Thankfully, damage to the rigging is rare. However, wood and carbon-fiber masts can get damaged because neither one is a good conductor. When a sailboat like Priority gets struck, one of the paths the lightning takes is down the mast typically, anything that happens to be close by on the way down can be destroyed: wind instruments, TV antennas, radar, lights, and so on.įortunately, aluminum is a very good conductor and allows the strike free passage. When a boat gets struck, lightning is trying to find its way to ground, typically the water around and under the boat. But a direct hit usually causes more obvious and substantial damage. On another boat moored next to a struck boat, the compass readings were 50 degrees off and slowly returned to normal after a few weeks. He couldn't figure out what had happened until his neighbor told him his boat had been struck. In one instance, the owner of a 28-foot sailboat noticed an amber LED on his battery charger that he'd never seen lit before, and his depth sounder had quit working. Sometimes bits of a melted antenna are found on the deck. A damaged or missing VHF antenna is typically the first sign that an unattended boat was struck. Sailboats are nearly always struck on the mast - and this one was no exception. Example: Priority, a 33-foot sailboat, was struck in North Carolina during a July thunderstorm. While no two lightning strikes are exactly alike, examining a typical claim can shed some light on the possible damages your boat might have if it's ever struck some may not even have crossed your mind. In a properly bonded system that follows American Boat & Yacht Council standards, the strike should follow a low-resistance path to a boat's keel or an installed grounding plate, though few boats are equipped this way from the factory. Damage Is Determined By How The Strike Exits The short-haul is not subject to a deductible. As part of its "sue and labor" provision, BoatUS Marine Insurance will pay to have your boat short-hauled to check for damage. Even if the force of the bolt doesn't blow out a thru-hull or cause hull damage, it may cause a gradual leak that could go unnoticed and sink your boat. The reason is that when lightning exits your boat, it can leave via a thru-hull fitting or even through the hull itself. The first thing you should do if your boat is struck is call your insurance company and get your boat short-hauled as quickly as possible for a quick hull assessment. The Extent Of Damage Isn't Immediately Apparent So here we'll focus on what to do if your boat is hit. While you can mitigate the damage from a lightning strike, there is nothing you can do to prevent one. Ironically, the second time the bolt hit the dissipater, it happened even though the VHF antenna right next to it was higher. As an example, one boat, fitted with a popular "fuzzy" static dissipater at the top of the mast, was struck twice in one year. Lightning, however, doesn't seem to read them. Volumes have been written about methods to mitigate damage or even avert a lightning strike. Lightning-strike repairs tend to be expensive and time-consuming, but there are things you can do to lessen the damage after a strike. ![]() Trawlers have the highest rate for powerboats (two per 1,000), and lightning has struck houseboats, bass boats, and even PWCs. Not surprisingly, the majority of strikes are on sailboats (four per 1,000), but powerboats get struck also (five per 10,000). Thirty-three percent of all lightning claims are from the Sunshine State, and the strike rate there is 3.3 boats per 1,000. ![]() But for those of you with boats in Florida, nobody has to tell you that the odds there are greater. Some states, such as Idaho, have no lightning claims (no surprise). According to reports from our BoatUS Marine Insurance claim files, the odds of your boat being struck by lightning in any year are about one in 1,000.
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