Electric Field Induction on Sailboats AND Vertical Poles

Measurements are reported concerning electrostatic induction from transmission lines on a sailboat and on small-scale laboratory models of vertically oriented cylinders. Electrostatic induction on sailboats is modeled in terms of a thin cylinder (the mast) and a flat plate (the hull). A simple analytic expression is suggested for the induced short-circuit current on the mast. The hull current is expressed in terms of an equivalent area that must be experimentally determined. Superposition of mast and hull current is considered with small-scale experiments. Enhancement factors are introduced for the stays and sails. Simplified circuit parameters are determined to describe the observed open-circuit voltage.