sunshinecoasting wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:23 pm
How many times do you have to get hit to realise that grounding is what's causing it, DO NOT ground your mast under any circumstances.
Dimitri got hit twice, once grounded and once ungrounded. Both times on a boat-lift though, which makes me feel better because I don't have a boat lift.
I think this is a fantastic thread, full of smart people and links explaining how lightning works. Net result imho: do what you think is best, cuz lightning is gonna do its thing anyway. I like the idea of grounding the shrouds on a 26X to give some of the energy a way overboard (not through fiberglass of flesh). But I'm probably not gonna do it anyway, and just take my chances as is. Park near a higher target if possible to make myself feel better, and then hunker down and take the beating, if it's coming.
sunshinecoasting wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:23 pm
How many times do you have to get hit to realise that grounding is what's causing it, DO NOT ground your mast under any circumstances.
I think you missed the fact that the first time I was hit in 2012, the mast was NOT grounded.
Your boat is wet when it rains. There is absolutely a very desirable path to ground via the wet, likely SALTY water that's coating your boat. (yes rain is fresh water...but your boat likely has salt residue on it which will make that fresh water salty)
That lightning just ionized and made 3 miles of air *very* conductive. the 1" of fiberglass or 20ft of very conductive salt water in/on your boat is nothing for it.
If you could somehow isolate and ensure there was only an extremely high resistance path to ground(somehow keep your boat and the fiberglass completely dry) then that's going to significanlty reduce(but not eliminate) the chance that an ionized air path can build to your mast, which is what's needed to conduct the full energy of a strike.
But unless you can ensure that, you're absolutely better off giving the lightning an attractive path to ground. This will better protect any occupants of the boat as well.
It's still going to blow apart things, it's still going to wreck your electronics. The conductors in that path are going to get very hot, but the vast majority of the energy will still follow those conductors, and hopefully not look for a path to ground *through* your hull and any potential occupants of it as it would do without an otherwise clear path to ground.
I’m going to quote Hamin’X from an earlier response on a similar topic:
you are certainly welcome to the discussion, as this is a forum for the open exchange of ideas and information.
This is an important topic, but there is no information anywhere that proves there is anything significant that can be done to protect against a lightning strike on a sailboat. If incremental anti-lightning protection will make a captain feel better, I’m all for it. The reality is that it will be the equivalent of lightning a match in a fully lit room. It will add light to the room, but not be of any significance.
Again, welcome to the forum. Which Mac do you sail?
