Patent Application
20140242860
1. Field
Embodiments relate to watercraft, and more particularly, to an inflatable stand up paddle board with a rigid needle nose.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stand up paddle boards have been known since time immemorial in the Hawaiian Islands. However, the sport of stand up paddle boarding has only recently begun to explode in main stream popularity due to the ease of learning to use a stand up paddle board, the ability for a user to paddle longer distances than by using, for example, their hands, exercise benefits, and the ability of a user to enjoy a high aspect view of their surroundings.
A stand up paddle board typically has a rigid construction. For example, a traditional stand up paddle board was made of wood. Modern stand up paddle boards typically consist of laminated layers over a foam core such as a glass-reinforced plastic construction using polyester or epoxy resin with a polyurethane or expanded polystyrene foam used in the core. A modern stand up paddle board typically ranges between 10-12 feet in length and can weigh over 50 pounds.
Recently, inflatable stand up paddle boards have been introduced. Inflatable stand up paddle boards have the advantage over a rigid stand up paddle board of reduced weight, high durability and ease of transportation. However, one problem with an inflatable stand up paddle board is it necessarily has a rounded bow. This is a particular drawback to inflatable stand up paddle boards because this decreases the speed and maneuverability of the inflatable stand up paddle board and the ability of the inflatable stand up paddle board to cut waves.
Due to these problems and others an inflatable stand up paddle board with a rigid, sharp bow is desired.
Therefore, it is one aspect of the present invention to provide an inflatable stand up paddle board having a rigid needle nosed bow.
Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
According to an aspect, an inflatable stand up paddle board includes an inflatable main body made of high pressure drop stitch material; a deck formed on a top portion of the inflatable main body on which a user stands; and a molded needle nose attached to the front of the inflatable main body, the molded needle nose being dimensioned and configured to completely encompass the front of the main body to provide a V-shaped bow, where the bottom of the V is the nose of the bow.
The high pressure drop stitch material may include a polyester fabric of approximately 1000 denier.
The inflatable main body may be configured to be inflated to at least 15 psi.
The paddle board may have a length of between 9-14 feet.
The paddle board may have a width of between 24-40 inches.
The paddle board may have a thickness of between 3-8 inches.
The paddle board may have a weight between 20-50 pounds.
The inflatable stand up paddle board may further include one or more skegs formed on an after portion of a bottom of the main body. A main skeg may be removable for transport or storage.
The molded needle nose may be attached to the main body by gluing.
The molded needle nose may be made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or some other plastic material.
The sides of the molded needle nose may come together in a sharp point at no more than a 40 degree angle.
The molded needle nose may include internal lateral supports that are dimensioned and configured to correspond to the front of the inflatable main body.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the annexed drawings.
As shown in
The inflatable main body includes an air valve 14. The air valve 14 is preferably a one-way air valve to prevent blow back during inflation, and to make it easier to close the air valve with a valve cap. The air valve 14 may be locked in an open position for fast deflation prior to transportation and storage.
The inflatable main body includes a deck 16 on which a user stands. The deck 16 may be formed of foam or fabric. Skegs 18, 20 are formed on the after portion of the bottom of the inflatable stand up paddle board 10. The skegs 18, 20 may be permanently attached or removable for storage or transportation.
At the bow portion of the inflatable stand up paddle board 10 is a rigid needle nose. As shown conceptually in
As shown in
The needle nose 30 gives the inflatable stand up paddle board 10 a rigid, sharp V-shaped, wave piercing bow that enables a user to cut through waves and to paddle faster, further and easier.
Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
