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Livingston County news
AUGUST 14, 2008 – VOLUME 20, ISSUE 13
Photo by MICHAEL JOHNSON/ Livingston County News
LOCAL INVENTION
Come sail away
Geneseo man invents, markets hand-held sail
BY HOWARD W. APPELL
Livingston County News
If you’d like to get in on the ground floor of what perhaps may be The Next Great American Fad, you should consider driving over to Swain Sports in Geneseo to buy a ‘universal folding sail.’
David Guillot of Geneseo has invented a hand-held sail which can be used to power persons on skateboards, snowboards, ice skates, in canoes or any number of other conveyances. He is marketing the device as the “New Windpower Super Skate Sail – The World’s First Hand-held Universal Folding Sail.”
“It will work with basically anything the moves, where you can stand up and have two arms free,” Guillot said.
No special skills need be developed to operate the sail. “It’s pretty much intuitive,” Guillot suggests. “You let the wind catch the sail and then it’s a feat of balance. Anyone can figure it out.”
Method will naturally vary somewhat with whatever conveyance is being used and with the direction and speed of the wind, Guillot notes.
Guillot has been working on this particular design of sail for about a decade. There is a patent pending, he reports.
The very first version of Guillot’s sail was made from tent poles and garbage bags when he was 15 years old, living on Long Island. Guillot has remained dedicated to improving the design of the sail into adulthood.
An integral feature of the sail’s design is its ability to fold up into a small roll which fits easily into a lightweight carrying case. The perimeter material is nylon of the kind used in camping tents.
The center plastic is a clear PVC material similar to that used for furniture coverings and rated for a wide range of temperatures including low digits which would be encountered when snowboarding. The pole supports are shock-corded fiberglass which snap together like tent poles and are able to bend and bear the stress of a heavy wind.
The entire sail and carrying case weigh about four pounds and can be assembled or disassembled in about 30 seconds. The sail itself has a 100 square foot area and will operate in freezing winds between 8 and 25 mph. A specialized high-wind model for snow sports will be available with a 130 square foot area.
In researching precedent sails, Guillot discovered that the concept has been frequently used by young children skating or walking on the ice, seeking an extra component of thrust – but never to his knowledge has it been successfully developed and marketed by adults to a specific design with a specific brand name.
Last week Guillot received the first shipment of prototypes which will be offered for retail sale. They will carry a suggested retail price of $49.99. For now, there is only one color available: yellow. While the supply lasts, they will be available exclusively at Swain Sports on Main Street in Geneseo.
Guillot hopes to monitor customer satisfaction. In some cases he may be willing to offer a price discount in exchange for videos or photos of the sail in action.
“This is a product which can be used year-around,” Guillot noted. “Any flat territory with wind becomes your new sailing ground.”
Enumerating the kind of conveyances which might be adaptable to sailskates, Guillot lists inline and quad skates, longboards, mountainboards, skate shoes – and perhaps even canoes and other watercraft.
While the sails themselves have been manufactured overseas, the supersail logo was designed in Geneseo by SpecialTees and the pamphlet is printed by Genuine in Avon.
Guillot attended SUNY Geneseo, graduating in 1997 with a degree in Biology. Upon graduation, he opted to remain in Geneseo. Sail invention is a leisure time pursuit to Guillot’s real employment as a chemical technician with Bausch & Lomb.
The sail comes with a warning to exercise caution by wearing proper protective equipment including helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and palm guards, and to never skate on streets in traffic.
Further information can be found a www.sailskating.com.