antifouling paint has been removed from the boat hull 40 by sanding in the position where the accessory 100 is to 20 be installed. The accessory 100 is adhered to the chine 48 of the boat hull 40 using a high density epoxy filler. The high density epoxy filler is any suitable marine filler. Generally, this epoxy filler is provided in two parts which are mixed by a dispending gun, or the like. Initially, a quick filler may be placed on the leading end 14 and trailing end 16 of the body member 12 for initial, fast contact. 25 Once the size of the chine 48 has been determined, the leading part 106 of the body member 12 is cut to size by, if necessary, removing part of the inner part 102 of the body member 12. The epoxy filler then bonds with the hull 40 to secure the accessory 100 in place. 30 It is an advantage of the invention that an accessory 10, 100 is provided which, the applicant believes, will significantly reduce the occurrence of chine slap resulting in greater enjoyment for occupants of a boat. As indicated above, chine slap is a major irritation and annoyance and, the applicant believes, the inhibiting of such chine slap will provide major benefits. 35 Further, it is an advantage of the invention that chine slap is inhibited regardless of the loading of the boat hull 40 such as, for example, regardless how much anchor WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 10 chain has been played out. The accessory 10, 100 is simple to manufacture and install. It is a relatively simple procedure to install the accessory 10, 100 when the boat is removed from the water for other maintenance to be carried out on the boat hull 40. It is still a further advantage of the invention that the accessory 10, 100 is not unsightly as 5 most of the accessory 10, 100 will be below the waterline 56 and the accessory 10, 100 can be painted to be the same colour as the remainder of the boat hull 40. In addition, when moulded into the hull during original equipment manufacture, the accessory 10, 100 will not change the appearance of the hull to any significant extent. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations 10 and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (19)

1. An accessory for a boat hull, the boat hull having a bow and a stern and a chine running along each side of the boat intermediate the bow and the stern, the accessory including 5 an elongate body member having a leading end and a trailing end and an operatively outer surface extending from the leading end to the trailing end; and a nose portion defined by the leading end, the nose portion being shaped to fit snugly in an intersection of the chine with a hull bottom of the boat hull and to lie forwardly of a slap point of the hull and at least a leading part of the operatively outer 10 surface of the body member curving smoothly outwardly from the nose portion towards the trailing end.

2. The accessory of claim 1 in which a shape of at least an outer part of the body member approximates that of a round bottomed hull of a waterborne craft. 15

3. The accessory of claim 1 or claim 2 in which the body member is shaped so that an outer edge of the body member lies substantially flush with a hull side of the boat hull at least at the slap point, in use. 20

4. The accessory of any one of the preceding claims in which the body member is a moulding of a suitable mouldable material.

5. The accessory of claim 5 in which the body member comprises a hollow member defining a cavity, the cavity being charged with a lightweight filler material. 25

6. The accessory of any one of the preceding claims in which the leading end of the body member is fabricated to be larger than required so that the leading end can be worked to fit a particular shape of boat hull on which the body member is to be mounted. 30

7. The accessory of any one of the preceding claims in which the body member contains a vent for venting fluid trapped between the body member and the boat hull.

8. The accessory of claim 7 in which the vent extends transversely to a longitudinal 35 axis of the body member between an operatively inner part of the body member and the outer surface, the vent being arranged forwardly of the slap point, in use. WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 12

9. The accessory of claim 8 in which the inner part of the body member defines a channelling formation arranged adjacent the vent for channelling the fluid towards the vent. 5

10. The accessory of any one of the preceding claims which includes a mounting arrangement for mounting the body member to the boat hull such that, in use, the body member traverses the slap point and the nose portion is forward of the slap point of the hull and above the waterline of the hull irrespective of the state of loading of the hull 10 member in use.

11. The accessory of claim 10 in which the mounting arrangement comprises a recess defined in an operatively top region of the body member to be charged with bonding material to bond the body member to the boat hull. 15

12. The accessory of claim 10 or claim 11 in which the mounting arrangement further comprises a plurality of mounting formations for mounting the body member to the boat hull. 20

13. The accessory of claim 12 in which each mounting formation comprises an outwardly extending flange, the flanges being formed integrally with the body member as a one-piece unit and each flange defining an opening through which a fastener is receivable. 25

14. A boat hull which includes a hull member having a bow and a stem and a chine running along each side of the hull member intermediate the bow and the stem, the hull member having a hull bottom below the chine and a hull side above the chine; and an elongate, bulbous formation defined on each side of the hull member at the 30 chine, the bulbous formation having a leading end and a trailing end with a nose portion being defined at the leading end, the nose portion being arranged snugly in an intersection of the chine with the hull bottom and the bulbous formation widening smoothly from the nose portion towards the trailing end, the bulbous formation being arranged at a position on the hull member which traverses a slap point on the hull 35 member and the nose portion being forward of the slap point and above the waterline of the hull member irrespective of the state of loading of the hull member in use. WO 2008/034169 PCT/AU2007/001338 13

15. An installation tool for installing an accessory on an article, the tool including an elongate arm; and a foot member pivotally attached to an end of the arm, the foot member carrying 5 gradations for enabling a measurement of the predetermined part of the article to be carried out and the foot member further defining a holding formation for holding a marker to enable a marking to be applied to the article.

16. The tool of claim 15 in which the arm is a telescopic arm having at least two 10 nested sleeves slidably arranged relative to each other.

17. The tool of claim 15 or claim 16 in which the foot member is a length of a rigid material of a predetermined shape. 15

18. The tool of claim 17 in which the foot member is an L-shaped member with one flat being used to secure the foot member to the arm and an outer surface of the other flat carrying the gradations.

19. The tool of claim 18 in which the holding formation is defined by the crook of 20 the L-shaped member with a marker being receivable in the crook and being retained in that position by a retaining means.