The biggest LOSS being a loss of life regardless of whose fault, who paid what & or was awarded what!!
Anyone here willing to trade a life of a family member to avoid paying legal fees or in exchange for a settlement??

Inlaws & or Ex's are ineligible as a response to the above question :party-smiley-004:

Have a great day Gent's I got work to do!

Half a brain? ! That explains the lack of reason in your posts. Is it painful, or just painful to others?

:silenced:

Not at all. It's quite amusing reading all the remarks all you people have to say about my jack ass comments. Keep them coming. I laughed all the way to work this morning. Thanks.

Little things amuse little minds.....carry on

That's it? Never miss the little thing in life. Some people take them for granted.

Still trying to understand where the victory is? Page was vindicated? Ok fine, there were a couple of boobs here that were accusing him of bailing who had no idea what happened in that boat, most of us could read through that ignorance.

But what's going to happen to SBI and safety standards? Nothing? Something? Same 'ol same 'ol? Still looking for a victory outside of the monetary settlement.

Perhaps the Victory in some people's eyes is that SBI can continue status quo and not have to admit to any wrong doing or liability ? Most likely won't change a thing because people may think that is an admission of guilt.

We all know there is always room for improvement no matter what the type of racing it is.

Another story came out today:

http://keysnews.com/node/62584



.

Maybe Webster's should take the words "accident" and "self-reliance" out of the dictionary since it seems like there is no such thing anymore. It's always someone else's fault.

So at the end of the day the lawsuit was about one thing M O N E Y!!! If it was about change in the sport there would have been some mention on what will be different. If things are status quo then it must come down to MONEY. How does this make the family get closure? I will keep my eye out to see if the lawyers or the family provide a donation to help fund better safety crews at boat races. My guess is they will pocket the money and move on. Sad day indeed

Marc you probably know as much as anyone regarding "powerboating gone wrong lawsuits" and while no dollar amount will bring back the dead it comes down to accountability. I didn't know Joey, I never even saw his raceboat but the nonsense of taking 9 minutes to get him out and the guy drowning in a preventable situation is bull$h!t!

The 2nd lawsuit pending might be a harder sell if the flip killed the two racers.......like broken neck type injury. Not sure anyone could have saved anyone in that situation.

I would like to know why his air ran out in nine minutes!

Before everybody goes crazy, Nine min is too long for a rescue but why did the air run out?

Getting charged money is punishment, that's the idea. It's up to the defendant/offender whether he wants to improve conditions or continue down the same path. Pretty simple concept.

Where did you read his safety air ran out? Not picking, just wondered if that was from a transcript somewhere, or a general assumption.

A valid question none the less. Suggest the details regarding this small part be researched further by anyone armchair quarterbacking... There is several safety lessons to be learned from this event I've seen. Would best honor the man to embrace and understand exactly what, where, and why, so everyone can learn from it and consider changes. The legal part is over, it could be examined openly, start to finish, without the lawyers now...

-K

It's also about lawyers making MONEY.

For anyone that is unfamiliar with what it could be like to roll upside down in a canopy race boat, Richie's description will put chills down your spine... I would think it may not have been much different for Steve Page.

Note: It was JT that stopped his own race boat and jumped into the water to try and help rescue the crew as the divers had not arrived yet.

Unfortunately Tom Gentry never recovered from his injuries from that day. :( God bless him...

http://www.biggerhammer.net/offshore...st/powers.html




Photo and Article By Andy Newman
KEY WEST - Despite a close brush with death at last November's world championship, Hollywood resident Richie Powers is prepared to return to the world of high-speed, bone-jarring offshore powerboat racing.

Actually, Powers was ready seven months ago at the beginning of the 1995 racing year. But as the season-ending, Key West World Championship is taking place this week, he has yet to find the right racing team needing a veteran throttleman with 30 years of experience punctuated by seven world championship titles.

Of course, some people might consider Powers insane to come back to the sport that almost took his life on the 10th lap of last year's final championship heat.

With Powers and Honolulu real estate developer Tom Gentry at the helm of Team Gentry, the 40-foot Skater catamaran entered turn #3 in Key West harbor closely following two other boats. Gentry attempted to pass the first, a Japanese entry, to the left but quickly ran out of room. Moving to the right, at the turn, Gentry had to execute a quick left maneuver to maintain course. As the boat came around, it hooked and flipped over, submerging both men.

"It was an extremely panicky situation," Powers, 49, remembered. "When that thing went over, there was no oxygen. It was just instant submersion.

"It's like one minute you're walking, breathing, talking and the next thing you're under water and didn't even have a chance to gasp for breath."

Harnessed in his seat, upside-down and disoriented, Powers tried to remain calm and focus on previous training for extradition from enclosed cockpit canopies.

"I opened the hatch, undid my seat belt and that's when all hell broke loose," he said. "The life jacket I was wearing just pinned me to the floor of the boat. So I'm floundering around and got tangled up underneath the dash. Then I got my wits and realized I had to grab some oxygen, because I wasn't going to get out."

Fabricated from the same Lexan molds as Air Force F-16 fighter jet shrouds, many race boats are equipped with canopies to protect against critical injuries in the event of a 100 mph-plus accident. But canopies also can provide significant challenges for crew escape following a roll-over. To help sustain life, most canopy-equipped boats carry emergency oxygen. Gentry's boat had two sources for each crew member including a built-in system with a SCUBA regulator and a small, backup air cylinder.

"I started thinking about Allyson and Samantha, my wife and little girl," Powers recalled. "I grabbed the spare (backup) air, tried to put it in my mouth, but the protective dust cover was still on."

Still floundering, Powers discarded the cylinder and again attempted to get out. But despite the struggle, he could not counteract the life jacket's buoyancy which kept him pinned to the floor of the boat, now above him.

"I had to breathe," he said. "I took one breath of salt water. I thought to myself it's unbelievable, I'm breathing underwater."

With hands and arms flailing, Powers suddenly grabbed an object that felt familiar.

"It's like God handed me the regulator," he said, referring to the breathing apparatus from the boat's permanent air supply. "Thank God, the oxygen was on and everything was working. With the last breath I had, I cleared the regulator and just sat there. Everything was fine."

Soon after, rescue diver Jonathan Nuta came to Powers' aid, helped disconnect lines that fed coolant to his race suit and guided him to the surface.

Powers returned to his hotel, checked out and departed Key West by car. Gentry, 65, was not as fortunate and was taken to Lower Florida Keys Health System hospital. Later he was transferred by air ambulance to Miami's Cedars Medical Center in critical condition.

"I think Tom experienced the same thing I did," said Powers, adding that Gentry did not suffer any impact-oriented injuries. "For some reason, he didn't have the mind to go for the regulator. He tried to get out, but I guess he ran out of time."

Almost a year after the accident, Gentry remains comatose in his home under medical supervision.

READ MORE..........

If possible does anybody have you tube video of accident?

I haven't seen any, but what I did find that was interesting, in 2003 Key West, High Risk Skater rolled. Crew were thrown from the boat. A remarkable response by the divers by air and by sea.
Have a look and see how different this rescue went....
I can't say for sure this was a last lap or the racers seen after the accident just didn't appear to be at racing speeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYMBIZw00Ns

Wow I am so glad that 15 years later ,most modern race boats have canopies .
I cant even imagine that mishap early on in the race ...,with 10 open boats behind you .
I don't even watch open boats 3/4 canopy or not .way too much risk there .especially in big water .

Safety has evolved at least that much anyway . can always be safer for sure.

Sharkey, I believe you and I are somehow circling the same point here.

That dunk tank is available for everyone to practice in. If I raced, I'd be doing it blindfolded, with my feet and hands bound, until I felt comfortable enough to sleep in it submerged... When I dive, I'll swap regulators a dozen times at depth for chitz and giggles It just comes second nature for me now. Last dive in KW I'm setting at 50 ft swapping reg's, guess who appears in front of me flashing the OK signal?

That canopy is there to save lives. Everything that goes along with it should be setup to keep you alive until they cut you out if need be. If not, I'll take my chances skipping across the water and dodging props... Ten minutes might be nothing in a situation where a couple boats get into a hard collision, and you find yourself wrapped up in fiberglass and wires. I think the overall statistics on the canopy's is probably just slightly better than 50/50 right now wouldn't you say?

Diving equipment has advance a good bit since that 1995 article. Full face masks with integrated regulators are affordable, have comm's, and still work if your unconscious. Don't top fuel hyrdro's run a similar setup?

Once again, it's time for the silence to be lifted and let those involved in these messed up situations come to the table and help solve the problems. It's like that in every other motor sport. Look at the HANS device. No one adopted it until Dale senior died, now everyone is wearing them because it saves lives....

-K

How is the Insurance Co. paying out money here punish the SBI ?????

Their new insurance premium will clarify the mystery.

They switched ins co the year after the accident. Can their new ins co raise the rates?

I think some racers don't take the dunk test enough. They should take it every time it's offered. Not only pass the test but feal comfortable in the test. It should be instinct to grab your regulator. Some people get out of the test coughing up water and think that's good enough. When $hit goes bad it goes bad fast! There is no time to think it has to be instinctual.

This is over .

It is NOT a win for anyone .

Plaintiff got some cash .

grudge ended in a stalemate .

safety ? hopefully you guys dictate what you need and get it .

Anyone using these yet? I don't recall seeing any setting around the pits. Why Not?

http://www.garagemotorsports.com/helmet.jpg

http://www.garagemotorsports.com/helmet1.htm

May of 2010 a team was using these:

http://sharkeyimages.zenfolio.com/im...98640419-4.jpg