Lightning-Are you Protected?

[Geminidawn]

Its typhoon season here, almost every day for the past two months I have seen lightning, for that reason I’m seriously thinking about getting the Pahi protected. After all a boat with a 50ft mast is likely to be struck one time in an 11.2-year period, rare it may be but looking back at the insurance claims it has happened to many. Sailboats are struck approximately 25 times more frequently than power boats and for some reason the odds are higher still for a multihull.

But it is not an exact science there is lots of homemade and ready to buy Lightning Protection Systems out there, but some are just as likely to attract lightning as they are to protect you from it.

Has anyone got any experience or ideas regarding this?

[wakataitea]

during a lighting in malaysia, our friend ingo with this pahi42 got hit. erveything (electrics) broke down.

the VHF antenna on the mast top was melted and smoking...

 we where anchored 20m next to him. our wind speed in the mast top gave up and few days later the electronics from the fridge... our vhf antenna is mounted on deck..

some of our friend are so paranoid that they disconnect all electronics and put it in the stove...

 i think, the best is not to have any copperplate or metal in the water.

the area around singapore is one of the worst for lighting... you only can pray...

[Ricardo Aráoz]

Aluminium foil is more convenient as a Faraday cage. You just wrap your device with the foil (no cables may go out of the package) and that's it.
You won't be space constrained as with the oven, you can place your devices wherever you want, and you can still cook.

wakataitea said:

during a lighting in malaysia, our friend ingo with this pahi42 got hit. erveything (electrics) broke down.

the VHF antenna on the mast top was melted and smoking...

 we where anchored 20m next to him. our wind speed in the mast top gave up and few days later the electronics from the fridge... our vhf antenna is mounted on deck..

some of our friend are so paranoid that they disconnect all electronics and put it in the stove...

 i think, the best is not to have any copperplate or metal in the water.

the area around singapore is one of the worst for lighting... you only can pray...

[Geminidawn]

Looks like someone's making a business out of it: http://www.marinelightning.com/catamaran/index.html

 

[Ricardo Aráoz]

LOL

Steve, we could join them and make a killing. ;-)

The "Alu PSP full boat system" would consist of a giant condom lined with alu film that encloses your whole boat.

100% safe!

BTW, have you guys noticed how uninformative these tables usually are?

Rant mode ON

Look at the table in "Strike statistics", it has a column that says "Chances per 1,000". Now, per 1,000 what? Per thousand pancakes eaten in Maryland? Ok, let's assume it's per thousand strikes. Per thousand strikes in the world? Then I wonder if there's any cat left standing. Per thousand strikes in the neighborhood? What do they define as neighborhood? etc.etc.

Anyway I'd say that by these numbers the Clements are already fried and we've been talking with ghosts for the last couple of years.

So this table as it is may mean whatever you want. Besides this, they say cats are struck 9.1 but "sail only" just .73, so if you have a cat with no engine will it be stuck (9.1+.73)/2=4.9? And are they making any difference between an outboard and an engine? 

They also don't discriminate between alu masts and wood sticks. I'd say it's an important factor as their whole sales brochure... erh.... scientific report centers on the lightning rod model but a wood stick is not a lightning rod.

Ooooffff! Rant mode OFF.

[laurent]

sommeone to translate me PSP ?

protection system by prey ?

[Raf]

Here s someone who has writen about a personal experiance of being struck by lightning. 

http://www.catamaransite.com/lightning.html