Fin assembly

Abstract

A fin assembly including a fin having a base portion, the base portion having at least one extension portion extending from the base portion, at least one extension portion mounting at least one engagement portion, at least one socket mount for substantially permanent inclusion in a watercraft to which the fin is to be mounted, the socket mounting having at least one opening corresponding with and complementary to the extension portion and engagement portion on the fin so that the at least one extension portion and engagement portion can be received in the respective openings; and a securing means for releasably securing the fin relative to the socket mount.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to watercraft and more particularly for fin assemblies which provide a secure attachment for removable fins.[0002]This invention relates particularly to fin assemblies for surfboards and it will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to this application. However it is to be clearly understood that the invention has broader application. For example it extends to other water craft such as sailing craft, paddle skis and surf skis and the like. For convenience such craft will be referred to collectively hereinafter as “boards”.BACKGROUND ART[0003]One of the prior inventions in this area is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,383 and that document contains a summary of the prior art systems and some of their problems. A portion of the Background Art section from U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,383 is reproduced here verbatim:[0004]“Surf boards comprise broadly a body having a core of buoyant material, an upper ride su...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a fin assembly for watercraft that allows for easy attachment and removal of fins. The fin assembly includes a fin with a mounting base portion and an extension portion that mounts to a socket mount on the watercraft. The fin is secured to the watercraft with a securing means. The fin assembly can be used on any fin and is particularly useful for surfboards. The fin has a mounting base portion with at least one fixing portion that facilitates attachment to the watercraft. The extension portion has at least one engagement portion that allows for secure attachment of the fin to the watercraft. The fin assembly allows for easy attachment and removal of fins and provides a more even and superior spreading of load."

Problems solved by technology

The disadvantage of permanently mounting a fin to a surfboard is that it cannot be easily removed and replaced when the fin is damaged.

Further the fin cannot be easily removed from the board and replaced with another fin having different performance properties to enable experimentation with different fin types to occur.

Further when transporting surfboards, the fin is relatively ungainly and consumes a large amount of space.

However this assembly has limited strength.

In addition a number of grub screws is used to secure each fin and thus it is time consuming to mount a fin to the board.

However after use this resin plug tends to work through the fibreglass coating on the ride surface of the surfboard.

This is unsightly and causes water leakage into the inner core of the board.

The so formed discontinuity in the ride surface may injure the rider.

Another disadvantage associated with such arrangements is that the fin body projects forwardly and rearwardly beyond the tabs and in use these portions of the fin body are positioned in abutting relationship with or adjacent to the lower surface.

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