Lightning Protection

[Danny]

[ QUOTE ]

"How often are yachts struck by lightening?"

Only once.

[/ QUOTE ]Is that because it never strikes twice in the same place?

 

[William_H]

I mentioned briefly the problems of using SS rigging. The resistance is such that it will incandesce and fuse at a few hundrend amps.(3/16inch wire) Even at less than that the wire will lose its heat treatment.
Galvanised steel wire is far lower resistance so better. But best connect the wire to sea directly to the mast. olewill

 

[Rickm505]

I have been struck by lightning, although it was a side flash and not a direct hit. Still, it caused a considerable amount of damage to electrical and wiring and very nearly made my heart stop.

My Catalac Catamaran has no lightning protection to speak of aside from two inboard diesels. I mention this because in fact the lightning bolt struck the top of the mast and exited the boat through the propeller shafts.

There are 'before' and 'after' photos on my website which detail the damage to my mast and itemizes the equipment loss.

There was no structural damage to the boat, however, I imagine it took a few years off of my life. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif