[miket]

Inflating the boattail is easy, taking it back is the harder part. If you have any other ideas please post them.

I would love a boatail with shape memory alloy mesh in the fabric that was computer controlled so it could do origami or balloon animals but i dont think thats going to happen for a while.

A really popular option is the boatail thats only air supported and some how folds up and then rolls back in completely neatly and also compactly. Im not really sure how to do that kind. High air pressure lots of various springs inside?

Heres a few others.

1. Hinged bottom panels that fold up. A rope spirals around the inside of the tail several times and connect to the far end. The rope spiral pulls the fabric inward and the bottom up.

2. Stacked series of ribs inside the tail that extend back on a lazy tongs type of mechanism. Between the ribs are rods that fold inwards as it retracts so the tail folds up like a big accordion.

3. Similar with ribs extending on lazytongs but instead of folding parts the even numbered ribs rotate and the odd numbered ribs dont. The excess fabric is twisted between the ribs as it retracts.

edit:
4. Hinged flat bottom panels with hinged ribs attached to them with folding rods between the ribs. The ribs would fold down and then the panels up.