A quick Google search produced:
LITIGATION
The father of two teens electrocuted while sailing in the Trent River July
4, 2003, has answered New Bern's third-party lawsuit against him. Manuel
Lourenco, in court documents, says that if he was negligent for having the
boat strike power lines over the river, the city also was negligent for
allowing exposed power lines to remain in place after a floating crane
struck the lines in 1971, knocking out power to the city. Lourenco was
operating the 14-foot sailboat when the aluminum mast of the boat hit a
low-hanging power line.
His sons, Zachary, 17, and Alexander, 14, were electrocuted.
Norma S. Lourenco, the wife of Manuel Lorenco and mother of the two boys, sued the city in July of this year, accusing the city of negligence and
failing to take measures to protect the public from the danger posed by the power lines that used to parallel the Trent River train trestle. Her suit
contends the city did not provide a warning regarding the low power lines,
did not act promptly to remove the overhead lines and failed to comply with regulations in maintaining the lines. Her suit demands a jury trial and
costs and damages in excess of $10,000 to be determined by a jury. In
September, the city answered the suit, refuting it was negligent in the
deaths of the two boys and sued the father, saying he was negligent in the holiday sailing mishap. Francine Sawyer, Sun Journal, full story:
http://tinyurl.com/3trcf
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* From Donald Brewster: Many of us "greyhairs" remember powerline
near-death incidents from dinghy events in the 60's: when big traveling
fleets took off, clubs used parking lots, fields across the street, etc. to
stage trailers and ever-larger one-design turnouts. I seriously deflected
an overhead powerline when hauling a trailered Finn clear of a YC launching ramp (saved by wood mast?); several years later the same -
still un-relocated- line electrocuted a junior sailor (for which that YC lost millions in court). Powerlines over water are generally marked on charts (but hanging them low surely constitutes negligence); powerlines over club lawns, launching ramps and parking lots are not. Wherever sailors see high voltage hung in harm's way, it's best if we bring the matter to the attention of the power company or property owner before anyone else gets zapped: the only current I want to have to deal with is tidal.
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Daniel's MK friend from the Philippines passed away today after 5 days in emergency care. He was electrocuted when the catamaran he was sailing hit some high-powered electrical lines.
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Ask your Hobie dealer in Houston if he knew Cathy Whittington. She was the wife of a well respected racer (Rob) from Texas - electrocuted when the mast of their boat hit a power line in 1989(?). That was the year that CompTips became required equipment for racing.
Go ahead and keep your aluminum mast.