Sailboard radar reflective?

[jamhass]

On a sailboard?  That's what the OP asked about.

Doh!

But in my defense, it's the nuns' fault.  They tried to teach me to speed read, but apparently, they only taught me to "skip read" ...

 

[SASSAFRASS]

I'm in the defensive camp on this one. A AIS is a must, and a good radar is a must.  I still have no idea why people won't put AIS in, we just met yet another group of cruisers who won't use it, some weird pointy hat shit. All of them have silent mode so you can go in the closet if you need to too.  The new radars are really good.  I like our Simrad over the old Garmin alot but the Garmin did great running through four days of fog and a ton of fishing boats on the west coast.  The new ones make it super easy to aquire targets.  I honestly don't think anyone other than a bigger commercial ship will be actively plotting targets so not sure weather it makes sense to put alot of effort into a reflector.  If you have AIS you are covered on the big boat end, if you have a good radar you are covered on the small boat end.

 

[Diamond Jim]

I might have been more specific.
A chum has a small boat which will be mostly rowed and occasionally sailed, using a sailboard mast. He might end up operating in Maine fog and hopes to be seen by lobsterman.   

 

[maxstaylock]

Don't go out in fog, don't go in water deep enough for big boats in fog.  Maybe keep an inflatable radar reflector handy to deploy? 

 

[SASSAFRASS]

I might have been more specific.
A chum has a small boat which will be mostly rowed and occasionally sailed, using a sailboard mast. He might end up operating in Maine fog and hopes to be seen by lobsterman.   

That's a tough one, not worth a bunch of money on active stuff.  I would poke around Practical sailer sure they have done a radar reflector breakdown.  

A good bell and air horn for sure.

 

[Autonomous]

IIRC PS did a RR review and the tube style reflectors were pretty poor.

 

[Schnappi]

 

[seaker]

My understanding is the Davis in the position to catch water is the best one.  Outward Bound mounts them on the top of their wooden pulling boats that they use for courses.  Having lived in Maine for more than 60 years I don't recall having heard of a lobster boat hitting a small boat.  So I don't worry about it too much.   It would be hard to stay in shallow enough water that lobster boats never go there since depending on the lobsters traps can be anywhere. 

 

[Kenny Dumas]

Lights are surprisingly effective in fog even during daylight