Young Inventor Casting About For Ideas
Patrick Brown’s fledgling, home-based company Finovation Inc. makes a handful of simple, useful products for the niche market of offshore fishermen.
His three innovations — the kite thong, the bait bridle and the “gimbalok” — are in about a dozen tackle shops between Melbourne and the Keys, with their popularity quickly growing by word of mouth.
But it’s only a part-time job for this 2008 Barry University graduate, who works at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School’s experimental fish hatchery and plans to pursue a master’s degree in marine affairs this fall.
Brown and his father and brother came up with a three-way Dacron framework with a bridle that can be adjusted to the size of the balloon and configured to make the kite fly at a certain attitude. Barrel swivels fit over the kite spars to keep them in place. No duct tape is needed.
They sell for about $16 apiece at shops such as Capt. Harry’s and Crook & Crook.
Photo by Finovation Inc..
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