Strobe Light Attached to Life Jacket

[R13racer]

Has anyone ever thought about adding one of these to their life jacket? "Link Below" It would be pretty simple to hook it to your jacket and attach a lanyard to the boat (maybe near your kill switch) and if you leave the boat, it pulls the pin and activates the strobe. I have never seen them in the daylight so I'm not sure if it would help but it might be worth the $35 to try. I almost got hit last year sitting in my boat when the engine quit. I might even pull it waiting for the tow boat. ( and I did paddle out of the way or at least I thought lane 20 at Lawrence on 1-1/4 course was out far enough)

Does anyone have any experience with this type of strobe? This might even be a good idea to integrate onto the boat especially on capsule boats

Zach

[propfxrO84]

I saw one (white strobe) last year at Lake of the Ozarks "Shootout , on a little, brand new offshore race boat (29' outerlimits, canopied, single stock BBC, V-bottom, ) you could literally see them for over a mile away. I think it would be a wonderful addition to an open cockpit (on life jacket/or helmet) or, canopied boat.

[Jack Stotts]

We had a strobe light on our parachute harness in the F-4 back when I did that sort of thing for a living. Fortunately, I never had to use mine. They were pretty effective though. Used in survival training. Jack

[epugh66]

Back in the '90s, a fellow SST100/120 competitor put one on top of his cockpit. It came about after his "glass" boat sank with him trapped in it and the divers didn't find the boat for awhile. From the shore line, the strobe was very visible though, reminded me of a school bus going down the road though.......

[PRO-MOTIONRACING]

OH NO!, I see a new rule coming! Just look how well that same rule worked for the Unlimited Light's
For sale 2 new never installed 12v strobe lights 30.00 each.

[fbref5269]

hey jack,

back then they were made out of candles how ya been?

frank

[Jack Stotts]

Boy, you got that right Frank. All is well here. Looks like you are enjoying the racing. Jack

[SeaBat]

Zach
Sounds like a good idea and should be looked into. It does need to be required but highly recommended. I also see that they have water activated strobes. Could be a problem with spray but maybe someone can come up a way to solve that problem or as you suggested a pull tab activated by the driver involuntarily abandoning ship. Good winter project.
Bill
36R

[R. C. Hawie]

For information, those that ran the 24 hours of Rouen in France had to have a strobe light on their hemet, ask Bill Giles, Rick Sanstrom they ran one, it allow the rescue to find the flipped driver at night. I detect several potentail problems. First is anything recommended becomes a rule eventually. Second, why isn't the patrol boat putting themselves with flip flag waving between the down boat and/or driver and the eventailly oncoming racers? Yea they become a buoy, but much bigger than a race boat, especially upside down. That use to be protocol. As a former race chairman, I would always radio a patrol boat to grab a bow or pickel or steering bar and pull that down boat into the race course. You usually have enough time to do it before the field comes around for the next lap. And if you have a good patrol boat driver you don't have to tell them to do that. Even 20 lengths wide they can idle out and protect the down boat. What has happen to common sence?

Common Sense may be different for each of us. While it makes Common Sense for a Racer or Ex-racer to try to protect a fellow driver at the time of an accident by putting his boat between the down boat and approaching traffic, a volunteer non-racer may not be so inclined to risk their life.

[propfxrO84]

Common "sense" is very uncommon.

[SeaBat]

Common "sense " has been overruled by non "sense".

[Lee Sutter]

Good idea Zach. I think this something that should be considerd as it can only make racing safer.

[Fastjack]

This sounds like the thinking on Go pro ban -- If this light gets caught in the steering you could be trapped in the boat and eaten by large fish !

[SeaBat]

That's what the purpose of the Strobe light is. To attract the large fish where to where you are located if the water is murky. All kidding aside I think it's a great idea and am considering getting one for my daughter Sherri.
Bill

[Dave M]

Not trying to be a downer, but have you considered the other areas this strobe light might affect ? From my experience, some clocks have strobes attached so you can pick them out faster when milling. There has also been a lot of talk about Rescue boats and tow boats having strobes on them to turn on in case of emergency. May want to investigae the unintended consequences.