GB2053823A

GB2053823A - Anchor guide and stowage arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2053823A
Application number: GB7925429A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: GM CARBURETTOR CO Ltd
Current assignee: GM CARBURETTOR CO Ltd
Priority date: 1979-07-20
Filing date: 1979-07-20
Publication date: 1981-02-11
Also published as: IT8068166A0; FR2461637B3; SE8005268L; FR2461637A1; AU6064280A; GB2053823B

Abstract

An anchor guide and stowage arrangement for boats has a pivotable guide member 12 through which the anchor chain runs when raising or lowering anchor and in which the anchor shaft is stowed when the anchor is raised. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Anchor guide and storage arrangement This invention relates to anchor guide and stowage arrangements for boats.

Operation and stowage of the anchor has always been a problem for boats. Whereas proper arrangements are designed in to larger ships, arrangements for smaller boats seem, by comparison, if not exactly makeshift, at best something of an afterthought.

Thus the anchor is usually stowed in the forepeak, or on a mounting rest on the prow, and it must be placed there by hand after raising and secured as by lashing down.

A winch may be provided and then a grooved guide such as a grooved roller is provided at the prow to take the running chain.

Such arrangements have several disadvantages, not least of which is the amount of manhandling required at the exposed prow of the boat which makes it difficult when sailing or cruising singlehanded, and potentially hazardous when trying to anchor in difficult sea conditions.

Another disadvantage is that the grooved guide or roller may not keep control of the chain if the anchor is being pulled up from abaft the prow, and it is sometimes in any event difficult to drop the chain precisely into the groove - in either case, the chain may cause considerable damage to the timbers or adjacent fittings.

The present invention provides a guide and stowage arrangement for an anchor for a boat that avoids these problems and which is capable of being fitted to existing craft, as well as being build into new craft.

The invention comprises a guide and stowage arrangement for an anchor comprising a guide member that guides the anchor chain when raising or lowering anchor and also houses the anchor shaft when raised, characterised in that said guide member has a throughway for the said chain and the said shaft of which throughway the outboard end can be lowermost so that the anchor can fall out under gravity from the stowage position when the chain is loosed.

The throughway may be in a tiltable housing for the anchor shaft, and may have at one or both ends a grooved chain guide - which may be a grooved guide roller.

The arrangement may have a deck mounting adapted for fixture to the prow of a boat so as to hold the said guide member clear of the deck and with its outboard end forward of the prow.

Latching or securing means may be provided to lock a tiltable housing against tilting - this would be used for example when riding at anchor. Stops may also be provided to limit tilting of the housing in either direction, so that it does not tilt the deck or other parts of the boat.

One embodiment of a guide and stowage arrangement for a boat anchor according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa diagrammatic, part-sectional side elevation showing the arrangement in one position, Figure2 is a similar elevation showing the arrangement in another position, and Figure 3 is a similar elevation showing the arrangement in another position.

The Figures illustrate a guide and stowage arrangement for an anchor 11, comprising a guide member 12 that guides the anchor chain 13 when raising or lowering anchor and also houses the anchor shaft 14 when raised. Said guide member 12 has a throughway 15 for the said chain 13 and the said shaft 14 of which throughway the outboard end 16 can be arranged lowermost so that the anchor 11 can fall out under gravity from the stowage position when the chain 13 is loosed.

The arrangement is seen mounted on the prow 17 of a boat forward of a roller 18 over which the chain 13 runs down to winch in the forepeak (not shown).

The guide member 12 is tiltable about a pivot 19 and has grooved chain guide rollers 21 at each end.

The pivot 19 is carried on a deck mounting 22 fixed to the prow so that the guide member 12 is clear of the deck and with its outboard end 16 forward of the prow 17.

Figures 1 and 2 show the arrangement with the guide member 12 horizontal in which position it can be locked - as shown in Figure 1 only - by a latch or hook arrangement 23. Figure 1 shows the arrangement with the anchor lowered, and Figure 2 shows the arrangement with the anchor raised and stowed with its shaft 14 in the throughway 15. Of course, locking means can also be provided in similar fashion forthe housing in its fully tilted (or perhaps less than fully tilted) position if it is desired for any reason to ride at anchor with the housing tilted.

Figure 3 shows the arrangement with the guide member 12 tilted so that its outboard end 16 is lowermost and with the anchor stowed. Ordinarily this can be arranged to happen automatically by virtue of the weight of the anchor flukes 24 when the hook or latch 23 is released and the chain 13 is loosed. In this tilted position, the anchor of course will fall out when not held back by the chain.

It is not, of course, necessary to have the guide member 12 tiltable at all, though it is convenient to be able to put it in a horizontal position to keep the chain and the anchor, when stowed, out of the way.

The guide member 12 may be, as shown, a simpie tubular member, or it may be a grooved member with some form of ribbing or cage over the top to prevent the chain 13 or shaft 14 of the anchorfrom falling or jumping out. It need not be even of one-piece construction, and it may be found that a relatively narrow tube can be used to take up only a little deck space provided there is a sufficiently wide gathering eye at the outboard end. The position of such a gathering eye 25 is shown in dashed lines on Figure 1. The gathering eye 25 is mounted on the guide member 12 and has the effect of taking the chain 13 further away from the prow to avoid rubbing when riding at anchor and also to align the anchor shaft 14 with the throughway 15 when raising anchor. When such a gathering eye is provided a grooved chain guide roller may be associated with it rather than with the outboard end 16 of the guide member 12 proper.

Many other modifications can be made of course to adapt the arrangement to different types of boat, but the arrangement does have the advantage that it can easily be fitted to existing boats.

Claims

1. A guide and stowage arrangement for an anchor comprising a guide member that guides the anchor chain when raising or lowering anchor and also houses the anchor shaft when raised, characterised in that said guide member has a throughway for the said chain and the said shaft of which throughway the outboard end can be lowermost so that the anchor can fall out under gravity from the stowage position when the chain is loosed.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the through way is in a tiltable housing for the anchor shaft.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the throughway has at one or both ends grooved chain guide.

4. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that said grooved guide comprises a grooved guide roller.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised by having a deck mounting adapted for fixture to the prow of a boat so as to hold the said guide member clear of the deck and with its outboard end forward of the prow.

6. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterised by latching or securing means to lock the said housing against tilting.