Anti-stall rudder fence

This project came about due to low-speed stall problems in the rudder of my Vortex and thought in Frank Bethwaite's book 'High performance sailing'. A rudder fence can stop air being drawn down from the surface of the water. This air causes ventilation of the rudder blade

Catamaran safety device

When a catamaran is on its side it has quite high windage and can blow away faster than its crew can swim after it.

On large areas of water or when the boat is far from help, this can be a significant safety issue.

This design is for a self-deploying drogue, to slow the

Compass mount for Vortex dinghies

The Vortex has a rotating mast and a series of deck-led control lines. These two factors mean that there is no obvious place to install a compass.

The custom mount forms a bridge over the control lines. It is attached to the deck using Velcro (to avoid damage to

This page features software available to download.

Tactical compass

At the moment, this software is still at the 'beta testing' stage. It works fine on my Samsung SIII mini, but has not yet been tested on a range of different Android devices and screen sizes.

You can download it for free and keep

Kick-up rudder

For boats with cassette-type rudders, going aground with the rudder in the 'down' position can result in severe damage to the transom.

A 'proof of concept' prototype was on show at the 2010 RYA Dinghy Show. Unfortunately this prototype proved to be too heavy and not rigid enough,

The project

I've spent some time reading about all sorts of vehicles which are designed to go from point A to point B on their own, without falling down the ravine at point C or crashing into a tree at point D.

Most of the vehicle ones (as opposed to aircraft) seem to involve either robot

I will be writing a lot more about patents - how to apply for them, how much it costs and how long it takes.

Just as importantly, I will be writing about whether a patent is worthwhile (except to prop up your ego).

There is a current consultation being carried out by the UK Intellectual Property

Until recently, the 3Dprintuk website featured the QR trapeze loop as a case study. Nick Allen of 3Dprintuk said 'a great use of an end use product – really showing the strength of the Nylon SLS material'.

The November 2015 update of the website refreshed the case studies and now this very

To be kept right up to date with my inventing, designing, patenting and testing (including the things which don't quite work as well as I'd hoped), visit boatinvent.blogspot.co.uk

Wing buffers

My current dinghy, a Blaze, has aluminium wings to enable the sailor to move his or her weight further out from the centreline, in turn to allow a bigger sail to be carried which means more speed.

The downside is that this aluminium becomes a bit daunting for other boats when racing in