Lightning protection

[Bob Fischer]

How usefull would it be to hang a heavy gage wire from the shrouds over the side in a lightning storm???

 

[Ron]

Lightning strikes

I have read many articles on lightning protection. You can buy a lightning dissipater, hang cable from the shrouds or mast base, and try to direct the flow of electricity from a strike. But you cannot guess where the current will flow. You also cannot prevent a lightning strike. I have been out in electrical storms in races. Our hair stood on end! Some racers said they would get shocked by touching the lifelines and stanchions. No one took a direct hit. Would I hang cables? Probably yes. I would rather see an installed cable permanantly connected from the mast base (if deck stepped) to the keel. With no sharp bends. This should give the most direct flow of electricity through the boat to the water. Will this protect you fully? Your guess is as good as mine. Stay away from any metal on the boat. Especially the mast and standing rigging.

 

[Doug]

From what I've read...

From what I have read, if a lightening protection system is to be of any value, a large metal dissipation plate would have to be fixed to the bottom of the hull. All shrouds and the mast would have to be equipped with cable of sufficient size to conduct a very large amount of current to the dissipation plate. If you connect to a dissipation point in the hull (i.e. keel bolts, rudder post) that is not sufficient to pass the charge, you can blow a hole in the bottom of the boat. There are those that say that installing a lightening system can, in fact, attract lightening. All say that a cable over the side in of virtually no use at all. Do a search on the web using Yahoo on lightening AND sailboats, and you will get a substatial number of hits that should prove to be informative.

 

[Doug]

spelling

OOPS! that last post should have used "lightning" not "lightening." Boy, sure do miss having a spell checker here!

 

[Tom]

Here are 2 good sites that West Marine has talking

about lightning protection.....http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/west_advisor.d2w/show_advisor?fn=lightning.htm&store_num=8and http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/west_advisor.d2w/show_advisor?fn=50.htm&store_num=9IMHO anything from the mast/shrouds to the water is better than nothing. Because (hopefully) lightning will take the path of least resistance. Which hopefully means that wire over the side........... not YOU!But if its a big lightning strike....all bets are off because there will be multiple side strikes

 

[Echo Gulf]

Better than nothing,

With lightning nothing is predictable, some attempt at protection is better than nothing. In our area several of the sailors carry their booster cables and a copper plate in their boats. At the first sign of lightning one end of the cables go on the shrouds and the other on to the copper plate into the water. Fortunately this system hasn't undergone live testing yet, the theory seems sound though.