Anyone ever flipped their cat?
 

I was in Havasu this weekend. Myself and 1 passenger headed toward the sandbar. Traveling approx 60-65 mph into a 15mph headwind. There were two boats in front of me that were next to each other. As far as I can remember their 2 wakes came together to form a 2+ foot roller, at the same time this roller formed I had decided to pass on the left. The combination of speed+wake+wind launched the boat into the air. It felt like the nose was pointed at 12:00. There was enough hang time to actually think about what was happening. The engine did not rev up like the back was out of the water but it did feel like it was going over and the back hit the water then pushing the nose back down. When the nose came back down it was a rough hit but we seemed to still be going at least 35mph. Needless to say I **** myself and felt like an idiot. Once we got to the sandbar the boat that was next to us stopped and said the nose was indeed at 12:00. This was a definite wake up call. Just thought I would share.

Yikes.!!!!!! just glad you didn't see 12:30

There is a member on here that recently flipped his 24 Skater. I'll let him give you the details if he wants.

12:00?
 

Did it look like this?

Go big...or go home...

A friend of mine had a similar incident with a 21' Eliminator. He had a full boat and hit a wake at to high of speed and it almost went over. They said it started going over backwards but then the motor came back in the water and brought the nose of the boat back around. Thank good they were all okay. just some burses and some very unhappy passengers. Because of this incident my wife band me from buying the boat.

Did that once with my Glastron at about 75 mph-- very scary. Came down soft though. Other guy told me that the engine was about 4 foot off the water.

Havasu Hangin great video. who taught that guy how to trim out a boat.

like they say...............loose is fast , noting like being on the edge.

No kidding...don't want to be swimming in that gene pool...
 

From the Talon driver's "school of trimming" manual:

1. No safety gear, because a helmet and/or vest may impede your trim finger.
2. Bury the stick(s) at first opportunity.
3. Bring the nose up until you lose sight of the horizon.

and finally...

4. Retract the landing gear.

What software is needed to play the Talon movie?

A Quick Time .mov...it's 1.7MB...so be patient while it loads...my DSL took a minute or two...

oh my gosh - I just wrote a masterpiece of boat flipping carnage and excitement and Bill Gates' Windows just threw it out the window. I am dumbfounded. It may be months (or the first good bored spot I hit this week) before I can recreate the wonderfulness of my post...

saddened

M

I stood my previous boat, a Elim. 24' Daytona tunnel, (2x 2.5 EFIs) on it's tail one time, (approx. 85MPH). Fortunately it came back down, BUT caught intially on the port engine, and SNAPPED the mid tower housing and the CLE gearcase from the twist!!:D All this happened, in plain view of the EX, who was on the beach, watching me and crazy buddies!! Man, did I get an ear full when we limped back to the beach!! Another reason she's the EX!! HEE HEE!:D
Be careful, too big of an air pack, combine with a sudden increase in bow attitude, = POOPY PANTS!!:cool:

I used to have a 19' STV with a warmed over 200 Evenirude that ran low to mid 90's. It never got too scary for me, but I new the potential was there.

Anyway, the guy that bought it from me flipped it over backwards. The hull was so damaged it was never repaired and he borke his pelvis, shoulder, etc. Never heard if he got another fast boat or not.:eek:

jb,
I had the guy that I sold the Elim. to, sign a release of liability form, just in case he HURT himself in the boat!
MD :cool:

No and I don't plan on it, I hope!:rolleyes: :D

Never flipped, but we did trip and stuff pretty hard in Key West in '96 at the World's.

Curious: how many of these were outboards? IE: lots of transom weight.

Just quickly and crudely...numbers guesstimates.

32' cat cg (center of moment) 12' from transom.

Twin outboards 475 x 2 x 12' = 11,400 lb.- ft.

Twin efi's 1100 x 2 x 5' = 11,000 lb. - ft.

Effective transom weight the same. In actuality, if you separated the engines and the drives the effective transom weight for the inboards would be greater. When you are flying...this is the force you need to counteract to fly level. Bigger cats, less of a problem as the engines stay relatively in the same place and more boat is forward..

Ted

I barrel rolled my 24 Skater 2 days before New Years. There were 4 of us in the boat two were relatively uninjured and 2 went to the hospital. I hooked and bow steered at about 90. Threw us all out but landed right side up. I don't want to do it again. I think it would be very tough to blow a boat over backwards at slow speeds like that. Alot of boats do that same thing when going over big wakes. I am more worried about hooking or stuffing on the landing than flipping over backwards. JUST MY 2c

Ryan: Is CarbonChris going
to repair your boat???
Im ShrinkWraping HIS boat
this Sat.
Mike J.

the only thing that i remember about wrecking my 27 eliminator daytona was that when it was in the air it gets real quiet before it hits the water:D

Having backflipped in a tunnels a time or three, there are two words that go through your mind when flipping over backwards...... If you don't know the 2 words........you haven't been there.

As far as cats go........generally speaking..... you probably need at least 110 mph to get a cat over 30 feet to go over backwards...100mph for 26-29 feet......and at least 80mph to blow one over between 21 and 25 feet. Barrel rolls, on the other hand can occur any where over 60 mph........45 if you're "spinning in" and have a heavy nose. A few years ago, one of the F-3 "California Cats" ran in the World's at St Pete. Every time it made the "Pier" turn it rolled way outboard...... (spinning in and nose heavy)....it was screaming (to me anyway)...."I'm going to go over"....and it did...at about 55 mph. It hurt one of the guys on board pretty badly as I recall .......no canopy....but one of those great graphics jobs.......It's a California thing.....$50,000 for paint...... $0.00 for safety.

Be careful out there............water is very mean at speed. For a truly informative example, try this experiment. Look over your boats transom at 25 mph. Try putting your hand down into the water and holding it there. Imagine what would happen at 50-100 mph. Now imagine that actually happening when you're upside down, skimming on your deck, with your body sticking up out of a bolster. ..........

Scary, aint it? Now you understand the reason why canopies are so important.....and why the Factory classes are the most potentially lethal in boat racing...... But, they're the ones with all the sponsoring boat builders....so ....safety can wait until "soon"............."again".

T2x

T2x,

Funny you mention that incident in St. Pete...We were just discussing that yesterday. I remember that well, as I too saw it coming from three laps prior...I remember that boat teeter-tottering with every pass around that turn. Finally, it happened. It was Thursday's race as I recall.

I know what you mean!!!
 

In my younger days I used to do a lot of barefoot water skiing. I did many 42 MPH face plants and it does hurt. I always wore a protective wetsuit which helped take some of the sting out of the fall. I can't imagine hitting the water at 100 MPH, especially without wearing some protective gear. I still think it is a hell of a lot safer than a motor cycle or some of the other land sports that people are doing these days. :D Go fast and be careful!!!