Bernard Olcott is definitely not your average 82-year-old man. The Weehawken resident is still a very active engineer and patent attorney. He is still the president of Olcott International, an international patent and trademark renewal service and computer systems company. “What keeps me alive is my mental work,” Olcott said last week. “I get up every morning at 4 a.m. and I start thinking. And I get a lot of good ideas in my head. One out of every 10 ideas is a good one. But I have to keep my mind active, because I’d probably wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t active.” Part of Olcott’s busy regimen includes a healthy workout program. Another part of Olcott’s health program is his avid love for sailing and the water, his biggest hobby. “I’ve always loved sailing,” said Olcott, still an active member of the prestigious New York Yacht Club. Olcott wants to do whatever is possible to help return the America’s Cup to the United States. The world’s eldest competition, which has been going on for 136 years, and the eldest trophy currently reside in New Zealand. The next America’s Cup yacht races are slated for 2003 in New Zealand. During one of his active mental days, Olcott started thinking about a way to increase the speed on sailing vessels, focusing on the hull and keel of a ship. “With the new technology, everyone knows how important the keel is to a racing boat,” said Olcott, who has been an active member of the New York Yacht Club for more than a decade. He has been working on ways to improve the United States’ chances in the America’s Cup races ever since. “The key is to make the ship go faster,” Olcott said. “All power comes from the wind, but unfortunately, the wind sometimes pushes the ship to the side. I’ve developed a theory, complete with the mathematics equation, that will eliminate the leeward drift, which pushes the boat sideways. You always want the boat to go straight. Anything else is a loss of precious energy. If you reduce the unwanted drift, then the boat will go straight.” For the past three years, Olcott has been working on his theory, called “The Method and Apparatus to Increase the Velocity of Sailing Vessels.” Earlier this year, Olcott received Patent No. 6,032,603 for his detailed invention. Olcott has designed a new form of a keel, which is basically the hydrodynamic fin of a ship. “Most people believe that it’s all part of the hull,” Olcott said. “But it’s really the keel. The hull is the canoe body and the keel is the fin. I received a patent on a new fin that generates force and gives extra speed.” Before making a formal presentation, Olcott tested the idea repeatedly in the tank tests at Stevens Tech in Hoboken. In the lengthy 21-chapter thesis that was presented in the patent package, Olcott meticulously detailed the need for more speed in racing vessels and described his invention, complete with detailed sketches. The presentation was good enough to receive the patent from the United States Trademark and Patent Office. And the invention was good enough to receive the attention of Ted Hood, the famed sailing captain who won the America’s Cup in 1974 who relinquished the title to Ted Turner four years later. “No normal architect would ever dispute that it works,” Olcott said. “They listen and smile, but they don’t disagree. I’m assuming I’m right, because no one has told me I’m wrong.” Olcott added, “Three years ago, I was on a cruise with the New York Yacht Club to the Chesapeake Bay and I ran into Ted Hood. I just walked up to him and asked him if he didn’t mind listening to my ideas about the keel of a ship. I told him that I thought I had developed a keel that would help the speed of a ship and he agreed with me.” Soon after, Olcott became Hood’s patent attorney, and the two are now currently working together on a project. “Ted Hood is a charter member of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame,” Olcott said. “So it was a seal of approval, coming from him. He said that he liked my ideas of what a keel should do and how it should be designed.” Olcott doesn’t know if his new invention will take off – or in this matter, set sail. “When you’re building a racing boat and dealing with the hull and keel, the keel is the most tricky part,” Olcott said. “Right now, it’s the only part I’m interested in. America’s Cup captains are very interested. We’re getting involved with some high profile characters, well-known skippers.” Perhaps one might be Dennis Conner, the long-time winner of the America’s Cup, who has recently patched up his differences with the New York Yacht Club and will perhaps compete under the New York banner in three years. “They’ve kissed and made up, and Conner will be back and will head the team in 2003,” Olcott said. “We’re working on a design to present to Conner.” And if Olcott can be the one who made the design that brought the America’s Cup back to the United States, then that would make the energetic senior citizen’s day. “As long as I keep active,” Olcott said. “That’s really all that matters.” It appears that no one has to worry about Olcott’s mental status for quite some time. And you can catch him hitting the high seas and dreaming up new ideas. In that respect, nothing has changed.
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