Various attempts have been made to provide boats, such as sailboats, with masts foldable to an inoperative position to allow the boat to sail beneath relatively low bridges, and to facilitate the transporting of the boat by a trailer and the storage thereof. Some of these attempts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,507,240; 3,768,426 and 3,827,386.
After considerable research and experimentation, the foldable mast assembly of the present invention has been devised whereby the mast may be folded to the inoperative position with very little effort, and characterized by having few moving parts and which is not likely to get out of order even after long and continued use.
The foldable mast assembly of the present invention comprises, essentially, a main mast pivotally connected to a stub mast which is pivotally connected to a base secured to the boat deck. A removable pin extends between the stub mast and the base whereby the main mast and stub mast may be folded relative to each other to an inoperative position substantially parallel to the main deck and centered approximately lengthwise of the boat. The folding and raising of the main and stub masts may be controlled by a cable reeved through sheaves carried on the main and stub masts, one end of the cable being connected to an eyelet secured to the deck in proximity to the bow, and the other end of the cable being connected to a power winch mounted on the boat deck in proximity to the stern. In smaller sailboats, having small masts where cables and sheaves are not required, the folding and raising of the main and stub masts can be accomplished manually.
By the construction and arrangement of the foldable mast assembly of the present invention, when folding the mast to an inoperative position, the main mast is caused to pivot to a horizontal position in a direction toward the boat stern, and the stub mast is then caused to pivot in a direction toward the bow of the boat whereby in the folded position, a portion of the main mast extends beyond the bow of the boat to thereby reduce the amount of mast projecting beyond the stern to thereby facilitate the transportation of the boat by a trailer and the storage thereof. Also, when using the foldable mast of the present invention, on sailboats requiring fore and aft stays, as well as shrouds, it is only necessary to disconnect the fore stay and any shrouds which are fastened forward of the base of the mast preparatory to folding the mast.