Sailing around the world need a distance safety light

I’m on a fast cruising trimaran sailing around the world; presently near Bora Bora on Tahaa. Looking for a good light to illuminate distant objects on the shoreline or to navigate between obstructions. The boat can be very wet at speed so the light needs to be good in the salt water environment. Budget would be around $350 USD. We already have four 18650 batteries aboard but would consider another type battery pack if necessary. We are after reliability…. rock solid dependability in a wet environment; rather than features.
Can you help us out and offer a few suggestions? I appreciate the help, Thanks!

I’d say thrunite tn42.

What kind of 18650 do you have?

Edit: go for neutral white, works much better if are in doggy wheather.

Edit2: you could also go for the TN40 a bit less reach, but more overall light output.

I have 3500mAhr Fenix batteries Part Number ARB-L16-3500U.They go with our Fenix headlamps P/N HL60R

The batteries of a multi-battery flashlight need to be matched. Same batch, always used together.
Most certainly not: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Those should be fine as long as they are bought together and used about the same amount.

Always fully charge all the batteries. Don’t use a half empty ones with a full ones.

It sounds like the the TN42 does not have a BMS within their battery holder to protect the individual 18650 cells.?? If this is true then I should/would buy all new 18650’s for this pack and operate them as a set and charge as a set in the flashlight.
I should add that we have limited charge source charging capability aboard…… 12VDC, 0.8, 1.0, & 2.2 amp USB, and 300 watts of 120VAC 60hz available onboard to charge with.
As a side note; The Trimaran uses LiFePO4 batteries for the main house bank. They are 400A-Hr 12V. We operate without any BMS by bottom balancing.

Firstly, bon voyage!
Secondly:

I’m not a sailor so have no experience of the situations you encounter but that sounds like 2 different requirements to me, one requiring a a focused beam that covers a lot of distance with minimal spill to avoid reflections from the water, and the other a wider beam to illuminate as much as possible in a couple of hundred metres in front of the boat.
Does that sound right?
For spotting objects on the shoreline, what kind of distance do you need?
I was thinking a fixed aspheric might be more suitable than a reflector light, or a LEP like this:

but the beam might be too narrow to be able to easily identify landmarks.

Edit:- Actually, the Acebeam W30 has more throw and is advertised with being waterproof up to 100m.
You can clearly see how narrow the beam is in this review: [Review] Acebeam W30 LEP 21700 flashlight

Acebeam W30 hiCRI with the warm white beam to cut through fog and no spill to prevent pupil constriction. It’s also the farthest throwing retail LED LEP flashlight

This. Just watched a video on this. Distance can’t be beat. One battery. Have something else for closer and for flood.

Marc, I am not familiar with beam scatter from humidity or reflection off the sea, and how this would impact my choice in light. Is being blinded by reflection off the water a big issue with these types of normal beam spread lamps? I can imagine what you are concerned about. Are you saying that the extremely narrow beam of the laser/phosphor light would be needed to sight objects on shore at a distance between say 400 and 800 meters?
You asked……
Spotting on shoreline would mostly be between 400 and 800 meters (something up to 1,500 meters would certainly be welcome though beyond my wildest expectations)
Navigation (in good visibility) between objects would require a beam that would illuminate the area up to 400 meters with excellent detail such that we would not miss a navigation marker, and up to 200 meters such that we would not miss a 1 meter wide dark colored rock near the surface. We don’t mind having to pan the beam back and forth a bit to cover the area ahead of us.
Our primary need is the Navigational one and secondarily….we are hoping to be able to visualize objects on the shore up to at least 800 meters. We do not need to use the light at a ‘pointer’
Does this help answer your question?

I was using my BLF Q8 (reflector light) on a white bay boat at night and the reflection from the boat was terrible. The more I cranked the light up to see further the more blinded I would get from reflection off the boat. A fixed aspheric light would be good but I have no suggestions outside of a modified one.

Granted this boat I was on I am sunk down in the hull having to hold the light in my hands. Your situation may be different if you have a raised platform or something to use.

U want reliability?? Then choose malkoff! USA made fully potted. I don't recommend thrunite

https://malkoffdevices.com/collections/large-malkoff-led-flashlights/products/malkoff-hound-dog-super-flashlight?variant=32257906371

I would be standing on deck holding the light above my head (I’m 6’6” tall) probably at the bow while the crew steers. So reflection from the boat itself would be minimal.

If you want a traditional flashlight that would be a bit more versatile and less money I would suggest this one:

The upper end of your range (800 meters) will be pushing it with that light.

If you want an even larger/heavier traditional light:

https://maxtoch.com/maxtoch-x-pro-1900m-beam-distance-78mm-head-newest-focus-white-beam-source-compatible-21700-and-18650-battery-thrower-flashlight-p0036-p0036.html

And finally the laser phosphor option suggested above if you want a true pencil beam. Lots of warnings about shining this in people’s eyes and it seems pretty niche for its uses though:

I would check out the Olight Javelot Pro Javelot Pro Powerful Spotlight Flashlight - Olight Store Mainly because of how long the run time is. It does have enough throw. 1080 meters

LIGHTING LEVELS

LEVEL 1 (lumens) 2100
Run-time LEVEL 1 2100 lumens (~1000lm); 10 mins/ 130 mins
LEVEL 2 (lumens) 600
Run-time LEVEL 2 5hours.
LEVEL 3 (lumens) 150
Run-time LEVEL 3 23hours.
LEVEL 4 (lumens) 15
Run-time LEVEL 4 8days.

Yes but they can’t throw 800 meters…

1080 is the theoretical throw, you can guess half of that of usable throw.

+1

Is it dangerous to sail around the world?

What about encountering pirates ?