Gladiator flipped in Biscayne Bay...
 

Just heard a Gladiator has flipped with four aboard in Biscayne Bay......anyone else have any details???? I heard all were ok......I hope this wasnt Rick of Onesickgladiator.........:( :(

This year is terrible for accidents......I hope everyone is OK.

Everyone is alive. 4 guys. It wasn't Rick.

Not again.:mad:

Brandon ....do you have Ricks phone number .....Onesickgladiator??

I have it at my office and I'm at home, sorry. It wasn't him in the accident.

I hope all are ok. This is one hell of a bad stretch for performance boaters and stepped hulls in general.

Alright....I was concerned as someone told me it looked alot like his boat.....so naturally I was worried it was him.......I am relieved to hear that all are ok.......thanx.....

Not to sound crude but somehow we need to step up and find away to put a stop to this before the government decides that they will stop it for us!
The other big problem is going to be insurance we will not be able to get it or not be able to afford it! I am sure there were wrecks before everyone was connected like on the net like this and we did not hear about them but this has been a horrible year already in our small performance world.
Wether or not it is driver error, equipment failure or whatever we need to look into these incidents and find ways to improve our eqipment or what ever else needs to be done before we are not allowed to run boats at speed anymore!

I AGREE BAJABOAT!!!!!!!!! How the hell do you flip these boats in bays and lakes? These people most be new to the sport and think they can turn there boat like there car!!! If your doin it right you really have to have your head up your joass to screw up boats of this size in bays or lakes. If it's equip. failure then its my bad,but the accidents I've seen so far are all operator error and lack of knowledge. Like Baja says someone is going to start governing this sport through politics.

These are big boats lately in places close to shore in decent weather...we need more facts and we don't have them...so why speculate...that's why I was asking about steps etc...I am trying to find out if we are talking about:

-speed

-boat design..steps etc

-driver error

-adverse conditions

...one thing is for sure this is something the industry must monitor and try to fix..education etc...if they don't they will be the biggest loosers...

Whats to speculate if they are big boats and close to shore then chances are it is driver error! Dont you think we would be hearing about the equipment manufactures being sueed if it was there fault!

could be..too close to shore and other traffic...sudden maneuvers...a quick donut...sent flying out of the boat...and the boat keeps going...the gov't will be involved when and if an unfortunate fatality or major property destruction occurs..plus the manufacturers will be under the legal microscope...hope they respond

http://www.blackadarmarine.com/story5.html

like they don't already know

Chill out .... until you know what happened

What if the manufactures and dealers stepped up and made everyone take lessons before on there new boat before they just let them walk out the door with it and go kill themselves or someone else!

Cig 1 arent you getting tired of hearing about this happening all the time and then never hearing anything else about it until you go to renew your insurance!

Steve drives a Gladiator, hope it not his

ya need laws to do that this is not the Soviet Union

It wasn't Steve. The guy isn't a board member.

..I personally think it's force of habit to let off the throttles in a turn...if you are close to shore you "feel" you have to throttle back and then spinout...the rule is it''s an OFFSHORE BOAT....run it fast OFFSHORE.....but when in traffic or close to shore it's a different story...

...and one more suggestion....steps are not obviously for everybody...that may need to be addressed at some point...basically you are selling the public flat bottomed boats with lots of HP...and a big bow that gets in the way in a turn if the power is cut...the average Joe is better off in a deep v...steps for more seasoned boaters..my .02

you wait...they will go back...everything cycles..

Insurance
 

My father-in-law in my Ins Agent... He says to enjoy the boat this year because next year he or most others will not be able to insure it.

If you were to tally up the last 4 months of boat damage " not including medical ".

I bet it's close to Seven Figures!


The property loss is not the bad thing it's the personal injury / disability claims that are the worst.

I would love to have a cat... but I can not justify the cost to insure it and I have 0 points... Knock on wood.

As for having it paid for and not needing to insure it to make the bank happy, you would have to be an idiot. All risk for damage or injury to others would be on YOU personally.

Sorry to get on the soap box... Glad all involved are ok.

my 02

fightclub

yup my agent said stepped hulls are higher in claims now than cats ....you are gonna be talking Lyods of London...minimal coverage...high prices...

...wait...stepped hulls will vanish as quick as they appeared...

Reggie had a fast boat with a pad..safe as can be...too much tweaking caused all this...

...now you know why I was so into the step thing....

.....it's the usual thing...no apparent reason except driver error...and that's from lack of education and seat time...these stepped boats don't give you a fighting chance to react....Lanyards for sure baby!

LS JR
I am not just talking about this incident I am talking about all of the accidents in the past few weeks. You are young like I am and I hope we can have years and years of powerboating not ruled by speed limits horsepower, or insurance for that matter!

You guys and your stepped hull BS are killing me.:rolleyes:

I agree with you. I just don't like it when people jump on the situation when they don't know what happened. That's all. No harm - no foul.

LS JR.

This sport is dangerous when playing hard. Some people don't need to play that hard to fully enjoy ... I do

The danger is part of what I like ... I'm not in this for cruising around although I do cruise because I need to share my toy with my wife and family. However, I do like to run on the edge when appropriate. If there were no danger or risk, I probably wouldn't own the boat I have now.

I was talking with CB this weekend about the trend toward fast boats with small power (like mine or the Dragon) vrs fast boats with big power. All the fast boats with small power are "drivers boats" ... you better respect the danger and learn the boat. A heavier boat with big power will probably be an easier boat to run fast .. you can power your way out of trouble.

Funny thing ... I ran my boat in some hellaious water while in Miami and felt very comfortable with the handling, but while running it at Havasu in flat water, the pucker factor was way up. I'm taking it easy in the flat water until I learn how the bottom wants to be trimmed and how forgiving it wants to be.

$.02

G

I love stepped hull boats and I hope to have a 38ts in the near future but I may not be able to get insurance if this keeps up! I think the Stepped hulls have really improved the industry faster more fuel efficent etc but something needs to be done to stop these accidents!

It Starts With US!!! We need to wait to find out what happened. Then we need to learn from what happened. Lets let this guy have a chance before we beat him or his boat up.

we have seen seveal forest accidents with no explanation is ever forthcoming..I gotta tell ya i love speed but half the fun is running hard turns...maybe steps aren't for me?

Start a chine walk at 90-100 mph and things can happen real fast.

You dont worry about chine walk while working the sticks in 3-5 footers.

I need perfect conditions before attempting a speed pass ... like 1'-2' head seas.

G

That is correct, 1-2 into the wind, you have the most control then.

..it's like Joe said earlier these stepped hulls are not forgiving and will send you out on your a$$...it's not the boaters..the hulls react faster than you can keep up with...I almost bought it once at 60mph...

Ditto!!

..come on this is reality..a good solution is going to a pad and single step...multiple steps are far more apt to spinout...offer this to the public and then offer multiple steps to those who want more speed and can handle the insurance issues...

..it only takes a few boats to end up in trees and insurance becomes unavailable...it's perception...and these boats are perceived by insurance companies as too costly to cover in a lot of cases...cars are insured with different factors in mind...the way it is..

Put a STOP to Poker Runs

Fred I have read in the past that you are dead set against legislation in the boating industry! We have speed limits seat belt laws etc in cars because people could not control themselves! I do not want to see this in boats.
LAP2106 get off the steps

ok boss

LPA2106 - what is your background in performance boats. not boats that you have ridden in but what have you owned. just curious