Offshoreonly.com - Testing to Resume on Sterling 1700-Powered Skater 388 in January

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downtown42 (Post 3570746)

and this.........:evilb:

http://speedonthewater.com/commentar...-key-west.html

Earlier this year, I rode in a boat at 170 mph for the first and last time.

But as far as putting myself in harm’s way goes, I’m done.

You hangin' around Mitt Romney and Shogrunt too much !!

TAG, you're ITT !! :lolhit:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../CousinItt.jpg

Shame on you, you really did need to read the post I wrote above. But I'll cut to the chase with one line:

"As for top speed, I'll report on the GPS recall."

My friend, there is nothing in any way appealing or seductive about another really fast boat ride for me. It just isn't that fun, or, more accurately stated, it isn't enough fun to justify the risk.

I've gotten away with it. I've been 144 mph in 25-foot Eliminator. (Way scarier than 170 in a 35 DCB.) The only dumber thing I ever did was opening a parachute at 1,000 feet, though I suppose not opening it would have been scarier, at least for a few seconds.

I can still do my job without being in a boat at its absolute top speed. A certain amount of risk exists in my job. But riding in a boat at a speed where I think the risk is unacceptable, which will always be my call and not the call of the driver? Not part of my job.

Where is the "cut-off?" Where is "harm's way?" Reasonable questions. Where I say there are—for me.

One more thing I wrote: "I'm not telling anyone else to be done." You do what makes sense for you. However, if you were a personal friend I would urge you, as I wrote in the commentary, to step back from the edge more than you cross over it.

The statement, "If I never go 100 mph again, I won't miss it" does not mean I won't end up there with the right driver, the right boat, the right conditions. It means it is no longer an experience I look forward to or enjoy. And even with all of those variables optimal ... I still don't enjoy it.

There is nothing contradictory in what I wrote. As in zero.

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