There *was* a legal case where a boat built in the 1800s was anchored with a kerosene anchor light and hit by a powerboat. The powerboat skipper blamed the sailboat for having an illegal light. I think the sailors won in the end, but this was a long time ago. This is the boat BTW (http://www.cyrg.org/elf.htm). Dinghy lights are kind of a special case. The standard dinghy running lights are none. No one likes dealing with the craptastic battery lights that fail and/or fall off the mounts. I actually hit a dark colored inflatable on a dark night leaving Annapolis. The dinghy skipper was pissed until I told him the next boat to hit his unlit black rubber boat in the dark might be going 50 knots instead of 5 knots. If you look at the dinghy lights for sale, some say not approved as navigation lights AT ALL and the rest are for speeds under 6 knots only. So seeing as how my dinghy goes at least 20 knots, unless I somehow put real big boat lights on her the USCG rules are not technically going to be followed. I'll post a photo when I get it made, but I think my LED construction will be better than the little flashlight running lights in both visibility and durability. I am planning to cast these in clear urethane on the end of a PVC pipe to get the lights a few feet in the air instead of right at water level.
As for running lights on big boats, there are deck level and masthead LED lights that say "approved" or "2 mile lights" or something like that. They tend to cost a LOT more than the FleaBay specials and are made with LEDs from the start. Trying to figure out if LED bulbs put in where incandescent bulbs used to be are "approved" is a trick and then some. Dr. LED (http://doctorled.com/crossref.htm) will say "2 miles" on their bulbs and SOME of them apparently have been tested to USCG standards on SOME lights. The normal incandescent lights you would buy are certainly not marked with any approval by the USCG or the FAA (airplanes take the same little tail light bulbs). I have a pet peeve where LED anchor lights at masthead level do a really good job looking like stars, planets, or distant airplanes. On a slightly hazy night they seem totally unconnected to the boats under them. The old filament bulbs have a visible "size" to them that helps you get an idea how close they are. The LEDs are more a pinpoint of bright bluish white light. Joe Della Barba Coquina C&C 35 MK I www.dellabarba.com<http://www.dellabarba.com> CRYC
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