Curious if anybody has experience or knowledge of lightning strikes with a carbon fiber mast. I have a little understanding of the protection of a Faraday cage with an aluminum rig and standing rigging, but don’t know the properties of the carbon fiber mast with no stays. Will it attract or conduct a charge? Are you protected as you would be with a metal rig? What about the metal wheel? Is steering a hazard?
Thanks for any input.
Craig Stanley
S/V Matou, NS 354 #70
Tampa
(Nations Lightning Capital)
Interestingly enough all the boats I know of that have been hit by lightning were at the dock, but then most boats sadly spend more time there than anywhere… as for lightning… all masts need to be grounded, but lightning is a force unto itself…
The only thing we do is keep a spare hand held gps wrapped in aluminium foil.
My understanding is both aluminum and carbon fiber are conductive to different degrees. The problem with a lightning strike with a Carbon Fiber mast is it does not dissipate the heat like aluminum in a strike. That is it shatters into pieces because of this during a strike. To try and prevent this I believe some manufactures run a heavy duty wire up the side of the mast to try and prevent this from happening. In the hopes the charge will run down the wire and no through the Carbon Fiber mast.