Originally Posted by phragle (Post 2676963)

if your going 150 mph, whether it be to a card stop or the local sand bar,in anything other than a sactioned closed course race..and you hit another boat..who's fault is it??

Originally Posted by stainless (Post 2676971)

These boats need room to run if people want to spectate fine however they need to be kept back.

Originally Posted by phragle (Post 2676977)

They are..at a race..on a closed course with patrol boats..poker runs are held on open public bodies of water, a guy in an 8' rowboat has just as much right to be there as you do.

Originally Posted by Trippin (Post 2676884)

The unfortunate part of all of this is that somewhere in the larger scheme of things I feel that with further planning and better organization incidences like this could have a better chance at being avoided. My reasons are this:

In my opinion there were far to many boats on the lake. I know trying to restrict the number of boats that actually gain access to the lake would be difficult, but when local county and or city administrators can close a public park to the public for a private party then they damn well have the power to restrict access to this body of water. It shouldn't be to hard to do given the limited number of entry points on the lake. The start of the run was delayed, which gave every other boater in the vicinity of the lake the opportunity to get on it to watch and possibly contribute to or create a hazardous situation.

I am not saying that someone caused this tragic accident either accidentally or deliberately, but just the shear number of vessels on the water could cause serious distraction to any of the participants of this event, and as most of us know going over 100mph in a boat requires the utmost in concentration, ability and faith in your equipment.

I am not criticizing anyone or anything in particular and I'm quite sure that Kevin possessed every quality necessary to operate his craft at whatever speed it was capable of attaining. I'm sure his loss will be remembered for quite sometime, and I feel for his immediate family and those who knew him best. I did not know Kevin.

I am certain of one thing, in my opinion the Poker Run coordinators need to pay more attention to organization, group sequencing, time strategy and most importantly of all working with local and state officials to somehow limit the ability of non-participants to influence the direction of the course. We all know that a Poker Run is "not a race" but by the same token going fast or as fast as we possibly can with other owners in a like category is just part of the Poker Run adventure.

I really don't think it would be impossible to heavily restrict access to this lake for 6 hours one day a year. This is the same reason I won't run in an organized event on Lake Lanier, the opportunity for disaster is just to..... Opportune.

As I stated earlier my heartfelt condolences go out to all of those involved and who knew Kevin best.

RIP

Originally Posted by rbr2328 (Post 2676996)

I seem to remember an article in one of the magazine where the owner was married and the wife had decided to keep Pammy on the deck, however I read Kevin was not married. Was that a previous owner?

Originally Posted by stainless (Post 2676982)

I'll wait for the helo video