38 Topgun TS Crashed in Myrtle Beach last night
 

http://www.wpde.com/news/newsstory.a...s/topnewsstory

Friend called me this morning to tell me he was going out on the DNR boat while they searched today. Owner is a local here in MB and is friends with my neighbor. I don't know his name or the exact boat although it is on the water here every weekend on the waccamaw river.

I do know its a newer TOP GUN TS painted white and yellow. When i saw him yesterday he had 4 or 5 people on board atleast one was a kid, however from what i heard the family had gotten off at the marina which makes sense. He passed us early in the day headed north and did not return by the time we left the river at 6 pm. The accident was south of the marina he keeps the boat at. Which means he must have stopped and unloaded everyone else before it happened.

:( :(

Wow...tough weekend. This makes 3 wrecks now.

Is it spring fever?

yeah, i really don't know the details other than as of 2 pm today they were still looking for him. His TopGun was one of very few nice performance boats in town and he was a very well known member of the community.

Very sad.

Very sad, indeed. :( :(

Too many accidents are happening. :( :(

Hope all are okay.

My husband and I had made an offer and hoped to purchase this Cig this week. It was beautiful. You can see it at National Marine's website. 2002 with 575s.

As I understand it, the boat had been sold or traded up, National Marine hadn't yet taken possession of the boat, and the former owner was demo-ing it for another potential buyer since it was still in his possession.

I heard he swerved to miss a log and both men were ejected. The boat may have rolled. One is injured, the other is dead.

What a tragedy...

Man I hate to hear stuff like this.:(

Not good,, not good at all.:(

time to order the auto inflate jackets... where is the thread about where to get them... group buy?

:( :(
Looks to be this boat:

Another from NationalMarine.com

Thats the one, very terrible thing to happen. I must say too this gentleman was truly that, a gentleman on the water. I cannot count the number of times we have been in a small boat or PWC and seen this boat. EVERY time he was both courteous and careful of us, unlike many boaters in large cruisers or idiots with a brand new stingray who either try to sink you with their wake or flat run you over in their "fast boat". This guy was always polite and friendly, truly a "class act" I'm sure those who knew him personally would probably say the same things, and judging by the mutual friends we shared, I'm sure he was a great guy.

The river we boat on is full of debris and is surrounded by swamps. Tide was extremely low yesterday late too. Not the safest place to boat and it could certainly happen to any of us. I saw him Saturday and again Sunday before the accident, really hits home when something like this happens to a person you are used to seeing every day you spend on the water.

How about just wearing the vests all of us already own? I am going to this year. It may not save you life but cant hurt either.

fightclub.

mine dont auto inflate so if your knocked out the dont help

I have an auto inflate, but how do they work? Does a sudden jolt set them off? I wouldn't think they work off of water, because you couldn't wear them in the rain?:confused:

:( :(

Damn...thats 2 boats in SC in the same weekend

:( :(

A Gentleman
 

I think that JTMiller 02 really summed it up. Many Thanks.
A gentleman on and off the water.
It really hurts and shocks me to have to think about him not being with us any more.
And the family that he leaves behind. I can only hope that there is still hope that he could be found alive somewhere, somehow. I do not know those waters. But I did have the opportunity to meet and share great quality time with John.
My prayers, thoughts and well wishes go to his family and where ever John might be.
Sincerely,
Robert Shin

:( :( :(

Did this accident happen on the intercoastal waterway?

The "pill" that holds the auto-inflate plunger back is inside a pouch to keep rain water off of it. Once you're in the drink, water gets in and dissolves the pill (like alka-seltzer), releasing the spring-loaded pin.

How many people know that you're supposed to change the pills each year? How many know, but don't do it? I do....

MAN !

This is horrible :(

Makes you think about seriously dropping your cruise speed(s) and to limit the number of WOT stints . . . . :(

OK, now I am freaking out!!! That boat was being looked at by Chris Prouty from California (Lavey 29) on the forum. Chris was also looking at my boat as well. Last I spoke to him he was going to call me today and now I have not heard from him. I could care less whether he wants my boat I just hope he wasnt in the boat when it wrecked. Chris, let me know you are OK. If anybody on the board knows him gimme an update.

Brett

I hate hearing this stuff. I hate coming in Monday morning and hearing about another tragic event like this.
Thoughts and prayers for all involved in this tragedy.

:(

I remember that, seeing a thread on here recently about his interest in this exact Gun.

waccamaw river= intercoastal waterway in Myrtle Beach. The river empties into the ocean in Georgetown, the northern half of ther river is man-made and flows north from around socastee/bucksport and the other half flows south.

http://sciway3.net/outdoors/ct-hor-map.png

My prayers to the family

Brett,

I'm Chris Prouty's wife - no, it was not Chris who was testing the boat this weekend, thank God for our family...

As someone said earlier, there is a "too close for comfort" factor whenever one of these accidents happen. For us, this was very close. Had we had the invitation to go out and test it, we probably would've been there.

Chris is at a convention in Las Vegas, but I'll be sure to let him know about your kind post.

Brigitte Prouty

Thank you for replying! I just read Chris's post in the Cigarette section and I am very glad he is o.k.

Not to take anything away from the gravity of the situation..... but I am relieved that Chris is OK.

You and me both!

I just spoke with Chris and it appears the person who was killed was not the person potentially purchasing the boat, it was the gentleman who was the previous owner. How sad... The "buyer" had broken ribs and other injuries but will be all right.

Brigitte Prouty
aka Mrs. 29 Lavey

My service writer is the cousin of the owner/driver of the boat, His mother and brother are on their way down now. I will keep us posted with info.

This sucks BAD.

After reading about these accidents I have made the decision to wear my jacket and I would hope that all others do also. Roger

last year we went to west marine and got 4 of the auto inflates so far, nobody can complain about wearing those, and they work.. just as previous post stated check the pill once a year they now have a new one out i believe it works of presure>?
not sure but check it out folks its so sad to hear this stuff wear em,, on poker runs wear a something that will give some impact resistance too not an auto inflate. boats are getting so fast that we need to really think about the eminant danger,,
our condolences.....
god speed.

How sad :(

Anyone know what really happened?

:( :( :(

Very sad .... Our prayors to those involved and their families .

Very sad news. God Bless the families involved.

Shoot...the news link updated and now it's a story about a murder suicide. Could you please copy and paste the story itself?

I know when things hit this close to home, we generally do some sort of poker run to raise money for the family.

I would be willing to chip in and "sponsor" someone.

Just a thought.

Thoughts and prayers go to the family....truly tragic.