Ham''s idea is a good one. Small sailboats -even with the proper navigation
lights- aren''t easy to see, and flashing a bright spot on your sails once in a while not only lets you make sure they''re trimmed properly, but alerts others to your presence. We were reaching back home in the dark one night after completing a race and almost ran head-on into another competitor who was still going close-hauled the other way to the finish
line. His P & S running
lights were on, and we knew there were other boats behind us (we''d won our division), but his angle of heel, the waves, and our sails kept us from seeing him until the boats were about 30'' apart. A light on his sails every few minutes would have been a lott safer for both of us. At 8 knots, our 15 ton 40-footer would have sliced right through that Soverel 27 and barely slowed down.