Latvian inventor offers a patent-pending adaptive headsail management system for multihull yachts - catamarans and trimarans - and seeks manufacturing, licensing or joint development partners.

A Latvian independent inventor offers an adaptive sail management system (ASMS) for multihull yachts. A curved load-bearing track spans the bow, supported at the end of each hull - two points on a catamaran, three on a trimaran - plus the bowsprit. One system can replace a set of separate headsails and is handled by one person from the cockpit. The inventor seeks partners for manufacturing, licensing, assignment or joint development.

On a multihull yacht, changing headsails means going forward onto the foredeck — usually at the moment when conditions are at their worst. Existing headsail systems address part of this. A roller-furling headsail changes sail area, but not sail type, cloth weight or the position of the tack; a partly furled genoa performs less well than a sail designed for that wind strength. A self-tacking jib solves tacking, but gives one sail size. A second forestay or a separate Code Zero furler adds a second sail, but changing or setting it still means going forward. The adaptive sail management system addresses the remaining part of the problem: which sail is set, and where it is attached. Configuration. A curved load-bearing track spans the bow of the yacht. It is fixed at the end of each hull - two points on a catamaran, three on a trimaran - and additionally supported on the bowsprit, so it rests on at least three points. A carriage, moved by an electric rack-and-pinion drive and held in position by a spring-applied brake, carries the tack along the whole length of the track and is commanded from the cockpit. The headsail is modular, with three zones divided by boundaries parallel to the forestay: zone A is a staysail in the heaviest cloth, zone B a genoa, zone C a Code Zero or spinnaker area in the lightest cloth, closest to the forestay. Two axes of adaptation. First, wind angle: the carriage moves the attachment point of the sail along the track, so the sail geometry follows the course from close-hauled to running. Second, wind strength: the stronger the wind, the more zones are furled in, leaving only the strongest, heaviest-cloth zones; in light air all three zones are unrolled. Furling draws in zone C first, then zone B. Result. One system replaces a set of several separate headsails, and the whole headsail plan is handled by one person from the cockpit, both when changing course and when the wind strength changes — without going forward onto the foredeck. Designed parameters (base variant, 7 m track with a 7 m arc radius). Track cross-section 300 mm high and 300 mm wide; design load 2 t; material carbon fibre with a foam core, manufactured by vacuum infusion. The track is formed as two identical halves split along the horizontal axis, each moulded separately and bonded after surface preparation. Three sizes have been analysed and are retained: 7 m track with a 5 m radius, 7 m track with a 7 m radius (the base variant), and 9 m track with a 9 m radius. For the base variant the yacht length class is about 16 m, the foretriangle about 86 m², a 120 % LP headsail about 104 m², and the carriage travel about 6.6 m. Scope of supply. The offer covers everything below the furler: the track, the carriage, the drive, the control system, the tack/furler pin with its bearing seat, the attachments to the hulls and bowsprit, and the slip-ring sleeve. The furler itself is a standard market component and the sail is made to order by the owner’s sailmaker; neither is part of the supply. Stage of development. The system is at engineering design stage, with calculated parameters, 3D models and an animation showing the wind angle changing from 45° to 180°. Load calculations have been carried out for the design variants. A computer simulation of the whole yacht with the system has been carried out for the base variant, on 16 m catamaran and trimaran reference models: steady-state sailing across the range of wind speeds and angles, and time-domain scenarios with gusts, squalls, waves, tacks, gybes and component failures, checking the loads on the forestay, the track, its mounts and the drive against their design limits. The simulation results were used to refine the control logic. No prototype has been built and no sea trials have been carried out; simulation is not testing.

Three complementary partner profiles are sought. A partner may fulfil one or more of them. Deck hardware and sail systems manufacturers. Manufacturers of furling gear, travellers, winches and headsail systems for sailing yachts. Role: to take the system into production as a new category within an existing product line, to industrialise the composite track and the carriage, and to bring it to market through an existing OEM and dealer network. Multihull yacht builders. Builders of catamarans and trimarans. Role: to integrate the system into new models as a factory option, where integration at design stage is cheaper than retrofit, and where single-handed headsail handling is a direct sales argument in the charter and owner-operated markets. Licensees, assignees and strategic investors. Companies or investors seeking to acquire or license a patent-pending mechanical system with a defined manufacturing route, addressing both the OEM channel and the retrofit market for existing multihulls in the EU and the United States.