efuddled by wild
claims of some
manufacturers
as to flashlight
and spotlight
performance?
Angered when you buy a
“multimillion candle power”
light for your safety and it’s
almost worthless? Help has
arrived. Last August the
American National Standards
Institute approved measures
that cover “basic performance
of hand-held/portable
flashlights, spotlights,
and headlamps providing
directional lighting,”
according to the National
Electrical Manufacturer’s
Association.
Fourteen manufacturers
of such lights and related
products worked with the
association to create the
standard. Now the consumer
can evaluate hand-held lights
by looking for rating icons on
the packaging as well as for
the logo: FL1 Standard. The
standard, which is voluntary,
is not an independent
third-party evaluation of
product but should help limit
misleading advertising and
fraudulent performance
claims. — Tom Neale
B
New Standard
Illuminates Light
Purchases
Avid Sailor Roy Disney Crosses The Bar
The world of boating lost one of its
major benefactors December 16, 2009,
when Roy E. Disney, the nephew of
Walt Disney, died in Newport Beach,
California, at age 79, after a year-long fight
with stomach cancer. Besides revitalizing
the Disney animation division with hits
such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”
and “The Lion King,” and helping to lead
the legendary company his father and
uncle founded in the 1920s, Disney was
well known in racing circles for fierce
competition in offshore sailing on his
74-foot sloop Pyewacket. He set records
in many races, including the 1999
Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles
to Honolulu (which he sailed 16 times and
won once), the Chicago Mackinac Race,
and the Newport-Bermuda Race.
Disney most recently underwrote
training and equipping a young crew of
sailors for the Transpac in his Morning
Light project. A co-ed crew of 11 mostly
small-boat sailors made a compelling
bid in the 2007 Transpac, coming in a
surprising third against very seasoned
veteran racers. Disney made their story
into a feature film, “Morning Light”
(See BoatU.S. Magazine, September
2008). Disney was also generous in his
donations to sailing — he was a top
contributor to the California International
Sailing Association and donated
his famous Pyewacket to the Orange County
College sailing program. In 2008, U.S.
SAILING awarded Disney its prestigious
Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy.
— Elaine Dickinson
Boat Deductions Available
At least two federal income tax
deductions of interest to boat owners
remain in place for the 2009 tax year:
mortgage interest deductions and state
sales tax deductions. If you bought a boat
last year, state sales tax or state income
tax may be deducted. However, you
must choose one; you can’t deduct both.
Also, you can only take the state sales tax
deduction if the tax rate applied to the
boat is the same as the state’s general sales
tax rate. Only seven states levy no income
taxes whatsoever: Alaska, Florida, Nevada,
South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and
Wyoming. In addition, New Hampshire
and Tennessee collect income taxes only
on dividends and interest income. In order
to use the sales tax deduction, tax returns
must be itemized. On Schedule A, state
sales taxes go on Line 5b.
More boaters will benefit from
deducting interest paid on boat loans but
only if the loan is secured and the boat
meets the definition of a “second home”
— meaning it has a galley, a head, and
sleeping berth. Even if your vessel qualifies,
you may or may not receive a Form 1098
from your lending institution reporting
interest paid. Not receiving the form
doesn’t preclude taking the deduction.
On Schedule A, you enter the amount on
Line 10 if you received a 1098, or enter the
amount on Line 11 if not and include the
lender’s tax ID number or SSN.
