Damned if you do / Damned if you don't
After a rather extensive amount of reading on this subject, there seems that there are two basic schools of thought here. Better grounding means a safer boat ..... but more lightning strikes. No grounding means a lost boat (and possibly life) but less lightning strikes. So its damned if you do and damned if you don't. In either case, the small grounding strap to the keel just does not cut it. It appears that a general consensus of opinion leans to hooking chains on the shrouds that lead into the water and staying clear of any rigging, lifelines, etc. during an electrical storm. This should carry a majority of the jolt away from the boat. There have been three boats hit in our marina, all of which survived without serious damage. Two of the boats had bottom damage in the way of pinholes that were not discovered until the boats were pulled for winter storage (obviously no threat of sinking). Would chains hanging from the rigging and trailing into the water have prevented this, probably. In all cases, electronics were lost. Would chains have prevented this, probably not due to the massiveness of the charge. So you pay your money, you take your choice. For myself, I tend to go with the way the boat was built (and I have the same model you have). Secondly, I try to avoid electrical storms. Third, if caught in one (which has happened a number of times) I am VERY aware of my metallic surroundings and avoid them like the plague.
