glassdave

iTrader: (1)

worst starts i have ever had were in KW. Not sure if its the short time/distance from milling to leaving the harbor and getting the green or what but yeah those starts are a mo-fo . . . .


Watching the vids and actually being in one of those starts are two vastly different perspectives. It gets nuts . . . . fast lol. Boats start to get up on plane just out of the harbor turn where there's a little more room then it kinda pinches in at that buoy then opens back up out to the ocean. Lets not forget very limited visibility as you start to level off and if your lucky you dont have a bunch of spray that has yet to clear off the canopy screen . . . . . oh yeah baby! the starts were actually always my favorite part. Were all still close together for a lap or so

Mike A.

Sorry ICU Looking, there is no way to conclude anything from this photograph, other than the Fountain and CMS collided. The photo also suggests that the three boats were on totally different lines. In fact, you can see that the outside chine of the port sponson on A&A is in contact with the water which suggests it was turning to starboard.

To know what happened you would need onboard video from the three boats. Video from inside the cockpit of CMS would give the best perspective. My best guess is that there was a clear hole between the Fountain and A&A, CMS attempted to charge through it at a much higher rate of speed to get to the pace boat, the A&A crew unwittingly closed the hole by drifting over to their right without checking their mirrors, they hit, and knocked CMS into the Fountain.

At the end of the day, the fault lies with the starter. You cannot throw the green before all of the boats are on the line, especially if there is a huge disparity between the top speeds and acceleration rates of the boats in the start. Just think about it. The pace boat takes off and throws the green right away before all the boats are in line - which it did. You have a top team in CMS that can accelerate to 150mph in the blink of an eye and they pour the coals to the motors to catch up to the other boats. They pick a line between A&A and the Fountain and go. At first there is plenty of room, but suddenly A&A moves over, perhaps to avoid the wake of the other CMS, perhaps because they think the old dog leg right leaving the harbor to turn 1 is still there, or maybe just because. Regardless, if they do not check their mirrors, or their spotter does not say anything before moving over, and CMS is already up to speed, then a collision is going to occur. Shoot, there could have been a 20-50 mph speed difference between the boats at the time, and with no brakes a collision would be unavoidable.

Knowing what I know, that scenario seems far more likely than a 12' wide CMS just trying to blast its way through a 10' wide space between two boats just 'cause. Hopefully, tomorrow the starters will be more patient. Let everyone line up before throwing the green.

RELIABLE ONE

There were no boats at fault here,That was the worst start(paceboat) that I have ever seen,the starter was terrible at starting that race like Mike A said the starter should have not let them go until the were all lined up! ALL RACERS should get a fair start

RELIABLE ONE

They regrouped and got the start right for the supercats which was the next race

mickeymcclgn

iTrader: (1)

In the words of Ricky Bobby

phragle

iTrader: (3)

Ramming Speed!!!!!!!!!!

hogie roll

Lol

ILMORdude

Seems relatively simple with a moving starting line! Don't throw the damn flag if the boats aren't close. How are the lanes picked?

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Sorry mike a at the end of the day as someone alluded to earlier the rules of the road apply.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=navRulesContent

Particularly rule 13. Overtaking another vessel. There are a series of photos which clearly show the cms boat coming from the rear and that instantly puts him at fault unless one of the other vessels made an obvious course change which by trailing wake didn't happen. So no I don't need on board vids and what not else.

I have not raced and would love too but I do know a little something about boats and colregs.

Mike A.

LOL. Uh, federal rules of the road do not apply to offshore powerboat racing, number one. Number two, where are the "series of photographs" you refer to because they would be helpful. Number three, you might not want to see the video to draw your conclusions but anyone truly wanting to know what happened would definitely want to as video would be THE best evidence. Because as you acknowledge, if one of the other two boats made a drastic course change then that crew is at least partially at fault. Good discussion though.