Re: [Paddlewise] CG sp*ns*ns investigation (and ballast rocks)

Could it be I was the first kayaker to employ ballast rocks to stand up in a
kayak? Back in 1981 I was starting to sell a 20.5” kayak that a local kayak
dealer was telling other paddlers was very tippy. We took advantage of a
kayaking photo contest his store was sponsoring (that posted all the entered
photos on a store wall) to enter several pictures of myself standing calmly
in this “tippy” kayak. Needless to say I’m not impressed that Timmy can
stand up in a much wider kayak using spontoons. (I am, however, impressed by
Nigel Foster’s ability to stand and perform other activities in even tippier
kayaks using neither ballast rocks or those inflatable water plows for an
additional measure of stabilization.)
I also made some spontoons in 1981 by using float bags inside of some
sleeping bag stuff sacks on which I had sewn some fittings to attach them to
the kayak. I did this to test the spontoon concept both for sleeping or
resting at sea, and for self rescue. (I used to kid my then wife I was
working on these so I could go to Hawaii and then paddle one of our kayaks
back to Seattle for the publicity—choosing this direction because the west
coast of North America was a far bigger target to aim for than Hawaii). I
abandoned the inflatable sponson approach due to the serious drag they added
to the hull (if pulled down enough into the water to significantly improve
stability) and the added time they took to deploy as well as their limited
additional stability for self rescues compared to a fixed outrigger paddle
float rescue. We have pictures of me using these (in fact I think I probably
still have the spontoons somewhere in the bottom of some old kayaking
equipment box). I point this out in case anyone out there would like to work
on designing sponsons that might work better than any presently available
but is concerned about patent claims and might need some “prior art” to
invalidate even the legitimate claims of overzealous promoters who might try
to claim that kayak sponsons are “patented” by them when in fact the
specificity of the patent claims limits it considerably. Now I have evidence
of such specific parts such as a long inflation tube and fastening the
inflatable sponsons under the kayaks hull to hold them down in the water
(both specifics claimed in the patent) have been done before.
Anyone who would like to see Timmy’s patent claims can find them at:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/net
ahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ft90&s1=sponson&s2=Ingram&OS=s
ponson+AND+Ingram&RS=sponson+AND+Ingram
<http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/ne
tahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ft90&s1=sponson&s2=Ingram&OS=
sponson+AND+Ingram&RS=sponson+AND+Ingram>
It is patent #4,838,196.


Born, raised and still living in Seattle (but as usual going against the
flow by remaining Latte free).
Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com <http://www.marinerkayaks.com/>


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