Down on the docks, I had heard that a lightning protection system actually attracts lightning by providing a convenient path to ground. Is that true?
Thomson: Absolutely not. A common, and dangerous, misconception is that an ungrounded mast is less likely to get struck than one that is grounded. It is dangerous because this is frequently given as a good reason to leave a boat with no protection system. The point was addressed in a University of Florida research project whose conclusion was a that grounding a sailboat mast does not cause an increased risk of a lightning strike.
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