Pearson Boats - Common Systems > Electrical Systems & Electronics

Lightning and Grounding

(1/1)

rhpurcell:
Has anyone been hit with lightning on P323?  About a year ago AnaMeg asked but no one replied.  Does lightning have a straight path down the mast to the iron mass in the keel?  What happens if we get hit by lightning?

Dolce_Vita:
If you have all your rigging and through hulls bonded together with correctly sized wire, AND you're lucky  ;) , the discharge will go out one of the through hulls or the propshaft without blowing out enough chunks of fiberglass from the hull to sink the boat. 

Disclaimer:  I've never had this happen, however, it happened to a dockmate's Tartan 27.  The boat survived but there were chunks missing around a through hull.

Salvation:
I have an external grounding plate connected to the mast with 2/0 wire. I doubt it would save electronics but will likely spare the hull. Not yet tried by lightning! 

Navigation

[0] Message Index