Canting ballast mast system idea.

First post--hello all:

I have zero sailing experience but had an idea after seeing an old patent and thought I'd tell it to the masses (you).

What if a system would allow the mast and a (balanced internal) portion of ballast to both move to one side of the boat. The thought is to move both to windward to reduce heeling and provide a more vertical sail presentation.

This patent, filed in 1897, shows a way of tying the ballast to the mast to automatically move the ballast windward and the the mast leeward.
https://www.google.com/patents/US559983

While looking at the picture, imagine removing the cog between the segmental gears allowing the segmental gears to meet. Now the mast and ballast would both move to the same side. By balancing the amount of ballast with the leverage of the mast it should be possible to offset the forces allowing changes to be made mechanically with minimal input. I.E. The downward force of the mast lifts the ballast and vis-versa. The system would be manually controlled when offset weight is wanted.

I would think it better applied to an unstated mast however the method of routing the stays in the patent seems well enough for a stayed mast if bending is not a worry.

What do y'all think?

Barasingha

 

This is ingious for its day, but far better systems have since been worked out. Canting keels are now a pretty common feature on high end race boats, but they are now using hydrolic rams instead of gearing. Canting masts are still relatively rare except. On very high end multihulls, but the systems work well are are pretty refined, they are just expensive and of marginal gain for the complexity.