Rick is his usual "California" style wise cracking smartie mouth. He has periods of being distraught and knows that once the pain meds and shock have worn off, and he's back home, that it's really going to be rough for him.

He came into an unusually large wake doing 40, looked over at Caroline and said something like "hang on!" and hit it at an angle. He heard a loud pop as the rear end came apart and the boat lurched to the right. That threw them both out, the window being in Caroline's way. From looking at the boat, and from what he said, he may have nearly pierced the wake. It's a mystery why the rear came apart.

He's an engineer and I know he'd find the video interesting. Email me you're number so we can arrange to get a copy?

[email protected]

I have seen a 29 Fountain bust in a similar way on lake Texoma. This crash threw all 3 people out of the boat. Came into a wake at similar speed. After drving my fathers 35' Foutain its not a brand of boat I would ever own IMO. They seem built so cheaply.

Damn.....totally heartwrenching!!!!!! I'm at a absolute loss for words. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

KRUM

Sweet dreams little girl.... sweet dreams. :(

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Does anyone have any specifics on this sort of thing happening with Fountains? I can see lawyers circling in the future.

I have a friend that had a similar thing happen on a 32' Fountain. That boat has hooked to the right several times in the past:(

I have also personally seen a 32 fountain hook to the right at slow speeds on Texoma. It was bad washing machine chop, they were slowing down and it looked to me like the guy just turned to fast so I though nothing of it. It almost threw out all passengers on board. They were all thrown to one side. They couldn't of been going maybe 20-30mph so there was no damage. If there was a kid on board they definately could have been thrown out or hard into the cockpit wall. Maybe this is why the stoped making the 32.

I wish I could understand how / why of the hull failure.
Did the Hull pop on the launch or on the return? I first thought the hull failed at the seam but the pictures show that was not the case.
Since there is no hyd. steering did the steering fail on the return thus throwing the boat to the right? Then the hull failure.

That is horrible. My thoughts and prayers are with the family/friends. I couldn't imagine the pain he's going through.

RIP. This is so sad it brought tears to my eyes.