Safety is all about odds.
How far one should go to ensure being seen by ships, depends on the conditions one are to sail in, and the density of ships. If crossing the English Channel were to be done frequently, I would most certainly fit an AIS, both receiver and transmitter  -  and a VHF-radio, of course.

As for passive radar reflectors, David Tyler warns a bit against putting up two of them side by side, because they may produce dead zones. In theory, this is right, but the dead zones are so narrow that it is unlikely that a small vessel, which yaws a bit back and forth, will stay invisible to a ship’s radar for long (for that reason, at least).

A number of years ago I read a test of radar reflectors in Practical Boat Owner. The most interesting thing was the ‘reference reflector’: This was simply aluminium foil (from the kitchen), stuffed in a big, black plastic garbage bag, which was then hoisted in the rig. This turned out to give a quite decent echo with no dead zones around it.

As a minimum setup  for cruising in my waters, I would go for this:

(.. there are plenty of ferries in the area, but  moderate swell to create sea-clutter, and there is only occasionally low visibility, mostly accompanied by light winds...)

I would bring a big bag made from sailcloth on board. The bag should hold about 100litre, be easy to close, and have a strong hoop at each end. In addition, I would keep a full roll of aluminium foil on board. These take up little room in the boat.

In the unlikely event of being caught in dense fog in a shipping lane, I would stuff the unrolled aluminium  foil randomly into the bag, close the bag, and then hoist it in my spare halyard, at least half-way up the mast.

That would make us visible to both S-band and X-band radars. One must only hope that the radar watch-keeper up on the bridge is awake...

Arne

On Lexia, as well as a passive radar reflector and active AIS, we also have a Sea-Me Active Radar Target Enhancer (Dual Band) which works on X and S bands.  

As well as providing a strong radar reflection, it also has a visual, ie flashing red light, and an optional audible, ie bleeper, notification that an incoming radar signal has hit the boat.  

It is yet another electronic gizmo which is expensive to buy, expensive to install and requires electric power ...  but it should significantly improve the chances of being seen on radar.  

Sea-Me ceased business in 2015 but Echo Max is still available.  

Just to add a bit to the discussion here; I see that on the Yachting Monthly website there is a comparison review of a number of radar reflectors, so worth reading for anyone wanting a good radar reflector.

The other thing is that in my occupation as a Master of high speed passenger ferries I spend many hours operating during periods of darkness, fog, and heavy rain, so I am at the other end trying to identify targets on my radar so I do not if possible run anyone down. The big boats show up no problem at all, in fact a large ship creates a massive echo on the display. It is the small yachts, powerboats, and other small vessels which can be difficult to see. All the small navigation buoys in my local area have radar reflectors on them, just simple sheet plate reflectors, but even at an elevation of only 1 meter above water level those buoys stand out from quite a distance off. Some small boats just do not show up at all, even though I can see their navigation lights.

Another thing which determines whether or not your vessel will be seen on radar, is the quality of the radar being used, and the degree of vigilance of the radar operator. One of our ferries had a radar which often did not show up many smaller targets, we all used to get quite frustrated with the unit. Then one day the display failed and was replaced with a new higher resolution display, and all of a sudden we were seeing targets which we would have never seen with the old display, still the same scanner unit. So the message here is that no matter what type of radar reflector you have you need to be actively monitoring other boat traffic around you and doing everything you can to avoid being run down. This includes very bright navigation lights correctly displayed which can be seen from some distance off, LED lights seem to be the most effective.

Hi Richard,

I use an inflatable radar reflector, hoisted in bad weather, for night sailing, and when a little bit offshore. It's at the top of the mizzen mast when raised, because I can do that from the cockpit. But in your picture it looks like it could go up a spare halyard, a bit higher than the radar reflector that is bolted on. I like it because it's quiet, is not particular about being in the "catch rain position" that is best for the sheet metal ones, folds away easily, and creates an enormous return on others' radars. My boat is 20 feet long – one night a commercial fisherman on the radio said "what ARE you? I thought I was running into a barn!"

Shemaya

Hi all,

I bought my first junk rigged boat, a Virgo Voyager, this year and am loving it. I do, however have an issue. 

Although I did not realise initially, the radar reflector fitted to the mast is stopping me from fully hoisting the sail.

I have looked at hundreds of images of other small junk rigged boats and find that very few appear to have permanently fitted radar reflectors.

I would like to ask the membership for your solutions to this issue as clearly the front of the mast is not a great place for most junk riggs.

Please tell me what you do. Do you have an inflatable reflector, a tube reflector [not very good in tests] or no reflectors at all? I cannot be the only new junk rig sailor struggling with this problem and I couldn't find this subject discussed anywhere on the site.

Many thanks