When it comes to being seen by other traffic nothing beats reflective orange. It shows up better than any other color in fog and rain, and is amazing when lit up at night. Many ships are so adorned, and the practice makes sense for yachts too.
By coincidence we photographed these two MSC container ships at different times.
Notice that both the breakwater forward and bridge are striped.
On WInd Horse we have orange reflecting tape on the mast forward and the boom ends.
We also have it on the dinghies. You can buy a 3M product at McMaster Carr and in many large hardware stores. This is the ideal material for the upper portion of a sailboat mast.
Posted by Steve Dashew (July 13, 2011)
July 13th, 2011 at 4:23 am
A little trick with this stuff. I use the 3M reflective material for Heavy Vehicles (it is standards compliant in relation to reflectivity in Ozz) It tends to go brittle and craze after awhile. It is also difficult to get off breaking into little pieces. Use a standard (non reflective) 3M vinyl as backing. I use black. It goes on and comes off easily (in one piece).
July 15th, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Hello Steve,
According Viking , which is one of the largest manufactures of safety equipment , they write the following for their off-shore liferafts:
The fluorescent yellow canopy enhances visibility from a distance, and is easier seen in bad weather and foggy conditions. Fluorescent yellow is chosen as it is a great contrast colour to grey and dark blue – the colours of the sea. The material is further certified according to the High Visibility
Norm EN471 for traffic visibility
July 17th, 2011 at 2:57 am
As someone who has spent six years in the US Navy I can tell you that international orange is one of the best colors that you can use. I was standing lookout watch in some of the busiest sea lanes in the world and you could see that color for miles.