DaySailer.org Forum

Greetings all,
Reading some of the older posts I found a conversation on mast lights that never really got resolved. Does anyone know (or have an opinion) if a white light atop the mast is adequate to cover the stern white light requirements for night sailing? As long as the mast is down, and I have my drill in my hand...

Technically an all around (360 degree) white light should only be used by a power driven sailboat. Under sail alone, it should have the 270 degree white light facing aft.

Check your local laws but most states allow for unpowered sailboats less than 23 ft to use a portable white flashlight that can be shined on the sails in lieu of the red/green/white lights.

Check that.....under sail alone, the rear facing white light should be visible 135 degrees, not "270". Not sure where my brain was. Chalk it up to a senior moment.

Technically, the DS is under 7m.

Anything goes, you can use a flashlight - as long as you are sailing.

That said, I'd suggest you stay away from your masttop but if you want real navigation lights, put a stern light on the transom. Off center far enough that the rudder doesn't get in the way of the 135° sector.

For motoring, you could suspend an all-around white light from the end of the boom (and turn off your stern light).

I've found the following way to mount a popular brand of LED navigation lights.



The bottom of the light case is threaded, so there's a bolt epoxied into the base, which isn't shown in the drawing. Then the base just screws onto the light case.

The stemhead fitting on the DS is like an inverted T. The two prongs on the base go to either side of the upright leg and are shallow enough to fit under the clevis pin for the forestay. The yellow bungee straps around the forestay and is hooked in the slot on the opposite side of the base.

The round part of the base rests on the rubrail.

Because it's an LED, batteries last nearly forever, but I bring an extra set in a Ziploc bag anyway as LEDs don't really go dim, they just cut out.

The stern light is best mounted permanently - unlike the front where lights can get in the way of using spinnakers and could get damaged in day-time sailing (docking accidents) there's no real benefit of a removable solution, especially not on boats that have permanent battery cases...

Otherwise I'd suggest the suction cup, or the C-clamp versions of the same type of navigation light. It might work, if you make sure to mount it where the tiller can't sweep it off the deck.

GreenLake wrote:Technically, the DS is under 7m.

Anything goes, you can use a flashlight - as long as you are sailing.

That said, I'd suggest you stay away from your masttop but if you want real navigation lights, put a stern light on the transom. Off center far enough that the rudder doesn't get in the way of the 135° sector.

For motoring, you could suspend an all-around white light from the end of the boom (and turn off your stern light).

I concur with GreenLake on this. Keep it simple. I know a few of you are really starting to add a lot of weight to the mast above the cuddy by the mods you are doing. The more weight and wind resistence you put aloft can be a stability problem for a boat as light as ours with no keel weight. Brad