IDEAS LOCKER
ARE CATS LIGHTNING MAGNETS?
Marine Surveyor Anthony Gates, whose haulout article featured in CH last month, is finding that catamarans attract far more lightning strikes than monohulls. A few weeks ago he dealt with five insurance claims for lightning damage. All five were cats.
Discussions with colleagues have failed to determine a definite reason, but Anthony’s theory is that the mast on a mono is more or less over the keel, providing an easy pathway for the electrical charge to exit the boat.
In cats the
