Topic: copper grounding?

Hi,
New Contessa 26 owner, new to the sailing community and new to the forum. Sorry about the brief intro but,
I was scraping paint of the underside yesterday in preparation for anti foul paint when I pulled of an approx. 4" wide copper strip from the keel. It was at one time nailed with copper nails and glued. Anybody any idea why it is there? I am guessing it is for grounding.

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Re: copper grounding?

More than likely installed for grounding the mast for lightning strikes.  It likely had a heavy-gauge wire running from the mast base to that copper strap.

Re: copper grounding?

This post makes me wonder if Contessa's were grounded at the factory.  I read somewhere that they were, but never had that verified.