Light lifehack 1: Automatic lighting, simply retrofitted
At the beginning and end of the season, it is dark for longer and it is difficult to find anything in unlit lockers and storage spaces. Sometimes this also applies to bright summer days, when you are blinded by the sun and have difficulty seeing in the semi-darkness of the storage space. A small head torch would be a simple solution that would provide a remedy without any installation effort. However, it must always be to hand. We have therefore come up with a different solution: LED lighting with a rechargeable battery and motion sensor. The lamps can be found in DIY stores, in 1-euro shops or online for less than 10 euros in some cases. We have models that can be attached to metal surfaces using magnets. A large washer made of simple steel was positioned at the desired location in the baking box using hot glue, to which the magnetic lamp adheres perfectly. This keeps the installation work to a minimum, as no cables need to be laid. When the storage compartment is opened, the lighting is now activated automatically and switches off again after 30 seconds. This is sufficient, and if not, a short hand movement is enough to reactivate it.
Volker Ritter, Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock
Light Lifehack 2:Simple reading lamp for the cockpit
Reading lights in the cockpit are a nice thing, and they can be installed in the cockpit with a 12-volt supply and little effort. But there is a simpler way: screw-on clamp brackets for clipped-on bicycle front lights fit onto the frame of a cake stand, for example. The small battery-operated bar lights provide a well-focussed light and consume hardly any power thanks to modern LED technology.
Sascha Labuda, by e-mail
Light lifehack 3:Simple glare protection
It couldn't be cheaper or simpler: our improvised cockpit light with an LED lamp was too dazzling. We cut off the tops and bottoms of a 0.5-litre and a 1.5-litre plastic water bottle, inserted them into each other and fed the cable through the necks. This enabled us to achieve an excellent light diffusion effect. And the bottoms of the bottles are perfect for spraying out a dinghy or parts of the bilge that are difficult to reach with the pump.
Manfred Müller, by e-mail
Light lifehack 4:Optimum night-time trim
At regattas, it is important to trim the sails optimally even at night. We have mounted an LED headlamp at the front of the mast base so that the helmsman can steer by the trim lines without constantly fumbling with the white torch. To avoid the glare effect for the helmsman, we simply stuck some yellow foil over it. We attached the lamp to the mast base using cable ties so that the light beam falls exactly on the trim lines of the genoa.
Werner Frie, by e-mail
Do you have any advice for other sailors?
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