Absolutely.

We let one of my son's friends use one of the PWC's. We were in the Searay coming in to the cove and throttled down and the prop wash sucked the nitwit friend on the Seadoo into the swim platform of the Searay. Lot of damage to the Seadoo and a chipped swim platform. No injuries luckily. I made it a rule that no one, absolutely no one borrows or uses our PWC's again.

. I have had a lot of close calls. For some reason they tend to aim for you, whether it's to jump your wake or get a look at the boat. You can never tell which way they are going to go. Many times it's adults with small children on them. I hate to hear about these unfortunate accidents.[/QUOTE]

If I see a PWC turn and come at me I just ease the throttles down to 1K rpm or so. If there's no wake, they usually aren't interested. They get the picture quick that I don't go for that crap.

They need rudders, plain and simple. If you have never ridden one you have no idea, even if told 10 times, what to do in a panic. A rudder would do the trick because it would not loose its ability to turn. It would have to fold but they make folding props so this CAN happen. I watched my brother in law smash into the boat lift and crush the hood of my new Polaris, back in 94. It cost him a $250 hood and stickers, I did the labor. I watched my dad almost pile it on the rocks be he was close enough to hear us yell to gas it. It is almost a 50% chance you will have an amateur crash these things, how can they afford to insure them???

I also heard about this on Sunday...our marina is right near the accident....not being there my uncle (who is there all summer) came over to tell us the story... I think mainly being that he is not a gofast guy and has cruisers..he feels everything involving a speed boat should be known by all!...anyway he told me it was a 42 Fountain something to the effect that the ski did indeed cut into his boat!....boat apparantly went over ski and both passengers.....


To all involved I wish them the best... you are in our thoughts and prayers........ Tom

Sad situation

Hey Steve - how about the idiot on Lake Tarpon that almost hit us when we were prop testing on the ole bog-o-matic Fountain????? Another jet-ski mensa candidate.... :angry-smiley-044: :angry-smiley-044: :angry-smiley-044:

Mitch, thats a very good point about needing a rudder. That would be a huge benefit. I think the number one cause of accident is inability to control them. (also a little stupidy tossed in there too). Most riders are suprised to find out you cant steer with no throttle.
When we got ours, I spent about 3 hours riding with my stepdaughter on it, showing her how to control it before she took it out by herself. I went over every possible scenerio with her. We have a PWC operaters license requirement in NJ, but to me that is not nearly enough.

In MI it's now required to have a boaters safety course if you're operating a PWC, if you were born after 1978 (no "age" requirement, just "after 1978" now).

Many of the newer models have "off throttle" steering. A rudder is generally not a good idea on this type of craft, but a set of fins on the side of the ski or a system to give it a small amount of power when you turn hard to one side is now available on the newer ones.

Unfortunately, there will still be stupid people out there, whether they are running offshores, fishing boats, cruisers, PWC's, or canoes.

I know someone on the fountain that was in the accident. Did your Uncle see it happen?

I've got to agree!!:chimp: :chimp: