Safety equipment for boats

Claim 1

Safety equipment for a boat, which equipment comprises: (a) a life-line for location along a peripheral portion of a boat, (b) support means for rigidly securing the life-line to a boat at a plurality of points along the length of the life-line to hold the line so as to conform to any configuration required by marine design, to which life-line a person can be attached by means of a safety harness, (c) a traversing device at each end and each intermediate attachment point of the life-line for attaching the life-line to the support means while allowing a lanyard attachment means engaged with the life-line to traverse freely each intermediate attachment point in either direction whether the wearer is inboard or overboard, each traversing device comprising: (i) a rotatable wheel which is formed with several recesses in its periphery, the recesses being evenly spaced around the wheel and adjacent recesses being separated by a projecting part of the wheel, (ii) a co-operating guide member supported at a peripheral part of the wheel, and adapted to allow rotation of the wheel about its axis with respect to the guide member while locating the life-line with respect to the wheel whereby a lanyard attachment can be received, guided and passed through the traversing device in recesses of said wheel which rotates relative to said guide member, (d) at least one towing pendant secured at a first end thereof with respect to the boat for towing a person overboard astern of the boat in a head-up position; (e) latching means at a second end of the pendant in detachable engagement with a traversing device at an end of the life-line and positioned to receive and firmly engage a lanyard attachment engaged with the life-line when such lanyard attachment reaches that traversing device when a person goes overboard, whereupon the second end of the pendant detaches from that traversing device to tow the person astern of the boat as aforesaid.