About Balanced Rig | Balanced Rig

About the Inventor:

Peter Van slyke Estrup 

Peter Vanslyke Estrup was born and raised in Manatee County, Florida. He was the Vice President and head supervisor for I.Z. Mann & Company ,a successful SW Florida development company. He supervised their various projects, from bank buildings,Apartment complexes to large multi-story waterfrobt condominiums on Longboat Key during thecearly building boom in the 1970s.
.Peter Estrup had a love of the Gulf life and fishing and owned a number of Commercial
 fishing boats,which led him to but a CSY 44 sailboat hull to reconfigure into a good prototype layout design, as a good  sailing Commercial Fishing vessel to the CSY, a sailboat construction company, liked his Fishing boat ,the Odyssey, and  went on to produce the  Bottom Line 44, a Long-line, commercial sailing vessel which they offered for sale alongside their line of standard sailboats . 
Pete enjoyed the challenge of finding simple solutions to complex problems and when the sail sheets and rigging kept fouling the longline gear on his long offshore fishing trips ,he came up with a good solution. He engineered and patented the innovative BALANCED RIG™ design ,a windframe attached to a rotating mast with soft sail main a self tacking ,self tending jib ,a balanced rig with an endplate at the top and bottom boons of the rig  to guide the wind over the powering part of the sails a new and easy ,balanced ,sailboat rig. with only the main sheet attachment to the deck.. It solved the priblem as the bew rig was contained in a unit and easier to control. 

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A Love for Boats

As a young boy, Pete was exposed to boats of all types, and sometime during the 80s, he decided to go into commercial fishing. After his service in the Navy Pete began fishing aboard shrimp boats in Texas. Pete'  love of fishing and the sea led him back to the West Coast of Florida to start his own fishing ventures  onboard his first  long-line motor vessel called the Evening Star.,he  longlined  for grouper and  snapper offshore for up  to  15 days a  trip.  It  was  difficult  to  make  good profits  as  fuel costs  were  high. Pete decided to put together a long-line sailing vessel that he named the "Odyssey.".

The CSY Sailboat Experiment

Pete Estrup bought a 44-foot CSY sailboat hull and modified it into the optimal “commercial long-line fishing sailboat”. This modification cut his fuel cost to 1/5 the normal cost due to using sail power rather than strickly 100% engine power. 
Pete sealed and insulated the  main salon for  a  large ice hole. The forepeak served as crew quarters and the equipment supply area, while the aft cabin was used as  into the Captain’s quarters. The cockpit  was  enclosed   to  create  the  "  wheel house”for the  wheel,  the  electronics and a  chart table.  It  made  for  a  perfect rig  for  fishing.  . 

Bottom Line 44

The modifications to the basic design of the hull and Pete’s successful venture into commercial fishing soon attracted the interest of the CSY Company. They asked Pete to work with them on developing a production version of his sailing commercial fishing boat. The result of the collaboration was “Bottom Line 44”, a production series of fishing sailboats. Many of these boats were made and operate successfully as commercial fishing vessels today. 

The Balanced Rig Dream

Pete’s fishing experience onboard  his  sailing  boat inspired him to conceive and develop the initial ideas for the Balanced Rig. The many sheets and rigging wires of the sloop rig continually fouled his fishing gear, complicating the long line fishing operations. 
Pete decided to spend some time offshore to see if he could find a better and easier way to sail. He pondered this problem for weeks at a time, made sketches, and read books on sailing theory and design, specifically the AERO-HYDRODYNAMICS OF SAILING written  by Anthony Marchaj,Pete  came up with a simple solution fir  a simple  rotating, balanced windframe rig to hold the sail. 

Joan Bergstrom

Pete started a long lasting partnership with Joan Bergstrom, who had a background of inovative sailing experience with sailing inventions.  Joan's  ex husband, Lars Bergstrom, was the world-famous sailboat designer and sailing theory expert and  was  best known for his work with Sven Ridder, his co partner in B&R Designs. The company was famous for developing many original sailboat equipment designs including B&R Swept Back Spreaders, B&R Masts, boats such as Thursday's Child and Tail Wind. The B&  R/  Windex  Corporation  group were  best known for inventing the ”Windex,” the world famous wind direction indicator. 
Having been involved in leading  edges  of  many  of  the  new sailboat  innovations made  by  Lars she  easily recognized   that  Pete’s unique idea was  about making sailing simple, easier, and safer.  She suggested that  they  patent the idea immediately.   Pete and Joan  worked together as Co-partners of the BALANCED RIG™ and  applied  for thevUS   Patent. on  this  balanced  rig.  several years,spent time  developing  and  building small prototypes of the Balanced Rig..which  were put in many small test  boats;  Lasers, Butterfly Daysailer, and proas, while others were retrofitted with the Balanced Rig and performed exceptionally well. Expert  sailors and  boat  designers  looked at the new rig, sailed with it, and confirmed its  was unique and a step forward  in  design. with  it's unusual    qualities:  a  rotating,selftacking,  balanced  soft  hydrofoil wing wind  frame rig.  

Meeting Tony Marchaj

In 1986, Pete and Joan attended the Safety of Sailboat Design conference in New London, Connecticut, where they met Tony Marchaj, the guru of sail theory, the author of Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing . When Tony saw photos of the Balanced Rig under sail, he laughed  and  said. “It is fine to see that a Viking (Pete a  large Viking sta has finally reinvented an efficient square sail.” (Pete  Estrup  had  that  tall,strong Viking look.)
With the Balanced Rig's proven  sailing  success and encouraged by the positive response from several prominent sailors, including Lars  Bergstrom, Warren  Lugrs  and  Tony Marchaj, Pete and Joan  waited  anxiously   to see if the  US    Patent would be  granted.  to them.   The US Patent was  granted in 1990.

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An Inventor’s Legacy

Pete spent his final days developing the BALANCED RIG™ prototypes, building houses of his own design, cruising the Western Caribbean aboard the sailboat “Odyssey” with long-time girlfriend & Co-partner Joan Begrstrom, Pete soent time with his daughter Lorna Yankee, and playing with his grandchildren Kendall, Michael and Scott Yankee.. Lorna Yankee is also now  a partner in the Balanced Rig LLC.  
In 1991. Pete died of a heart attack at the age of 49. More than 34 years after it was first tested, thev BALANCED RIG™ continues to prove that it is among the best solutions to traditional sailing problems and a fitting testament to the creative mind of one man, Captain Peter Estrup.

          TOM MAYERS

Joan Bergstrom and her brother Tom Mayers had a great  belief in the new BALANCED RIG™ concept. It was their desire to work together to spread the word to the sailing world. and was their  belief that this rig would  catch  on fire.. They were there with the patent in hand to present to new customers. 
A BALANCED RIG  rigged boat was taken by Mayers to the Miami Boat Show and sailing demonstrations were perforned in the bay. Several  Sailing publications wrote articles featuring this novel Balanced Rig  concept and tons of mailings went out to the sailiboat industry. at large.
 The sailing world was just not ready to wmbrace the squared off look of this new rig. 
 The Balanced Rig tm team  strategy was to wait for the rig and sail technology to evolve.. It  has taken .34 years. for sailors to sail hydrofoil sail boats with squarwd off tops. We have reached  the moment that we have  waited for to offer our BALANCED  RIG tm  rig  design to the market place..
Tom Mayers is a South West Florida native, who grew up sailing in the Gulf waters off Longboat Key. He is an excellent sailor and was often tapped to sail in   national and international sailboat races. Tom worked with Lars Bergstrom in Sweden joining in on  his many boat and boat product design endeavours..  He continued working for Lars Bergstrom when he was asked to  promote and sell the now famous wind indicator, the "WINDEX" in the US market.. .

Tom Mayers joins Lorna  Yankee and Joan Bergstrom as a co partner and promoter of the tBALANCED RIG tm.  Tom has been invaluable in keeping the Balanced Rig concept in the public eye. 
He has been working byvtrade as a  Mangrove Consultant with deep comittment to the health of the coastal environment. Tom worked  for Mangrove protection by abiding by  the state licensing law and the permitting of such.work.  .  Tom continues his interest in enviroment protection of Florida coastal flora and fauna.. 

We have continued to develop theBalanced Rig™ by connecting very best Rigging .companies to serve our customers. 
We are continuing to build ever larger rigs . Tom has built the Lands End 54, and we are in the process  of promoting the BALANCED RIG™ design on a 54' Shallow Draft Island Cruiser Hull..
 
To further protect and secure the BALANCED RIG™ Patent, Tom Mayers designed and patented The MAYERS revision, PATENT NO: US 9,994,287 B1, a break down of the BALANCED RIG™ design to make it more portable and transportable. rig. 

Joan and Tom decided that they would wait for the sailors and the market place to evolve and be ready to embrace this new type of sailing technology. 
Today, strides have been made and new hydrofoil type rigs are common and are filling the sailing courses of the international racing circuits.
The time is now, to once again present our novel rig, the BALANCED RIG™, as an alternative choice of rig to put on their production boats. The BALANCED RIG™ is a good option to the Marconi Rig and it can be built for a competitive price. 

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Joan Begrstrom sailing  in  1986  the  first prototype of the BALANCED RIG™.