Sale of Bicolor Lights for Yacht
If you were looking for navigation bicolor lights for your yacht, then your search is successfully completed. In this catalog with prices, the topRik marketplace offers internationally certified models from the world's best manufacturers of signal and navigation lights – Hella Marine, DHR (Den Haan Rotterdam), etc.
If you find it difficult to choose two-color navigation lights, a free professional consultation will help you. topRik's experienced experts will select a model that exactly fits the size and configuration of your yacht or boat. Consult with them right now through the quick feedback form or by phone, or send your questions to our email address [email protected].
According to Part C Lights and Shapes (Rules 20-31) of International Rules for Preventing Collision at Sea 1972 (COLREG-72), and Annex I thereto, every vessel, including small vessels, must be equipped with navigation and distinctive lights. Regardless of weather conditions, navigation lights must be activated between dusk and dawn, during conditions of poor visibility, and at any other time when such action is deemed necessary.
Portside and starboard lights, red and green respectively, are mandatory navigation equipment on boats of any size. They are positioned on the port and starboard sides and serve to provide an approximate assessment of the angle of the observed vessel. In addition, sidelights are designed to indicate the greatest width of the vessel's hull.
But for sailing ships and vessels with a mechanical engine of certain dimensions, if they are underway, it is allowed to use navigation bicolor lights. We remind you that according to the Rules, a vessel is considered to be underway if it is not at anchor, not moored offshore or aground.
Types of Navigation Bicolor Lights
Bicolor navigation lights must comply with the general requirements for navigation lights on marine vessels, in particular:
- lack of glare, which is achieved by using different types of reflectors and light diffusers;
- the hull design ensures its reliable operation at elevated levels of vibration and oscillations on a moving vessel;
- waterproof sealed design;
- compliance with fire and electrical safety standards.
These requirements are met by both traditional lights, which include incandescent and halogen lamps, and innovative models, the production of which uses new technologies. Depending on the types of lamps used, the main classification of types of two-color navigation lights is made.
In this classification, it is customary to distinguish between LED navigation lights, halogen and incandescent models. The latter are still in demand in river and sea shipbuilding, since they are cheap and provide the necessary parameters of brightness and color saturation, if made in accordance with the requirements of COLREG-72.
But gradually, LED models, which have become ubiquitous in everyday life and in production, began to take over shipbuilding, as well as the operation of sailboats and motor boats.
Most new yachts are already being produced with LED lights, and owners of boats that are not the latest in production may even have difficulty replacing halogen and incandescent lamps for navigation lights. For this reason, seafarers are switching to more efficient technologies.
Both manufacturers and sailors appreciated such advantages of LED navigation bicolor lights like:
- the absence of a filament guarantees their high resistance to vibration loads;
- yacht equipped with LED navigation lights, becomes more visible to oncoming ships, and without a blinding effect;
- provides ideal lighting direction in different colors in accordance with COLREG-72 requirements;
- favorable ratio of light output and energy consumption: LEDs shine much brighter, but consume less energy;
- small dimensions and weight facilitate their installation on the mast and in the bow;
- low energy consumption reduces the load on the ship's power supply system and saves fuel for electricity generation;
- protection against voltage peaks and polarity reversals is possible.
Owners of new boats, as well as those who switched to LED navigation lights, of course, note the higher cost of these models compared to traditional ones (incandescent or halogen lamps), but they immediately add that this disadvantage is compensated by a service life that far exceeds the operating time of traditional models.
In the topRik marketplace, both adherents of traditions and supporters of innovative navigation technologies can satisfy their needs. In this section you can also buy LED navigation bicolor lights, and models with incandescent or halogen lamps.
We also offer lampless options with a high impact polycarbonate Fresnel lens.
Installation Requirements
When installing navigation lights, one should be guided primarily by Annex I to the International Rules for Preventing Collision at Sea 1972 (COLREG-72), which we will discuss in more detail below, as well as common sense and experience.
If we combine all this together, we get the main rule for installing any lighting devices on a yacht: they must be located in such a way that the deck and other parts of the boat are not illuminated, including, of course, the wheelhouse and the location of the second control post, for example, in the saloon or on the flybridge.
First of all, this applies to navigation lights, including navigation bicolor lights.
As for the traditional side lights, on small cabin boats the width of the superstructure, as a rule, coincides with the corresponding dimensions of the hull, therefore the side green and red lights installed on it satisfy the requirement “shine, but don't illuminate” – their light does not reach the deck. What about dual running lights in a common housing?
This largely depends on where they are placed - in the bow of the boat or on the mast of a sailboat. Please be aware that the installation of bi-color lights, their color, brightness and beam direction is strictly regulated by International Rules for Preventing Collision at Sea. And if navigation bicolor lights are installed in compliance with these requirements, there will be no glare effect regardless of their location.
International Rules
International rules of navigation regulate the location and technical characteristics of lights and signs on ships, taking into account their dimensions, purpose and condition.
All maritime regulations that relate to these provisions are set out in Appendix I to the International Rules for Preventing Collision at Sea 1972 (COLREG-72). According to these requirements, navigation bicolor lights can be installed both on a vessel with a mechanical engine and on a sailing yacht, but such installation permission is limited by the type and dimensions of the boat.
Thus, a power-driven vessel underway must carry a forward masthead light, a second masthead light located behind and above the forward one, a stern light and side lights. However, when the length of the vessel is less than 50 m, it is not necessary to display a second masthead light (although it is desirable), and when the length is less than 12 m, instead of separate masthead and stern lights, it is allowed to install one all-round light. In this case, the side lights must be combined in one lamp installed as close as possible to the longitudinal plane in which the masthead or white all-round light is installed. The main thing is that the masthead light or lights are clearly visible above all other lights and structures, i.e. they must be placed as high as possible.
From a practical point of view, such “indulgences” are quite understandable - with the relatively small size of the vessel, it is enough to indicate its very presence, and not its size.
But for a towing vessel, the use of navigation bicolor lights on the bow rail are not concessions related to size, but concern for the safety of oncoming boats.
Sailing boats must also be equipped with navigation lights, but installing these lights on yachts has its own difficulties due to the low deckhouses, and the sails can also hide the lights installed on the shrouds. The recommended location for mounting the red/green combination light is on the bow rail, which gives a clear line of sight to the right and left of the boat.
Each vessel owner and captain must ensure compliance with the standards set out in COLREG-72, including color, brightness and beam direction.
For example, for navigation bicolor lights, the lighting sectors on each side remain unchanged (112.5°) and do not depend on their location.
For vessels less than 12 m in length, the visibility of side distinctive lights, including double ones, also does not change and remains equal to 1 mile.