The Story of P.A.P.A.

By, Len Loffler, inventor.

I am a graphic designer and president of The Lofflers Design Group, Inc., I own a small skiff and love to go boating and fishing. I thought of the P.A.P.A.  idea while fishing with my father-in-law from Japan (Papa-san) we were in Florida Bay fishing for snook, redfish and trout. We were catching fish and were having a good time, but the weather had turned windy and we headed back to the marina. It got pretty bumpy on the 30 minute ride, my 14" foot skiff was really pounding over the chop and was putting a hurting on Papa-san's neck so I told him to go back and sit on the motor which I knew was the most stable part of the boat. Later that night when the family was all together at the fish-fry telling fish stories, the only story that Papa-san told was of pain and anguish, not about the one that got away.

I began to think about what a shame it was to have had such a good time ruined by an uncomfortable ride. Why is it that all the other vehicles that we ride in have some kind of suspension designed to smooth out the bumps? Hey! (light bulb flickers)... why not apply a car suspension to a boat? That's basically the concept and for some reason no one has ever tried it until now.

The process of going from idea to finished prototype was longer and more involved than I expected. I started by doing a web search for anything similar and found nothing close, then a patent search and again nothing. I did some drawings and kept modifying them until I got something I could take to a patent agent. I applied for a patent and began working on a prototype. The first crude version of the device I built out of lumber and some auto parts and attached it to my boat. I took two friends out fishing on my boat, they didn't know what that strange thing was but when they tried it on the way out they were actually fighting over who got to sit on it on the ride in VIOLA! it worked. I knew then that I had something.

 I found a company that builds tuna towers out of aluminum tubing. They looked at my drawings and said "great idea, we can make this!" It took several months to build the prototype but they did a great job. Finally it was finished and it was time for a test. I was so exited when took it out for it's first test. The water was very calm that day so I had to loop around and hit my own wake, but it was amazing how well it worked as I hit the wake at full speed launching the boat out of the water and landed so soft WOW! No Pounding! No Jarring! No Pain!

On September 7th 2004 I received US Patent # 6,786,172 B1 and officially became an inventor. Now it is time to bring this idea to market and complete my dream.

HOME