Man O Man to see this pop back up is interesting

I have the utmost respect for Stu & Jackie They have always been the leaders in this sport and I hope things can change. Boats change, technology changes, speed changes,the players keep changing, and it is time that poker runs change (they already have changed some) Keep up the great job FPC

Some great ideas and discussion have been coming up on the now closed thread. Let's continue the conversation about improving safety and saving lives. It's just too important. Bob The Builder.....C_Spray......repost your ideas and suggestions here I guess.

How about a “pace helicopter” for the extreme class of poker runners?

Having participated in poker runs for over 20 years and in recent years being involved as an organizer ( FMO ), I know how much fun they can be and how much enjoyment I have experienced with my offshore boats and friends. This week I have been giving a lot of thought to this sport that we all love and want see safe for participants and spectators alike. I have watched every video of the run that everyone is talking about and here is what struck me. In the video that shows the pace boat leading the group for several minutes before the flag was dropped, they seemed to be running at a nice clip and all was pretty orderly. Nothing unsafe about that and seemed like a good start with everything under control with the boats finding there lane as best I could see from that video perspective. As soon as the flag dropped, it was balls to the wall and the drag race was on for the first card stop. No control, and it was every man to himself. Actually this is pretty well the way it is on most of the many runs I have attended so from that standpoint, is no different. So how do we get some badly needed control back into these events? I will float this idea and you guys can embrace it, suggest ways to improve it or tell me I’m nuts. LOL What I am about to suggest is for events that take place on rivers / lakes, enclosed waterways with lots of spectator boats and may not necessarily apply on the open waters of the Great Lakes, Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf of Mexico where there is lots of room for everyone and where I thought “offshore boats” belong.

I’m told an R-44 will fly up to approximately 150 MPH. Have an educated observer who would be a seasoned, safety conscious poker runner or racer in the helicopter ( lets call him the “ safety officer “). His sole job is to watch the waters ahead, instructing the pilot a safe speed and coarse he should maintain given the conditions on the waters below. Not a photography heli ( sorry Jay ), but only a designated pace / safety heli. Under no circumstances are the boats allowed to pass the pace helicopter at any time during the run. Disqualification and bannishment would be appropriate for anyone violating the rule. ( Organizers need to get tougher on enforcement ). If the waters are open ahead as observed by the safety officer and instructs the pilot to fly say 100 / 120 / 140? mph or whatever speed is determined to be safe, that is the maximum speed the poker run fleet can run. Lets say the safety officer sees a boat(s) in the the middle of the coarse ahead, he then instructs the pilot to slow to a safe speed and the poker run fleet is required to slow accordingly untill past the hazard. The situation could even call for a complete stop, but stop they would. Once past the area of concern, the heli and following poker run fleet resume a safe operating speed. The safety officer could then radio patrol boats to deal with the stray boat(s) prior to the start of the next group of boats in the poker run.

I expect the fastest cat owners will not embrace my idea as it puts restrictions on their speed and to them I would suggest there is always the open waters of the Great Lakes, Altantic, Pacific, Gulf and various shootouts which may be more appropriate waters to run their extreme class of boats.

We have heard of calls to have safety helicopters follow the fleet but in my opinion that is too late. Lets put one of them up front and get some control back into this sport that we want to see continue in a safe way for all concerned. Just an idea that may be worth exploring.

Bob

Interesting and creative idea Bob,

Could easly attach a three (or more)color light system under the copter that designates somthing liek GREEN - all ok, Yellow -Caution slow and look for hazard ahead, Red - Back down to idle. Or some combination of colors and what they designate.


The resistance will come from two areas First from the super fast guys who do not want to be told how fast to run and Second from the promotors to pay another $500 to $700 per hour for another copter.

I like the idea (or some form of it) but i am afraid egos and economics will keep it from deing done

I have been looking at those great shots Jay is putting up with what looks like thousands of boats.

How many boats traditionally run in that event ??
How many registered this year ?

This post hits on a key concept for me. Stu and Jackie and the FPC, If you have ever sat in on one of STUs FPC Captians meetings, you gain an instant respect for the man, That meeting is well organized, he brings it down to a personal level, sites personal experiences of other members on past poker runs, and how to avoid trouble in the current one, because he commands respect, I feel the members new and old go out of their way to be just a little bit more responsible on the water. This is not to say other organizers are not doing just as good of a job. However if we could focus on the subject matter at all captains meetings for these events and also get advice from those who have the most experience when preparing for that meeting, I believe it could help make our future poker runs a bit more safe. If a well executed Captians meeting could save just 1 life, it is well worth it.

"Combining the raw fury of over 150 of the country’s meanest & fastest powerboats " That is from the first paragraph on the Lake Cumberland P.R. website.
They as a promoter need to take a significant portion of the blame for the tragedy in their event. They promote speed yet they obviously didn't provide the proper course security that may have prevented a situation that led to the accident. You cannot promote an event KNOWING you'll have boats entered capable of speeds well in excess of 100mph and blindly take a out of sight, out of mind approach assuming someone else ( USCG, local law enforcement, DNR, fish and game etc) will provide course security and turn these boats loose. Additionally the physical venue itself may be obsolete for some of these runs knowing the spectator fleet size and boat speeds are not compatible.

I like Bob's idea except it may further stoke the owners ego knowing they really do have a clear course for a RACE once given the green light and possibly the situation along the route may change once the big boats pass and a huge field is following at reduced but still high speeds.

The cost will need to be spread amongst all the boats in the "extreme class". I do not now how many were in that group at last weekends event but I'm sure there were more than a dozen maybe twice that. I think that the cost is cheap when considering all that is at stake. When canopied poker run boats started appearing on the scene a few years ago there were calls for them to each personally hire a helicopter to follow their boat along. It never happened and was probably cost prohibitive.

BTB

This is very true... Stu and Jackie have always done a good job in their meetings before the run... I have done countless FPC runs, as well as others, and I'll say that FPC has always pushed safety hardest.... Yes, there needs more enforcement on the rules. I personally miss a good deal of captains meetings because I am always "working"... But, as I think about it, maybe even though you enter, you can't run if you don't attend the captains meeting... Don't tell me that this is the case, because I can tell you that it's not always the case...

Bob's idea on the pace copter is very good... I'm with you on this one... Look at boat racing... the copters identify cautions for the competitors....

Operator error and negligence is always a huge factor.... Egos and unqualified, uneducated, or mis-educated operators are another.... And, some things are just outside our control and bad things can happen.

Speed is certainly a factor. I often get heckled for backing out of the throttle.....but I have always erred on the side of safety in the way I run boats. You need to know when to say when...


Please be safe out there.

FPC already charges a Safety Fee, and it is scaled by speed class....
Oh, and Stu has a speed cut off for boats with people in the back seat... I think that is a huge factor there.... How about that video of the girl in the back seat of the Pace Boat at Lake Cumberland??? My honest opinion was they were running too hard for her to be in the boat. (she was very concerned with loosing her hat). The two guys up front had no trouble at all and had good communication...but they could have ejected her and possibly wouldn't even have known it.