Did Someone Sink a 35-Foot Nordic at Lake Cumberland?
 

An Ohio couple received injuries and their boat was destroyed Saturday evening when it reportedly "came apart" during a high speed turn to avoid a log floating in the water.

The incident occurred near Wolf Creek Dam at 7:10 p.m. Saturday, May 8, near the mouth of Indian Creek, within sight of the dam.

According to Wayne Glover, investigating officer for the Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources, the boat was a 2004 Nordic model.

The operator, Mike Peconge, 42, of Westchester, Ohio, reported to the officer that he was travelling at a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour when he made a "hard turn" to avoid striking a log he spotted in his path. The boat reportedly began to come apart during the turn, and sank.

Peconge received minor injuries in the incident, while his wife Beth Peconge, 43, was taken for treatment to the Russell County Hospital, and later flown to Jewish Hospital in Louisville where she reportedly underwent surgery for internal injuries.

This incident follows a fatal accident just two weeks ago, when a boat with four fisherman struck a submerged log around 3 a.m. April 25 on the Beaver Creek section of the lake. One drowned as the result of that accident, becoming the first accidental death by drowning in the lake since 2002.

Boaters are urged to use caution in all parts of the lake, as there is still considerable drift, the result of water at the tree line level that has gone up and down a few times due to recent rains.

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According to people who saw the race they estimate that the boat was traveling more than 85 mph. The boat is question is a Nordic 35 Flame. The 35 Flame incorporates a twin-stepped hull design.

For those of you who are not familiar with performance boats the "steps" that modern performance boats have incorporated in hulls of their boat are put there by manufactures in order to trap air under the hull and reduce friction.

Now these steps have been a great advancement in performance boating in that they allow boats of similar size and horse power travel at speeds much greater than their counterparts of a few years ago. However, there is a downside. The air trapped under the hull that allows them to travel 7 to 8 mph faster in a straight line makes them inherenlty unstable in turns.

Now what happens is that if you turn these stepped boats too sharply at high speed the center of gravity switches from the front to the rear. So instead of the boat turning and traveling in the direction that the nose is pointing, the trapped air under the hull causes the the boat to break is grip with the water and continue in the same direction, but rear-first. So now the boat is still traveling at a high rate of speed but backwards. At some point the Swim platform digs in and they come to a sudden stop and incur heavy damage to the rear of the boat - often flipping and ejecting the occupants into the drink.

It sounds to me that boat simply became unstable when he turned to avoid the log and he spun it. It either swamped when traveling backwards or the damage to the rear allowed it to take on water.

Now if we only had an expert around :crazy:

Ill take a #3 combo with extra extra butter and make the drink a lemonade.

PS. Glad they survived.

I'll have a bud light, or 12 :D

Where's LPA when you need him?


Diddo on the PS.

another wipe out?? what is going on!

Glad they're okay.....

But...let me quick get my work done before this gets going too good. I don't want to miss anything. Can I have my #3 supersized? :p

This one is very simple:
DRIVER ERROR.
Period, end of story, steps or not.

Notice the boat was a 2004. New boat, undoubtedly a new driver, bad judgement, end result is boat at bottom of lake.

It isn't the first time, and unfortunately won't be the last, regardless of hull design.

That`s why they put the ''pointy'' end on the front.:)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Roger 1 (That`s why they put the ''pointy'' end on the front.:)

I had often wondered that.:D
All kidding aside I am glad they will be ok. I will also say just because they have a 2004 boat does not mean the guy is new to boating, but it does sound like a spin.