Have you thought about the 4x18a convoy that uses 4 nateria 18650? should last long enough. A hotter xhp70 led should give little reflection. If you prefer to play star wars use 4x18s with sbt90.
Anyone that even tries to answer this question is really giving you bad advice. At the end of the day, it’s up to you. A flashlight is a tool. What kind of tool you use is up to you.
I always assume the questioner knows that, and is looking for the reasons some models fit specific uses. Otherwise there would just be 1 or 2 flashlights. I don’t want to live in that world.
I’ll be interested to hear if you feel it still has too much spill on the water.
I don’t see where Acebeam claims the L18 has low voltage protection, but reviews state it does, and you have a battery level indicator, I wouldn’t worry about protected batteries.
The use case for me is mostly spotting marks on the water which don’t have lights. I think a thrower is a great light for that. Apart from that it’s great to amaze friends with the range :-p.
For everything else than this I use my armytek wizard Pro headlamp. You need both hands while sailing and you can set it exactly to the amount of light you want. Especially the moonlight modes are great because you retain night vision. In my opinion good moonlight modes are way better than red lights.
I also just got my lt1. That’s probably great for inside the cabin although lighting is almost all ready installed there.
For my personal use I disagree. If a light drops overboard it’s probably at night. The chances that I will be able to recover it are very tiny. I think its beter to have some rope attached. That’s what I do with most of my sailing stuff anyways.