Florida fishing news report last Saturday: A powerboat was hauling a** back to the beach because of a Florida Gulf storm. All radio antennas & carbon fish rods were down except for a short trolling rod on the open console. Buzzing then Whango! Everything electronic was toasted- radios, radar, GPS, even the engine's ignition. A cell phone was in one guy's pocket in a zip-lok bag. It still worked and they were very happy to get a tow some hours later. No sails or masts were on this boat.

Also a fisherman was killed last week near Tampa in an open powerboat. Maybe having a tall mast isn't such a bad idea!