It is sad about the giraffe, but statistics show that fewer giraffes than human beings are killed by lightning. According to NOAA, on the average lightning kills 200 people and injures 700 people per year in the United States. Another interesting factlet is that "it has been estimated that someone who lives to 80 years has a 1 in 3,000 chance of being struck by lightning."

Anyway, about the Hobie 21 that started this thread, I am most interested in the fact that the lightning apparently bypassed the Hobie bob to hit the mast below the bob. This kind of ties into one of my theories about lightning.