LakeCumberlandBoaters.com

Lock5 wrote:Let me say this about all of it, the video from the gray Pace Boat was the most telling to me. They are practically idleing until they got to Harmon, they lit in to them slightly around Ramsey's point, I don't think he ever went wide open on the gray boat until just before he shut it down for the accident.

This is why they won't run to the dam and back first, that just isn't far enough for these guys to really sort it all out. I think it would be alot more dangerous if they ran to the dam first due to the short distance for them to jockey for the lead. These are not drag racing boats, it takes them a little while to get up to speed. It may not be called a race but tell that to the guys with the boats.

No different than me racing that other tri-toon back to state dock on Saturday.............

Great article, on the whole subject though.

Yea the dam first is not going to help anything. You are right the guy in the grey boat can motor when he wants to. Check out the 3.20 min mark in this video. He checks out on the field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcHscMio6ak

The roost don't lie, when they come by Harmon the roost is 60' tall. When they get these boats up around the 130-up range the roost is flat.......

wow 8:30 meet dummies on the wrong side of the lake.

Really impressive was 18 minutes from Grider to past Shinbone! WHEEWW!!!!! that is awesome!

Have at it...not my thing...hope non-participants are ever killed or maimed...JMHO

George, in the gray DCB 35 footer, is a customer of mine. He was the blue group flag boat. His boat is capable of about 125+ or so I would guess. He dropped the flag at about Difficulty, due to congestion and water condition. He wrote somewhere he was doing about 60-70 when the flag was up. The blue class was the 110 MPH and up class. When he ran in the Thunder Run, he made it from Indian Creek to Conley in about 14 minutes, if you take out the pace boat time in the beginning and the shut down time at the end in that video.

The boat that wrecked was doing 162 at the time, according to the GPS in it. It was probably capable of 180, maybe. It has 3450 horsepower total. The boat that wrecked in 2008 was a 2004 38 Skater with 2200 horsepower. It was going about 160. This one was a 2010 40 Skater. Basically the same boat but with extensions added to the stern sides for some sort of turbulence abatement.

I really think skater needs to take heed from this and review design changes. Maybe a auto adjusting spoiler on the front to prevent too much lift.

Maybe some kind of parachute should be engineered on the rear that deploys when the boat reaches a certain angle , thus keeping a boat from lifting and flipping backwards...

The problem is not with the Skater brand alone. The boat that flipped the same way at the Desert Storm Poker Run was a DCB (Dave's Custom Boats) very similar to George's. Little bigger and more HP I would guess.

The parachute idea would probably not work because of the amount of force it would exert on the hull and the time it takes to get one to deploy, especially if wet. It would no doubt rip the transom out of the boat.

MarineAssist wrote:The parachute idea would probably not work because of the amount of force it would exert on the hull and the time it takes to get one to deploy, especially if wet. It would no doubt rip the transom out of the boat.

On my level of engineering you are probably right....butttttt......with the amount of engineering in the racing world anything is achievable . I would think reinforcing the transom would be a must for it....and there has to be some type of material for the chute...

As I have said before, my deepest regrets to the family and friends of those involvled in the crash. But at the speeds they were running they needed a capsule boat. They knew the risks & that's part of "the rush", being on the edge, it's just hard to explain to most.
You can analize all you want but when these style boats flip at those speeds, very few will survive. And with that being said you will continue to see people do it, because they like me feel "it won't be me"... I'd drive/throttle one in a heartbeat!

That is what I don't get Rooster, these guys did what they loved, knew the risks (not saying they wanted to die but they knew it could happen) and they did it for the rush/fun. Everyone wants to shut the event down and even if this had been a closed course as long as they crossed behind the other boat the same would have happened on a open or closed course. It is what it is. I think they can themselves opt for more safety like you stated with a capsule or with other modifications to keep the boat right side up etc. but in the end it is their choice. The only thing for us to gripe about are the fly bys etc. but THOSE people sitting out there HAVE to expect that to some degree since they put themselves out there for it on purpose. They could have been like me and sat just inside a small cove if they wanted. It was THEIR choice.

IMHO...BOTH sides need to take a hard look at respect for life. Participants deprived loved ones of their presence because they were doing what they loved. Participants put themselves in harm's way for the sake of voyeurism. I just don't get it....there are so many risks we take daily just by walking, driving, flying, etc. I just don't see taking risks by choice. Maybe it's my point of view because of trying so hard to keep GWW and myself healthy and don't understand people just throwing life away.....