More some vessels show them all the time others sometimes and some.

Sailing vessel lights. A common area of confusion is masthead lights Masthead light means a white light placed over the fore and aft centerline of the vessel showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 225 degrees and so fixed as to show the light from right ahead to 225 degrees abaft the beam on either side of the vessel. A sailing vessel may exhibit at or near the top of the mast two all-round lights in a vertical line. Do you love sailing.

Other vessel classes towing fishing restricted motion etc are covered in other Rules. Sailing vessels less than 7 metres in length do not need to display lights but must have to hand a white torch light to use to prevent collision. This must be visible at 225 degrees and from two miles away.

Knowing that the bow lights go 225 degrees abaft the beam on both sides or 1125 degrees on each side and the stern light faces 225 degrees aft for a total of 360 degrees of visibility you can tell a lot about where a boat is heading and who has the right of way. Rule 26 Fishing Vessels. The masthead light must be positioned at least 8 feet above the gunnel.

The vessel being towed shows their normal lights. Power vessels in Rule 23 and sailing vessels in Rule 25 are the two classes we focus on here. These lights are shown along with the sidelights and sternlight.

If the length of tow is less than 200m the towing vessel shows two all round white lights or a diamond shape and a yellow stern light. Other Rules of the Road. The lights for sailing vessels are very similar to those of power driven vessels plus a couple of extra options.

With larger sailing vessels youll still see the sidelights and sternlight with another pair of static lights near the top of the mast where the top light. If you do then this site was made for you. Rule 25a Sailboats Under Sail Only.