Lightning hits sailboat - GIF

[Jon]

Lightning hits sailboat.

[DIYSwede]

Quickie tip:
Get 2 pairs of cheap starter cables from the nearest gas station,
cut away all the insulation, leaving the copper bare.
Clip one of each to each stay at the deck - fore & aft, starboard & port,
and let the other end down at least 6 feet in the water, hanging loose.

Theory: This shunts the lightning's plasma canal flashover, that when entering the water cause a steam explosion,
which not seldom blows a few holes in the hull at the waterline, which isn't what you really need.

Link to Uppsala University's Institution for High Voltage Research: (Swedish only - try Google translate)
http://www.hvi.uu.se/Lightning/blixt...lixtskydd.html
For "Swedish impaired": https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning

2 cents

[Crusty]

I know of a large sailing yacht which was struck by lightning and the owner still had not straightened out all the damage to the boat's electrical systems 5 years later. It was a really nice boat before that happened, now not so much. Grounding cables are a must have and I know of boats where the aluminum mast is electrically carried through the hull to a metal plate made into the keel for always on lightning protection.