Mary,

Last 4th of July I had my two young sons and my wife aboard our N6.0, headed for a gathering of friends about 4 miles away. We had rigged the boat at a ramp that faced east and we were surrounded by lots of tree so we couldn't see the weather approaching from the west. As we sailed out of the harbor and the view opened up, we could see the nasty weather building quickly in the west. We decided to head back to shore. Then, the wind died - completely. My wife was sitting beside me on the hull, holding onto a trapeze wire. Next thing I knew, she yelled, "I've been hit!" The shock caused her to nearly fall in alongside the boat.

A few breaths of air pushed us ashore, alongside a 15 foot vertical bluff with a stairway to a floating dock. Michele and the boys quickly jumped onto the dock as we sailed by it. (I had decided to run the boat solo back into the cove with the ramp. Given all the electricity in the air, it was probably a dumb move on my part, but I couldn't stand the thought of sitting and watching my boat get bashed against that cliff while waiting for the storm to pass.)

The hit that Michele took was not from a direct strike, but rather the result of the air being charged enough to conduct a shock down the wire to her arm.It was enough to make her arm go numb for the entire day.

The incident kind of freaked us out. I, too, am curious about the statistics for folks that have been hit while sailing a beach cat. Often we're sailing four or five miles from shore and coming ashore quickly is not an option. Thunderstorms can build rapidly, and to stay at home whenever they're forecast would cut into a lot of sailing time. Am I taking too big of a risk?