Tricolor considered harmful; Red over green preferred

[El Pinguino]

I think I have it..... 3M suggests its a 'motoring' or 'masthead' light and will have the wrong arc of vis...

Mind you the 'strayan Aqua Signal site is a bit sus... https://www.aquasignal.com.au/shop/s...ries-40-stern/

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Pete7

So tonights' quiz; a virtual beer for those who can identify what this light is. Advertised tonight on UK ebay as a stern navigation light, would you use it? Took me a little while to spot it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stern-nav...t/292933226245

Advert text:

Stern light for sale. Get exact size from picture

It is from the T40 series

It is sold as second hand, however it is brand new and never used

.

135° arc for a sternlight. That one is well over 180°. Looks like a masthead light or combined red/green with the colour filters removed (225°)

[noelex 77]

There are way too many smart, knowledgeable people on Cruisers Forum .

[MartinR]

Originally Posted by Pete7

So tonights' quiz; a virtual beer for those who can identify what this light is. Advertised tonight on UK ebay as a stern navigation light, would you use it? Took me a little while to spot it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stern-nav...t/292933226245

Advert text:

Stern light for sale. Get exact size from picture

It is from the T40 series

It is sold as second hand, however it is brand new and never used

.

Stern light for boats with very fat ass, sorry mean wide stern)?

[El Pinguino]

In case anybody missed it the '3M' is embossed on the top.....

[StuM]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

In case anybody missed it the '3M' is embossed on the top.....

I don't see '3M'.


I do see "USCG' over '3 nm' which I assume means it is US Coast Guard certified as "visible at 3 nautical miles" (i.e. restricted to vessels less that 20 metres in length for a masthead light.)

[El Pinguino]

sigh..... yes thats it...3M...3nm.... the beer is still mine...

[Pete7]

Congrats to those with the right answer and yes Ping can have a beer too.

Does make me wonder if you buy a second hand boat, will you spot a wrong light and will it have the right bulb in it?

Pete

[El Pinguino]

Ta....

Probably rather a lot... I have limited time for Aqua Signal lights... type approved or not.

My sternlight is a 30 something year old Lucas ( I didn't even know they made such things ) with original bulb and lens.

Combined motoring and deck light was A S .... the one with the decklight bulb totally exposed to the elements... chucked that a few years back and replaced with a far superior Hella one. ( while looking for a replacement I checked what Whitworths (Oz) had on offer ... they should be ashamed about some of the rubbish they sell ).

Bow red/green is same same the one up above on ebay with the cable coming in from below.

Yep, a real recipe for durability if you do much windward work in a seaway....

[foreverfreedom]

Isn't Red Over Green for sailing vessels over 20m?

[Bbolino]

From USCG nav rules


(c) A sailing vessel underway may, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule, exhibit at or near the top of the mast, where they can best be seen, two all-round lights in a vertical line, the upper being red and the lower green, but these lights shall not be exhibited in conjunction with the combined lantern permitted by paragraph (b) of this Rule.

[Charles S]

Does anyone suggest any models of R/G lights available?
360 degree R. + 2 180 deg green ?
Thanks

[Amaleo]

My European built catamaran only had a masthead LED tricolor when I bought it, so I added hull-mounted running and stern lights for motor-sailing and just motoring to be in compliance w/ US regulations, but they add a margin of safety when under sail alone.

[PilgrimW42]

We made a R/G out of spare nav light parts since we could not find one available to buy in 2005. It spent the next 10 years on our main mast with extensive use during our Atlantic and Baltic travels. Once LEDs became available as a trilight we switched out the R/G. We have deck nav lights for normal coastal use and a tri for offshore work. Sometimes they are both on if the wave height exceeds 8 feet in foul weather ... otherwise the deck set would not be seen.

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Red over green is so rare, I'd be worried some idiot would collide with me because they wouldn't be able to figure out if I was zigging or zagging!

I have the red-over-green COLREG Rule 25(c) configuration. I've had several people walk up to the dock and ask me - sometimes in a challenging tone - what the lights mean (ironically, they're always sailors), and I have my International Navigation Rules book handy, with the page for Rule 25(c) marked. Then I recite: "red over green, sailing machine."

Since a tri-color isn't legal on a sailboat over 20 meters in length, you'd expect sailors to know about the red-over-green config since it's the only way to get lights up on the mast on such a larger sailboat.

You also need to have your on-deck lights on as well, so there shouldn't be any confusion about which aspect of your boat is being seen. I have a toggle switch to turn off the red-over-greens when I'm out in "little boat - big ocean" territory. It's perfectly legal to switch them off to save power, but I seldom have done so. Saving 1 amp doesn't amount to much.

I have a red all-around up top, and four green sidelights one meter (39 inches) lower on the mast, in horizontal alignment. The four green lights are configured to have overlapping sectors, so they don't get blocked by the sails. At any distance over a hundred feet, the four greens blend together into one light.

Since I have only 24 inches of freeboard abeam, the on deck sidelights are easily blocked by swells, and having stood watch on freighters, I've come to really despise tri-color lights. "Is that Mars, or the port side of a WAFI* with a tri-color?"

* Wind Assisted Freakin Idiot: a common nickname used by commercial watchkeepers.