Szolack withdrawing from Shootout Action
 

Due to the recent passing of 2 more of my very good friends I'm withdrawing from high speed runs. Even though I have no wife or kids I could not put my friends and family through the pain if something happened. My heart and prayers go out to all my fellow boaters families that we lost this year. RIP Garth and Jim

Thank you.

Solid. :(

There were a lot of nervous people after the 220 mph post a couple days ago.

Glad to hear it Ron! The boats are faster than they are safe to run with the horsepower that is available nowadays. On a personal level, I've just recently sent my 30 back to Skater to re-rig it with a pair of 400Rs - I feel I've pushed my luck long enough running a near 160mph 30 footer for the past 12 years. We've lost way too many friends and fellow performance boaters to high speed accidents in the last 15 years, I'm glad to see you pulling back - hopefully others will follow your lead. Godspeed to both Garth and Jim........

I would still do it tomorrow if it was just me. But I have lots of great friends and family that it would affect if something happened.

I agree, most don't realize that to be a business owner with employees, that alone is a commitment..

YOU, know its capable. At the end of the day thats all that matters ! As spock said when I was a youngster, Live long and prosper. :ernaehrung004:

Three flips resulting in eight deaths in a little over three months should be enough to make the entire offshore community stop and reexamine every aspect of the sensibility of running incredible speeds in alleged pleasure boats that are basically airplanes wings that will kill you in a heartbeat if you make one tiny mistake when running at those speeds.

I argument here......bless those that have pass and those whom have not .

Just talking about this and future runs.

I did only one shootout (Texas 2014) and looking back it's nuts. what is risked and what can be lost.....we all love this sport/passion .

I don't want to ever see it die but I get/agree on slowing down what we are doing.

Probably time to stop these forms of events with the frequency of cruel deaths.

Smart man. I'd bet one of the best decisions of your life.

Doesn`t seem like a number and some bragging rights is worth the risk.

Top Fuel shortened their course for safety reasons.

Maybe worth a thought.

You've got my respect for being big enough to make a decision like that. While many people are willing to run the risk for the glory, sometimes there are more important things.

Very Commendable ( And Understandable) Ron, we know you could have done it, We know you Would have done it, But the fine line of doing it is getting so fine and narrow that's a 50/50 between success and failure ( with Failure being the ultimate price) .. we don't need that !! We enjoy you posts, Friendship and new Projects too much (Even though we've never met) I'd rather see you take that beast and race offshore where you could run & average 85-90mph and have a freakin Ball somewhat safely, but not be a 50/50 whether we'd ever hear from you again..... I couldn't disagree with any of Top Tier Fast guys for following suit... We're Not Disappointed, More Like Relieved...

I talked with you this morning about this when it happened. Glad to hear your decision. Plus you will always be a bigger legend for Skaterfest than you would have been for going like 220. ;)

Don't blame you and I hope you have a full life because of it. My wife yells at me for going over 50 MPH. We should remember all of our friends past and present and let the good times roll.

My shoot out boat is available for sale with or without power if anyone is interested. I have a new Skater on order

I can't imagine what it's like to have lost a friend or family to an accident like we have seen so many times this summer. I didnt know any of the folks that have lost their lives of the past summer, but it still upsets me. It seems today's engine technology has far surpassed the technology/ability of the hulls. I applaud you for choosing to no longer compete in high speed shootouts. While I am sure everyone knows the risks involved, it simply just cannot be worth it. Especially when you consider the effect it will have on the ones left behind. I truly hope more, in this sport, reflect on things and realize that the short term rush and bragging rights just simply aren't worth the ultimate price. I am terribly sorry you have lost some of your friends this way, it is truly heartbreaking.

RESPECT. But with that said, you don't really see other motorsports backing down from record breaking top speed runs. My first impression is other motorsports are always trying new life-saving safety designs, equipment and gear. Offshore seems way behind in technology that can help make the boat safer - think Hydroplanes, Drag Boats, they aren't slowing down, but they are a lot safer.

Part of the issue is, the Offshore style of boats were never intended to be the fastest straight-line smooth water boat, they are (were) meant to go from point A, to point B, to point C, D,E and etc. and the best team who could keep the boat together and on course with good navigation, throttle and drive techniques, for the best time on the course, would be the winners. The neutralizer was Mother Nature. Then the boats got bigger, and faster. Then again, even bigger, faster and finally powered by rocket engines. The offshore industry lost their way and tried to evolved into something they were not.

I would like to see some of these teams re-think their love for fast-boating, get back to basics, and experience the thrill of going offshore to the Bahamas and back where it requires a little more talent, driving, and finesse versus flat out drag racing.

And the general public and fans would absolutely support the crap out of these efforts. Keep it simple and have fun.

Many great thoughts in this post, I'm gonna stick my neck out and suggest that we all can be very passionate about high performance boating
and live to tell our friends and family's about it. :-)

Ron……
I always believe that just because an accident hasn’t happened to me, that it can’t happen. And it is better to lose a minute in life than loose a life in a minute.

You are a wise friend, may they RIP

Doc Janssen

Thank you Ron for stepping up, and voicing your concern's. I feel your decision to not take part in these shot-out style run's, will have a major impact with other participant's rethinking the consequences of what can happen. and how many people are truly affected when it goes wrong.
I hope many more follow your decision.

RIP, to all we have lost.

You make a valid point. Offshore machines have developed far past where they are safe at these speeds.. I have never been to a shootout, but my guess is most of the participants are not running race prepared boats. Open canopies, no oxygen, no belts. Even then there is no guarantee. Personally speaking, I get more thrill and satisfaction racing our 70MPH class 6 boat deck to deck with 6-10 others than I would going 100 in a straight line. It is saddening to seethe loss of life over simply going fast.

24 years ago I lost my dad in a hydroplane accident right here in our hometown Detroit. We lost many friends in drag boat racing accidents in the years prior. We all new the risked involved. He offered to stop driving anytime my brothers and I would ask. We all love this sport but things are out of hand. Bragging rights for a number means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I give you a ton of credit Ron and you have my utmost respect!

Ron you're a wise man. We've lost too many friends.

It doesn't even compare on the grand scale of things, but I recently sold my 18' Seebold Eagle mod vp tunnel for the same reason. I bought it to just be a "play toy" when I wasn't using my 42' Fountain. I had a modded 300x that I was going to bolt on the back and it most definitely would have gone 110+ if I had the nuts to hang onto it. The more I thought about my son and my family the more I lost interest. Ten or fifteen years ago the selfish crazy me would have done it in a heartbeat. Glad you had a change of heart for all the right reasons. This quest for speed thing has kinda gotten out of hand lately.

So you're saying that some things will never change; a Skater for sale and another one on order. BTW, you win the prize for building the most beautiful Skater ever built- the gold one. Have yet to see a more gorgeous boat

I hate to see these things happen. I have a 27' cat that I am modifying for top speed.
would a computer controlled wing on the front between the sponsons stop a blowover? You could use a high speed hydraulic system controlled by a computer to control the wing and would engage after the boat reached a certain angle to the direction of travel using a gyroscope as a reference angle.
I watched the video it looked like a clean ejection. If they didn't hit anything inside the boat is it just the impact with the water that does all of the injury? With an open cockpit boat would wearing a large padded life jacket, helmet with neck support have stopped most of the internal injuries?

They had on helmets made for boat use and the best life jackets money could buy. At that speed hitting the water is worse than hitting the concrete.

I'm not getting out of the sport I love. I just won't go 220. I will keep my pleasure boats in the 150 range. I'm Very comfortable running there

It would take some immense engineering to accomplish this. The computer would have to have an incredible process speed and be processing the rate at which the nose is coming up or down and adjust the wing device accordingly. Otherwise, the wing corrections could shove the nose into the water and unload the back of the boat which is going to cause a bad day as well. I'm thinking when the boat goes over a wake or lake chop, the nose naturally comes up and down, if the wing starts making corrections then, it could cause a problem unnecessarily. If you wait for the wing to activate when the nose gets to an extreme angle (like a blowover), the wing correction would have to be very fast and very large, which could cause an equally bad crash. Not impossible, but I can see it being extremely expensive and it's going to take someone with a very in depth knowledge of boat aerodynamics to create.

What he said. The only thing I can think of that might help would be a parachute vest like the drag boats. It would help to slow the impact with the water and maybe help enter the water feet first.

RIP and thoughts are with the families.

i don't think it would be that hard for a good programmer. And I don't think the computer would have to be very expensive. Using a gyro and then with parameters set to engage at a certain up angle and be proportional. So the wing would only make a large correction if it was needed. I think I would rather ride through a stuff rather than a blow over. I think the most expensive part of the system would be the high speed actuator for the wing. I just think that if I could afford a 200+ MPH boat with $100K engines - what would be another $25K

Am I dreaming or was there not some fancy aerodynamics on he hydro model from the Gentry container thread last fall /winter? Really skater can't afford to be recognized as a customer eliminator so this should be at the top of their engineering priority.

Tinkerere, Drive Guardian Mike (Got Freedom) designed what you`re talking about for Quatar. Maybe he can chime in.

I talked to Pete today and he is already coming up with a solution In the form of a parachute that will deploy when the Bow reaches a certain angle so the boat will not be able to take flight

As a good friend I have seen you make tough and sound decisions. This one goes to the top of the list.

I am glad we will boating together for joy and not for a plastic trophy that quite literally gets a new owner every year.

On a side not this thread has produced notes from people that prove I am not the only person that has bought a boat and decided I wanted it to go slower rather than faster.

Running together in the low 100s will be every bit the fun of the high 100s if we are doing it together.