All disagreements aside, this boat is NOT ready to be released to the public if the owner of the company rolled it during testing. Whether is is trim tab, a slippery bottom, a rough wave(9:30 AM?), or just pushing the boat to its limits, there is obviously still some safety issues that need to be ironed out first.

Was Golddigger ready as the first cat?

Don't know if wave or tabs but here is a story!Marina wired trim switch backwards small big single powered boat after I forgot@65+mph I hit it and bow steered almost crashed and rolled just lucky that day??The fast 29' boats with singles are a hand full:duel:Going fast over 70 mph even slowing down you need a lot of seat time not for novice:whistle:PS You run out of hull then it's up to you to get the boat right:party-smiley-004:

You have an interesting point. I think you've mentioned before you were an attorney. Where is the line drawn between defect, driver error and caveat emptor? Since these are boats and not cars isnt there a difference?

Im not up on the OL line of production boats, but did Golddigger ever roll or spin out during testing? Was there ever any safety concerns about that boat?.... I dont know. Ive never personally heard ANY reports, all positve feed back actually.

That is a great question, unforntunately I am going to give you a wishy-washy bulls*t answer which is "it depends." There are so many factors to consider when drawing the distinction between driver error, product defect (manufacture defect, design defect, or failure to warn), and the buyer beware caveat you mention, that there may not be one best answer or any brightline answer.

I do not handle personal injury or products liability. E-mail if you have any questions, not sure if I can help, but to give and accurate answer I would be typing for the next hour.

Stephen

Golddigger's issues were all related to owner supplied power. This 29 incident was related to a mechanical failure / faulty indicater, the boat runs extremely well, and unfortunately did what any boat (as many on here have attested) will do when a tab is malfunctioning.

Keep testing, get it all sorted out. That is one nice looking boat, and I am have confidence in your company it will be (and probably is already) fast and safe.

Wait? You are an attorney and you are going to give me a "Wishy-Washy answer"? Really? (kidding of course)

Just find it odd, if it were a vehicle, you could sue the manufacturer. In the world of high performance boats (especially anything that goes 100+) I would assume every court in the country would consider this a specialty "racing" type vehicle just as it said in the news release "racing boat". Therefore, you are on your own if you flip it, crash it, run somebody over... I would assume every speed boat that goes over 70+ mph vaguely falls into the "Experimental Aircraft" kind of thing and if you want to push the limits - go ahead, but you are on your own.

A faulty indicator is not a mechanical failure IMO. That being said things happen quickly out there when running these speeds. Most boats will get "out of shape" when pushed hard using the wrong trim and tab settings and it's not the fault of the boat.

Accidents happen, that's why they're called accidents. I'm just glad no one was hurt.