The CBTF patents cover sailing yachts using a canting keel or ballast with fore
and aft controllable foils or rudders to affect changes in side force and/or
maneuvering, including sections with trim tabs and jibing daggerboards. Full
details of the patents can be obtained from the US Patent and Trademark Office
website at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/ (reference patents #5,163,377 and #5,622,130).
Below is an excerpt from the “Summary of the Invention” from patent
#5,163,377.
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SUMMARY OF LICENSE
“The present invention is predicated on the realization that the combined
functions normally assigned to the keel of a sailing yacht can be better effected
without a conventional keel. Instead, a laterally swingable ballast is provided
and carried on a strut, the portion of which is adjustable to provide the desired
counter-heeling force, but which need provide no particular leeway control.
Fore and aft underwater sailing foils of high efficiency and adjustable camber
provide greatly enhanced steering and directional control, and, further enable
the yacht so provided to sail with controllable and adjustable leeway, which
may indeed be zero.
More particularly, the present invention provides a keelless hull in which the hydrodynamic side force function (leeway control) and gravitational ballast function (angle of heel control) required for upwind sailing are provided by new and separated appendages. A heavy streamlined ballast appendage is mounted at good depth separate from and under the mid-body of the hull by means of a narrow strut swingable to port or starboard from a bearing in the hull to adjust the lateral position of the ballast and the amount of counter-heeling force. Fore and aft foils provide leeway, rolling and steering control, and roll damping functions which are structurally and hydrodynamically separated from the ballast appendage.”
WHY THE LICENSE FEE?
As holders of the patent for CBTF technology, CBTF Co charges a license fee for
boats that are built with this innovative system. The amount of the fee is based
upon the size of the boat and whether it is a production boat or custom. The concept
of paying a license fee for a sailboat design feature may seem strange to some.
But in fact it is very normal in our free-market society. Everyday, consumers
pay license fees to inventors and patent holders. Normally, these fees are hidden,
built into the price of the product – we pay them for everything from soft
drinks to automobiles. License fees provide compensation to the designers and
patent holders, offsetting costs of development and patent acquisition.
CBTFTM is a patent protected technology. A simple license agreement based on the
length of the boat will be required of the boat owner. The license fees are separate
from design fees and are a charge for the latest performance technology.
