Another one bites the dust!
 

By GRETEL SARMIENTO

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, December 02, 2007

HIGHLAND BEACH — Chris Otis and friends were out sitting on lawn chairs Sunday, having a cup, when from his home on Pelican Way, Delray Beach he noticed a "noisy cigarette boat coming up 30 miles an hour." "All of the sudden the boat took a right hand turn and it drove right into the seawall and broke apart. The top of the boat separated from the bottom," Otis said.

Delray Beach Firefighters are working the scene of the boat accident near 2921 South Ocean Blvd. that might involve one trauma alert and two other people injured. The accident was reported around noon. Otis and friends noticed the boat because of his flashing colors he said.

"It wasn't going excessively fast."

It's always a "cigarette boat".

Some guy at he gas station asked me the other day who made the boat- I said "Cigarette". He said "yeah, I know what it is, but who made it?" I said "Cigarette". He said "What?" I left.

10 years ago this week this accident occured. Does anyone know anything about this one?
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,3691005.story

search for the thread, 10 year annivesary of a bad day boating.

Short story: Rich guy leaves Shooters in a 39 Sonic and roars up the ICW in the dark and spears a 31 Tiara killing all 6 aboard and injuring himself/girlfriend in the process. Got an 85 year sentence and it was recently reduced to 50 years. Guy will be 116 when he gets out.

Got it, missed that thread.

When we were heading south thru Boca yesterday, 2 boca cop boats hauled azz going north, followed by a fish & wildlife boat, we had just spent quite some time in that area trying to fix my boat, but then returned to delray, and put it back on the trailer, I jumped on Andrews boat, and rode south with him, there were a bunch of waverunners in the area, jumping wakes, about 5 minutes later we saw the cops, figured one of the waverunners screwed up, but guess I know now where they were heading.

It was a Concept 30, maybe the new closed deck stepped hull boat? Funny how the witnesses said it was loud with Verados?



Monday, December 03, 2007

HIGHLAND BEACH — Three adults were injured when the boat they were in hit a sea wall in the Intracoastal Waterway Sunday morning.

A female with serious injuries was transported to Delray Medical Center along with two males who sustained injuries that weren't life threatening, said Russell Accardi, a battalion chief for Delray Beach Fire-Rescue, which investigated.

The accident happened near 2921 S. Ocean Blvd. When firefighters responded to the 11:53 a.m. call, water inside the boat was above knee level. Firefighters used ropes and special pumps to prevent the 30-foot boat from sinking. That was not easy because a hole underneath the front of the boat was letting water back in fast, Accardi said.

The high-performance Concept 30 boat appears to have been traveling fast when it hit the sea wall, sending pieces of its fiber hull flying. It kept going until it hit a wooden dock. The impact snapped the two outboard engines off the stern, sending them into the water, Accardi said.

Chris J. Otis and some friends were sitting on lawn chairs at his home on Pelican Way in Delray Beach when he saw a "noisy cigarette boat" traveling about 30 mph.

"All of the sudden the boat took a right-hand turn and it drove right into the sea wall and broke apart. The top of the boat separated from the bottom," Otis said.

Otis and friends noticed the boat because of its flashy colors, he said.

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are investigating.

I had someone ask me at the gas dock last year if my Stinger was one of them there cigarette boats. I told them no, mine was real quiet, so it was a cigar boat. The guy just gave me a screwy look and said oh, okay, I didn't know the difference. Laughed my azz off all the way out of the idle zone. Thought my son was going to fall out of the boat laughing. Should have told him it was a Chris Craft so that makes it a cabin cruiser:evilb::rolleyes:

Funny. I've seen lots of Cigarette pride in the fact that performance boats are referred to as "cigarette boats" in general due to their outstanding history and reptuation in this industry. Seems kinda arrogant of you considering that most of the general public don't have much or any knowledge of performance boats and this guy was probably impressed by your boat. But maybe I'm misinterpreting. :D

To me it gets old because a lot of times you get stuck with the stereotype of having a Cigarette - loud and obnoxious by people who don't know better (look at the quote in the article above). I usually tell them that it's a brand name politely and keep walking. I have a Checkmate with a single OB that gets called a Cig all the time. Now, Thrill on the other hand, if you can find 5 square inches on his Cig SS that DOESN'T say "Cigarette", I'll buy you dinner :evilb:








:party-smiley-004:

I Wonder If There Was A Problem With The Fly-bye Wire System

Otis was having a cup!! now there's a credible witness . Hope all are OK,, and your correct Jupiter ,, those Verado's are real loud !:D

RHC

Not at all a laughing matter, but there is something really funny about the title to this thread....

This remined me, I have to go back to using my old signature. :D

How about "a sweet sounding cigarette boat coming up 30 miles an hour"?

http://www.wpbf.com/news/14759232/detail.html

Local news is quoting it may be mechanical failure. The motors are missing in the video.

motors sunk from what I heard

A"noisy" center console boat with whackers...........

What bunch of dumba$$es.........:rolleyes:

I thought that they had recalled all of the 30 Concepts. Someone told me that they were a scary ride due to wrong COG.:eek::(

Yes, I do.
I spent most of the afternoon changing the oil and tuning-up the 3 engines in that 45' Sonic. I had it running better than it ever had before. I was surprised Stan still wanted to use it that night because it was very cool and dark early that evening. It was on a Hydro-Hoist across from Shooters.

Anyway, Stan picked-up his girlfriend from the airport around 7:15 PM and brought her back to the boat. They went by water to Pier 66 and had dinner. On the way back the collision occurred. Months later I testified as an expert witness in the case.

This is my opinion:
The jury completely disregarded the physical evidence. The starboard and center Bravo 1's were completely sheared off and hanging by the indicator cables. The port drive looked like nothing touched it. The port drive was not turned to either side, it was perfectly straight. The Tiara was raised and the rudders were both turned hard to port. The prosecution's experts testified that the boats impacted on the starboard side of the Tiara at a 22 degree angle. Had the Tiara had any reasonable structural integrity where it was hit, the boats should have bounced off one another. Instead the Sonic penetrated the Tiara just aft of the helm and went over the transom. The Tiara was on the bottom in less than a minute with 6 dead people on board. Three died from blunt trauma and three died from drowning. It was a very sad night for boating.

The media went crazy because Stan was a successful businessman with a loud, fast "Cigarette" speedboat, a hot, young girlfriend and a Harley-Davidson; among other toys. It didn't help he lived in the penthouse apartment across from Shooters. Stan and Debbie shared a bottle of wine over dinner and at least 1/3 of it was on the boat with them heading home. When the marine patrol saw the bottle on board, they immediately assumed alcohol impairment. Stan's defense lawyer told me his blood samples were 48 hours old before they were tested and were contaminated.

I feel the system made an example of Stan with the harsh sentence. The physical evidence obviously showed the Tiara captain panicked and turned in front of the Sonic. Stan lived and the people on the Tiara did not, so Stan got it shoved so far up his a$$, he'll probably never walk a free man again.

Its a tragic accident that happened. However its to bad that the press can convict people even better then the prosecuter. You was there in court and personally saw this and still look what the outcome was.

I was a very minor player and I think my testimony was taken with a grain of salt because I was Stan's friend and trusted mechanic at the time.

Once the system decides they are going to make an example out of you; you're screwed.

They acted like Stan purposely intended to ram that boat and kill those people.

Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible that those families lost those members, but it was an ACCIDENT. Can you imagine the public outcry if Stan had been aquitted? People would be saying he bought his way out of trouble because of who he is.

I still think the Tiara factory should have been sued by the families. I saw the underwater photographs of the boat on the bottom of the ICW. The captain that they hired for that night was NOT at the helm at the time of impact. His body was in the cabin. The fiberglass was so thin and dry where it was penetrated it was a joke. Nobody would listen to me to do a burn test on the Tiara fiberglass.

Just a little side note: The Sonic factory was owned by Anthony Andrews when this accident happened. HE WANTED TO KNOW IF HE COULD SOMEHOW USE IT IN HIS ADVERTISING ABOUT HOW STRONG SONIC BOATS ARE BUILT!!!!! Just when you think people can't get any lower.

Lets hope that these stay at a minimum. Accidents happen and people die which is tragic like we both said. You are right people sometimes are low and say things they shouldn't. How fast did they say he was running?

A few idiots that live on the ICW testified under oath that the boat was travelling 85 to 90 MPH! They were judging by the SOUND of the 3 502's 445hp AT NIGHT!

I ran that boat more than both owners put together and I can assure you it NEVER ran more than 77 MPH on it's best day, and that was using all the tricks I know to get it to run that fast. Boat was loaded with every option: air, gen, microwave, TV, refrig, range, etc. Exhaust was very loud.

Back to what I was saying about the press. I realize some guys used to run the ICW fast but I can't see it. Its really not that big there is it. As I take it, wasn't it by where the Doubletree is now. I am sure the sound echoes through there and off of the water but that speed would be excess and like you said not accurate.

I remember when you could run the ICW that fast and yes it was narrow in places. I remember you could hear boats coming from a long ways off. I recall a 44 or 45 Sonic in the early nineties with a lime green stripe down the side that used to run from Shooters up to Pomano alot. The guy always claimed he was the owner of Sonic but never knew who he was.

More articles with pics on the 97 crash
http://www.rbbi.com/folders/acc/ftla...laud2.htm#cnn1

That was probably Jay Ross who started Sonic Boats and was working for the company back then. Great guy. Works for Active Thunder now. Forgot more about high performance boats than most of us will ever know. I learned much from him.

Very sad - and a very chity title to a thread like this. Kind of reminds me of Flash Gordon the way his boat veered off for no reason.

On the other accident - that is horrible after reading Cozzi's post. Hard to believe that after an ACCIDENT like that how a jury can decide when there was clearly reasonable doubt.

Thank you for your analysis of the situation. It certainly shows another side of the story. I think most of us take the quality of our boats for granted because even the "cheap ones" are built for the abuse of high performance boating. Unfortunatly many other builders only build for slow cruising in calm water and cannot survive any impact. Ive seen a cruiser bump into a bridge and go down.

This could happen to any of us. Whether alcohol is related or not the "cigarette" boat is always considered to blame. It is actually kind of scary considering the near misses I have had with jet skiers with ADD, one minute they go straight then they decide to cut right in front of you.

When the Marlins won the World Series in 1997 I borrowed the "Merrymaker" to carry two players and their families in the parade up the New River in Ft. Lauderdale. We had 16 or 17 high performance boats with the Marlins on every one of them.

After the accident I begged the police to let me at least pickle the engines. Of course they refused and the case dragged-on so long that the boat was finally junk.

Where did the boat end up?

I have no idea. Last I saw both boats they were in the BSO evidence hangar at the Executive airport in Ft. Lauderdale.

Maybe I messed it, What was your friend Stan convicted of and what penalty did he git hit with? Was he sued as well? How did that turn out?

Go to post #22 and go to the link. Read my posts and if you still have questions, I'll be glad to answer any that I can.
Ed

Regardless of whether or not the captain turned to try and avoid the oncoming Sonic, 6 people including a good friend of mine died when that asshat hit them. The speeds he was actually running be it 86 or 56 was too fast for the night time conditions he was running in, and 6 innocent people died. I hope the son of a b1tch dies a painful death before he is released..

sorry for your loss, however after i read all those reports, to me it seems like captain of the sonic may not have done anything wrong, "both boats traveling north" the vessel being overtaken has the right of way and should mantain its course , where that hired on captain panicked and turned what looks like right into that sonic, like i said, sorry for your loss but i dont think that comment was needed, what if it was you in that sonic, i know it could have happend to me, you never know what someone else is thinking

I, too, am sorry for your loss. Please remember there were no "winners" in this event. I agree that those innocent people should not have died that tragic night and so does Stan Cameron.

First of all, let's talk about speed. I don't believe that speed would have been MENTIONED had Stan's boat been anything other than a loud, "Cigarette" boat. I was on poker runs with this man and I swear to you this is not somebody who takes chances EVEN DURING THE LIGHT OF DAY. There was no reason to speed excessively under the conditions that night. He was definitely on plane, but there was nothing he could have done to avoid contact when the Tiara coming toward him, also on plane, suddenly turned directly into his path. The physical evidence confirms this, but the jury was convinced that Stan was at fault completely. I was shocked that Stan's defense attorney did not stress more strongly that the prosecutions own experts agreed with the physical evidence.

Second, Stan's demeanor during the trial. The media loved portraying Stan as an arrogant, non-repentive, wealthy, playboy by digging up his past and presenting it in a negative way. Remember, Stan himself was nearly killed in the accident. The responding officers found him unconscious under the steering wheel with massive head injuries. He was in a coma and when he awoke he had no recollection of any of it. If Stan Cameron's death would bring back those 6 people, he would do it in a New York second.

The people who testified against Stan live on the ICW and want ALL boating to stop near their houses. They are like the people who build next to the airport and later complain about the noise. These people had a field day with their own agenda being in the headlines.

You are getting better than your wish as far as Stan Cameron suffering.

Not to be a nitpicker, Matt, but the Tiara was southbound and the Sonic was northbound heading back to Stan's residence across from Shooters.

Also, I think someone else was driving when the impact happened. Judging by the underwater photos of the bodies in the Tiara, the captain was down in the cabin.