VelocityMike

I would agree to discuss this at a later time, how ever since it was brought up......

There are some good points that are brought up on both sides of the argument, but to complelety honest there should be no restrictions on how fast a boat can go. My boat was a 17' Hydrostream that did very close to 100mph. The boat was awesome to drive but when it came time to run up to the century mark there were a few things i always did. I am not going into those steps but I know what I was able to do as well as my boat.

How fast a boat can or should go needs to be based upon what the owner or driver can and cannot do. The down fall to this is that there are a lot of people that can throw down a ton of money to go as fast as they want not realizing what they are getting themselves into.

The comes back to the same problem how can it be enforced and will it really prevent people from going that fast?

One more thing to think about....Look at all the hype that has gone into the fastest V bottom record lately. Speed sells and those who were in Miami and went to the Fountain booth saw that.

puder

lemme put my input in. My initial post was to raise the question on licsensing, not to state my opinions on it. I'll do taht right here. I personally feel liscensing is a bad thing. Get the goverment involved and your sure to **** things up worse than we can even imagine.

I'd idealy like to see some kind self regulation. Maybe manufacturers highly/stringently recommend that all new owners take some kind of basic course they offer. Maybe manufacturers should work together to develop some kind of basic knowledgebase about handling boats at high speed. Perhaps develping some kind of basic text on running boats at high speed might also be in order. Setup some kind of non profit supported by industry leaders dedicated to make our hobby/industry safer as a whole.

I tend to think eventually if we dont; police ourselves that there is goign to be a big nasty one and its going to becomea political soundbite issue. Reactionary politics will put speedlimits anywhere and everywhere they can and we'll wind up being no better than the packs of biker running 200mph on empty highways at night with the cops chasing them.

Hey if you wann road pizza yourself more power to you, thats entirely your choice. Self restraint is great but what happens if you get intoa situation where you dont; even realize your in major trouble (due to lack of knowlegde of how to handle the equipment being used) until its too late?

As for mechanical problems. They happen. Yu do you best to avoid them and maintain your equipment to top standards, but things break. That is un avoidable and one of the accepteced risks you take in daily life.

back to the main question at hand, has the average performance level risen significantly above the average skill level?

Iggy

I agree with puder.
Anyone can go out and by a bike that'll hit close to, or over, 200 mph.
Anyone (almost anyone) can go out and buy a car that'll hit 200 mph.
Anyone (almost anyone) can go out and buy a boat that'll hit 80-120 mph.
With out proper training or experience these machines are just accidents waiting to happen. Too many people are becomming statistics. It's too easy for a novice rider/driver/boater to get in over their heads without realizing it....until it's too late.
Like was said earlier "when things go wrong you're just along for the ride and you hope it doesn't hurt too much".

KH0302

I took my post down because you asked. It was not mean spirited as you imply, it was an honest question.

Kurt

WickedWon

I like everyone else am sick about this incident, at most I hope something can be learned from it, but our hobby is no where near as dangerous as many other " low profile" activities, ours is just louder and to some annoying. A tiny, tiny, tiny portion of the population is involved so the Gov. will probably leave us alone ( thank God) but the Insurance co's......On the training and safety front, over the years i've paticipated in the AMA, SCCA and the APBA and have noticed that when people get involved they always immediately start preaching to all those not " participating in the safe environment". For me the fun quickly turned to work and I dropped out wanting to get back to the pure joy of just playing with my toys ( and thats all they are ). There are exceptions to everything , but in my opinion, running hard in open water puts fewer uninvolved people at risk than a mother trying to discipline her kids in a minivan on the interstate

Remember, this is America, that small group who likes to stick their toes over the edge once in awhile is also responsible for much of it's energy and sucess.

super termoli

My opinion is: YES. Way too fast for the kind of regulations we have. I think we need to do our utmost to insure safety and in other areas, this has been done. I don't know the specifics in the US but in Europe, sure any jerk with 10K can buy a 150hp motorcycle but at least we make him wear leathers and a helmet. You can be pulled over if you're riding in sandals and shorts because that is not appropriate gear for the kind of speed you're capable of. Sure, leathers and a helmet won't save you if you fall off at 150 mph but hey, there is only so much you can do and leathers and helmets are the maximum protection you can get. In cars, airbags are compulsory for all new vehicles and they have to pass stict crash tests. In addition, we have to wear seatbelts and speeds are limited well below vehicles' abilities. Plus, you have to be licensed to operate those two categories of vehicles and while the standard of those tests is open to discussion, at least they make you accumulate a certain number of operating hours before you're unleashed.

Offshore boats? Well, you can go all out on a boat capable of 150+ mph in your favorite bermuda and flowery shirt for protection. Offshore, there are no speed limits, no regulations, no licensing, nothing... Let me be direct here: going 150 mph or more in an open cockpit boat without any safety gear and having your family with you is totally dumb. You think you can control things but you cannot control the ocean. It's an unstable and unpredictable environment. An unexpected gust of wind, a rogue wave and that's it at that sort of speed.

Even racers need to reconsider what they're doing. Open factory boats in close circuit racing are downright dangerous. Not a great example for pleasure boaters and novices to follow. Remember who are the greatest advocates of safety canopies: guys like Reggie Fountain and Fabio Buzzi who know what they're talking about and have enough experience to know that they cannot control everything all the time.

So whether we need licensing is not really my point. I do think it's a rather good idea but before that we need a bit of COMMON SENSE. If you're out to push the limit, either in racing or by trying to be the fastest during poker runs, have your boat equipped properly for its intended use. Fit safety canopies, harnesses, air tanks, wear PFDs and helmets. And don't bring your families along because last time I checked, Dale Jr. doesn't have his mother next to him when he pushes the limit.

This really has nothing to do with the Chesapeake Bay tragedy but that tragic event puts all of this in perspective. If those gentlemen who were experienced and skilled got killed while being protected by adequate safety gear, imagine what kind of risk some hot-shot poker-runners are taking. IMHO, those are tragedies looking for a place to happen.

Finally, I will say this: it's time for us to wise up collectively otherwise the government will do that for us and the water will cease to be that place of freedom that we all enjoy so much. So, if you wanna go fast, do it right otherwise some politician will come down hard on us and you won't be able to do it, canopy or no canopy, helmet or no helmet...

Formula Outlaw

We have the ability to help our own cause through recoginizing our own limitations. Unfortunately, most of us won't. Why? Several reasons. Egos. Laziness. Not wanting to be "looked down" at by our "peers". Or made fun of.

Would I jump into a cat and try going 160 mph? Absolutely no friggin way, even if the boat was free if I did that. I have enough problems to deal with, and stupidity is not another one I want to add to the list.

Once in a while a tragic accident, that is nothing more than a tragic accident, happens. It happens in all walks of life. Too many times however, it is operator error, by someone who simply did not know what they were doing and were to afraid to ask. I call that ego. If I were ever thinking of buying a high performance "cat", you can bet I would have someone who was very proficient in their operation teach me how to drive it.

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

Exactly the point I posted last month.

GLH

No,

Considering the small amount of boaters there are imposing limits would not be enforcable, why make more laws they can not enforce.

I also agree with WW in the matter that high speed runs like what happened rarely put anyone else in danger apart from the ones in the boat that are present of their own freewill.

dyno

Let it be a lesson to us all! Lets all try to run smart as we run fast....and keep our sport un regulated as long as possible. Run as fast as conditions allow pull our heads out of your a$$'s when it gets rough or traffic gets in the way...and run slow when the visibility is poor....