Wreck at Lake Cumberland
 

Does anyone know of the conditions of the driver and passenger

I belive this wreck took place on Saturday.
The boat was a Cat 30-36 ,maybe Spectre or a Skater (custom paint job, very very nice.

I was at the lake on Sat and Sun.
I saw this boat run several times that day.
The boat was running very strong and stable. I remember thinking to myself, now that is bad as hell.

Some people were saying that it stuffed a wave from a large
cruiser,flipping the boat and ejecting the driver and passenger.

People were saying the lady passenger broke her back in some way. The driver aparently is going to be OK. (this is information is from people who say they saw the after math of the wreck, minutes later ) So I do not know how accurate this information is.

I do know the boat is wreck it was pull off in a cove with the sponses sticking out of the water ,on early afternoon Sunday. By late Sunday they had the air bagges going and pumps a pumping.

I hope everyone makes a full recovery and can keep on boating.

I was wanting my next boat to be a CAT 25'-28',but maybe I will stick with the old V bottom stepped of course

Nobudget

just where on the lake did this happen??????? bill

Somewhere close to Connley Bottoms
If you were going to Connley from Jamestown it would be on your left may be 2 or 3 miles before Connley. I do not know that end of the lake very well. We drove past it one time and did'nt even see it. Sorry I could'nt be more accurate.

No Budget

thanks no budget; we stay on the dam end of the lake and we did not hear anything about this wreck!!we did see a fast multi-colored cat on saterday racing the predator cat in front of jamestown; boy was he fast. just ask larry the owner of predator. bill

From what I have been told both the driver and passenger will be okay, thankfully.

First let me say I know little about cats, but boat on Cumberland annually. I can not imagine any lake wake being so big to crash a boat of that size.

I would like to hear more.

I sure hope our two boating friends are fine.
Bryan

I agree with Bryan,Their has to be alot more to that story.Those cats could easily rollover that wake,but even then u know how close he would have to be to the transom of that yaht to take on a wave of that size.

Cat Crash @ Cumberland
 

The boat that crashed was a 36' Spectra Cat w/twin 900 hp Chief motors. The owner is Courtney Motor Sports from Lexington Ky. I was not there, however, heard the boat stuffed and rolled going only 70 mph. I know the owner, very experienced high performance boat driver. Takes the boat to Key West from Miami several times a year. Something must have happened to the boat. Heard the passenger does have a broken back.

Wreak at Lake Cumberland
 

Wild Willy,
The owner of The Predator is Charlie. 50' NorTech cat w/ twin 1000 hp NorTech supercharged motors. Boat absolutely rocks!!!

Best wishes to our boating friends. I have talked to owners many times and run with(behind them) at many pokerruns.

Can someone confirm whether or not it was the owners in the boat?

thanks
rbtnt

rbtnt
ed and lou where in the boat i heard they are both alright
the boat barrel rolled it didn't stuff

khadley,

thanks for the info and glad to hear they are okay.

rbtnt

The good news is everyone will be OK.

We weren'tactually there when it happened, but we were with Ed & Lou immediately after. Lou does not have a broken back as originally thought. Lou has a fracture and compression of # vertibrae in her back - she is home already and recovering. Both are a little bruised up, but should be OK. Talked to Ed quite a bit about what happened. They were experimenting with the tunnel tab around 60-70 mph. The tunnel tab was all the way down and the boat caught a wave, turned and rolled over. Ed tried to pull out of the throttles, but it was too late. He said it rolled over so quick there was nothing he could do. Ed thinks the tab switch may have shorted or was stuck. Skinny (Hilltop marine), Mark Parker and Les Collins and the retrieval company did a great job of getting the boat right side up and towed back to Jamestown with minimal damage. We loaded the boat up on the trailer and sent it to Hilltop Marine. Interestingly, the bilge pumps were still running the next day and were able to pump the boat out once it was right side up.

Glad they are fine.

What is a tunnel tab?

B

I'm glad to hear everyone is alright and home safe.

I have an advantage, no tabs, everyone thinks every v should have them. In 3 seasons I've never felt I needed tabs. It's just a different bottom design, and it doesnt need tabs for some reason, dont ask me why, it's just how it is. I've been in and driven tons of offshores, and always use the tabs. I cant really explain, but when they put tabs on them it just slows them down and doesnt do anything for the ride. I've talked to the factory about it plenty, the people that insist on having them find they dont use them. Figure that one out, cuz they are absolutely nessescary on most conventional V's??

I'm surprised that the tunnel tab has any effect at 60-70mph, I didn't think a big cat starts packing air until higher speeds. I'm not a cat guy , just curious.

A tunnel tab can have an effect at "lower" speeds, especially if it's down & catches a large "gulp" of water through the tunnel. This could feasibly cause a stern lift and a bow steer situation. All IMHO of course.

I remember T2X making a comment (on OSO) about tunnel tabs potentially causing something like that: depending on conditions.

I found T2X's comment in response to this question:
"Then could a tunnel tab have the same "trip" effect?"

T2X:
"Yup....gotta really know your stuff before you mess with a tunnel tab."

I saw Bob Leach's race boat at the factory (Eliminator) and spent some time checking out his tunnel tab. Looks like a big solid swim platform with hydraulics; maybe 3’ wide. Bob told me it works like regular tabs, except at speed its deflecting mainly air, so doesn’t scrub nearly as much speed. I believe it was last fall; he was leading a race when the tunnel tab stuck in the down position in a turn. He was able to finish the race, but it slowed him down considerably and he fell out of first place. The only way I could think that a tunnel tab would make you roll would be if one of the hydraulic pumps malfunctioned and the thing went cockeyed. But hell, I’m guessing there are two hydraulic pumps.

Hey Jerry May. I know your lurking out there. This would be a good time to jump in, introduce yourself, and offer an opinion.

I saw this boat a couple times Saturday, Glad to hear all are OK and damage to boaters and boat was minimal. Also nice to hear Skinny and others helped out - that's what boating is all about.;)

i am glad ed and his wife are alright. i told him to be careful trying to get the feel of the bost with the tunnel flap. i just hop that he tunes it at lake x next time so that someone doesnt get killed. i know what happens when it gets out of shape but i guess i was lucky when i tore my tunnel flap off. i hope he gets back im the water soon see ya charlie amann:cool: