Have not had a chance to read this whole thread yet and just found out about this tragedy last night at my local club meeting and I think all that can be said is that at the end of the day fingers can be pointed in a hundred directions but all that matters is two people lost there life's. my thoughts and prayers go out to there family's and may the lost rest in peace

Watching the fly by videos all I can think of is somebodies kid diving off the bow into the water or popping up out of the water right in front of those cats.
We have the video of the crash showing a cruiser type crossing in front and everyone saying the green boat was trying to give it room then another video of the same boat running right by spectators.
A few years ago I was running down the coast in my center console fishing boat at about 40mph when from behind we were overtaken by a fleet of poker run boats. I had no idea there were coming, no idea there was a poker run. Many of the boats came with a stones throw of us. Watched as they blew right by boats that were anchored and fishing. God forbid any of the had divers down. The area is one of the most popular dive spots on the west coast. No way you would see a dive flag at high speeds.

We can look at the videos a million times and be upset on how close certain boats got to the spectator fleet. I agree 100%

But......

What I'm trying to understand is this.... Did Jeff cut across the lead boat that close to find good water? Did he not think his boat would climb the roost like cats do, or in the heat of the moment did he just not think about it? Did the lead boat not see Jeff's boat that close behind and cut him off by accident?

I'm trying to understand why he cut across so close...because in doing so, that sealed their fate.

God Bless them and their family's

They have delayed/cancelled boat races due to manatee/turtle sightings and that is just marinelife!.......If a spectator got injured/killed at LC PR the media would be wound up like Al Sharpton at a Trayvon rally! What could be seen as an accident would end up being criminal charges for the go fast operator (reckless endangerment etc). How would those flyby videos look to a jury?

Odd part is Lake Lanier just had a run of this size........nobody got hurt/killed , no videos posted of close flybys. FPC has had 20+ years of poker runs, some years had dozens of poker runs each year and not one fatality of a participant. Seems like some runs are being kept in check while others are mayhem.

Did those boats go between the two sitting craft. If so, that was beyond stupid and wreckless. One hydrodynamic miscalculation and they wipe out 1 or more families.

Haven't had time to read this thread which seems like a good healthy discussion on PR safety. Rules and policies can be instituted. Fact remains, your getting into an aquatic rocket ship and testing the limits. Even the most experienced operators can run into trouble.

Years ago there was a discussion about adding (or requiring) high performance boats have 5-point restraint systems. Responses focused around using them in canopied boats but not open cockpit. Why, you may ask? People preferred the ability to fly clear of the boat if it rolled.

Personally, I would rather be strapped into anything going that fast. If it doesn't have a canopy, then it'll make it easier to swim away once the boat settles. (Hint: convertible cars still must have seatbelts.)

If you watch both videos of the wreck you will see why he cut across. In one video you can see a cruiser crossing the channel in front of PP and Jeff. This boat is going left to right for them and I belief Jeff knew he was on a direct collision course with them. In the other video you can see a different Cruiser parked off to Jeff's right waiting for the run. I believe this didn't allow them to move right to avoid hitting the boat crossing the channel so their only choice to avoid both boats was to try and slow and cross behind PP.
This is only my opinion after talking with many and watching the videos hundreds of times.
It is really crazy how the parked cruiser and the cruiser crossing the channel never show up in the same video but are obvious in each video.

Sure, if what your looking for is for the transom to be yanked off and the boat to sink to the bottom, not to mention the injuries or worse that the occupants would suffer from being slammed forward when the device deploys.

This may cause a $hit storm but in the close fly by you can hear one of the folks on the film say what is that boat doing out there? There was a craft in the course that was under power and the drivers of the boats had to make a decision on how to handle it. I know in my scarab sport that does 60 downhill with a tail wind that at wot I cannot make sudden throttle or steering changes without losing some control of my boat. I can only guess that same theory is 100 times more important in these high performance boats. It looks to me that they dealt with the situation they where handed and did that move to avoid a problem instead of being arrogant about their boats and the safety of the folks around. Was it too close for comfort - Yes. In hind sight would they have had a course that required them to shoot that gap - I doubt it. But I do not think those two boats could have made a course adjustment towards the center of the water without the potential for a much worse result.

Getting back to the spirit of glass Dave's original post - the Monday morning quarterbacking is not helping anyone. This is about seeing the situations develop, learning from them and making adjustments to enhance both the safety and experience everyone gets from these runs. You can beat me up here but how many of you will actually get engaged locally or nationally to make a change.
If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. Quit complaining and do something - volunteer for a committee, as a course boat or do anything. We all benefit from positive publicity and lose with negative publicity. Give up the arm chair boating and contribute something positive.

But you can come back in 60 minutes and pick up your transom!