Question about tricolour at top of the mast and steaming lights

[steve yates]

If you just switch on a tricolour, is the white section supposed to be your stern light?
in which case you would need a separate steaming light?
I presume thats the case, but then the white light is in the wrong place for a stern light surely? And If its a steaming light, then how can you choose not to show it if you were under sail at night and switched it on to show your nav lights?

The reason I ask is my tricolour got damaged last eyar when the mast was down by another boat, and I forgot about it, so the red and green sections have been knocked off. I remembered after connecting it all up and seeing an all round white light at my masthead

So it seems to me the simplest solution is to add seperate nav lights on the sides and stern of the boat, where the old knackered ones are, so just replace them with led ones. That leaves me with an anchor light, albeit an incandescent one, which prob isnt ideal in the power draw stakes. I know they are generall better low down and I usually hang a battery one from the boom, but its an 18 foot boat, so the mast is not exactly high up in the sky.

Can I use this all round white at the mast head as a steaming light if motoring at night? Or does it HAVE to be invisible from astern?
I note the colregs say a tri colour must be visible to 22 degress abaft the beam.

I do have another tricolour I could put up, but its going to be a long time before I have access to the top of the mast again, and im not married to the idea of a tricolour up there anyway.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

You can have a sectored tricolour with just port, starboard and stern lights or one with a switchable and separate all-round white above them commonly used as an anchor light and in each case you will require a separate steaming light which was usually combined with a deck light lower down on the mast.

 

[Aeolus]

A tricolour at the top of the mast is only valid on a sailing boat when actually sailing. If you are motoring, you should have deck level navigation lights plus the steaming light. Tricolour plus steaming could cause confusion. Ditto an all round white - only valid if you're smaller than 7 metres or as an anchor light on a larger vessel.

 

[SaltIre]

I bought a boat with only a masthead tricolour - one two core cable in the mast. Nothing else. I needed something for motoring.
The easiest solution was to fit a switchable tri-colour & all-round white at the masthead. One of these:

Supernova - Nasa Marine Instruments
...and a port/starboard bi-colour on the bow. The all-round white acted as a steaming light & stern light when motoring. I intended fitting a low level sternlight but didn't get round to it - possibly because I saw no need.

So I think the OP can use his all round white as a Steaming & Stern light - but needs a bi colour port/stbd below it. If his masthead tricolour isn't working he needs a sternlight which isn't all-round white, with the bi-colour, for sailing.

Edit:
He needs red/green/white deck level lights for sailing and can use his all round white for motoring, above the red/green - with the low level white stern light off.

 

[Black Sheep]

If you just switch on a tricolour, is the white section supposed to be your stern light?
Yes

in which case you would need a separate steaming light?
Yes, but it doesn't work to have a steaming light on at the same time as a tricolour, because the steaming light has to be above the red/green

I presume thats the case, but then the white light is in the wrong place for a stern light surely?
It's fine legally. And probably better seen from a ship's bridge in a sea. But for inshore work I prefer a stern light that's closer to the waterline

And If its a steaming light, then how can you choose not to show it if you were under sail at night and switched it on to show your nav lights?
It isn't a steaming light

So it seems to me the simplest solution is to add seperate nav lights on the sides and stern of the boat, where the old knackered ones are, so just replace them with led ones.
Yes, I agree.

That leaves me with an anchor light, albeit an incandescent one, which prob isnt ideal in the power draw stakes. I know they are generall better low down and I usually hang a battery one from the boom, but its an 18 foot boat, so the mast is not exactly high up in the sky.
Indeed. It would work as an anchor light. I agree with your assessment that lower is better, and LED is better.

Can I use this all round white at the mast head as a steaming light if motoring at night? Or does it HAVE to be invisible from astern?
Yes you can. You're quite right that you don't want to show two stern lights, so the solution is to switch off your low level stern light.

I do have another tricolour I could put up, but its going to be a long time before I have access to the top of the mast again, and im not married to the idea of a tricolour up there anyway.
I must admit I'm not a fan of mast-top tricolours either.

I hope that makes sense (especially in the context of the other answers that rolled in while I was typing!)

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Tricolour . Sailing.
Deck level Port & Starboard + masthead all-round white for motoring.

I've been doing this since my stern light failed. Just needed to disconnect the steaming light on my mast.

 

[steve yates]

Thanks everyone, especially kelpie, your post makes perfect sense.
Aelous, I am only 5.6 m length.

The damaged tricolour is now a steaming light , I’ll fit sep r&gslights on the side and a white on the sternrail.
Luckily the new switchboards I have installed are overkill so easy to have sep switches for nav lights, steaming light and stern light.

 

[VicS]

Thanks everyone, especially kelpie, your post makes perfect sense.
Aelous, I am only 5.6 m length.

The damaged tricolour is now a steaming light , I’ll fit sep r&gslights on the side and a white on the sternrail.
Luckily the new switchboards I have installed are overkill so easy to have sep switches for nav lights, steaming light and stern light.

This diagram shows the legal combinations of lights for vessels under 12m. both under sail and under power

(Under 7m LOA and with a max speed under 7kn you can of course just display an all-round white)

 

[VicS]

.

The damaged tricolour is now a steaming light , I’ll fit sep r&gslights on the side and a white on the sternrail.

The white section of the tricolour does not have the correct angle of visible arc to allow it to be used as the steaming light

 

[steve yates]

Its now an all round white

 

[Yellow Ballad]

I would just keep the all round white (with an led) for sailing and motoring tbh but no harm in adding deck lights as a backup if you really want to.