You must run your navigation lights all night. LED lights allow you to do this. After a close call with a large fishing boat one night I changed my light signature. I now have the signature of a 65 ft yacht running under power, whether or not I am using the engine. Ordinary sailing lights are very weak, and they don’t always show properly if the boat is heeled in big waves. The leeward light is often masked by the genoa sail when seen from ahead. The tri-color lights at the masthead are weak and were a compromise for low powered sailboats.
I always sail with all navigation lights on. This provides the signature of a 65 foot yacht under power. The two fwd facing lights give good indication of which direction the boat is going. All lights are above wave height and so are not hidden by swells that are less than 10 feet trough to crest.
A tricolor masthead is practically useless. It is only to be used under sail (Colregs.) and the light from it is very weak. Fishing boats will seriously misjudge your distance from them, as they expect lights to be near the deck level of a boat, not 50 feet in the air.
I have 5 of the series 25 lights with LED inserts burning at the same time - good for two miles P&S and even further for the white lights fwd and astern.
We were nearly in collision with a fishing boat (big one) which was showing only one red light all around, so I had no idea where he was headed but judged right, for when we passed he was within hailing distance and going in the opposite direction from me. Had I assumed it was a port light and turned right (port to port) instead of left, we would have collided.
