BK

http://www.f1boat.com/02/waterford/s...man_flying.htm

This crash sequence is of American Scott Gillman losing it during an UIM F1 race.

The crash looks extremely violent, but the driver was ok. Though they run 120-130 mph, the cockpits in these boats are very compact and the drivers are literally "capsuled" or cocooned, so limb damage is limited and serious injuries are rare.

CAP071

I Don't even want to think about what could have happened. WIth summer here lets all hope for NO more accidents this season

BK

Well, in this kind of tunnel boat racing, we have about 3 or 4 of these blow overs at every race. Nearly every one is injury free. We've been using capsules since the mid 1980's, and so have had time to improve the safety of them, mostly by trial and error.

The crashes that are the most feared and deadliest are the side or frontal impact collisions, as these boats are built light and weigh a total of 1100 lbs (boat, motor, driver). The capsule can only withstand so much.

But flips like the one shown are common place and even the boats usually have little damage. (There are a few exceptions though).

RJ1340

That is definitely an "E" ticket ride!

BK

This one gets the award for "greatest height"

http://www.f1boat.com/01/hungary/flying_latvian.html

This is Victor Kunitch of Latvia. He was unharmed in this flip despite the double loops and nasty landing. That's a LOT of "air time", and note the rescue crew in the background - they are firing up the rescue boat even before Victor has landed!


Sadly though, a year later, Victor was involved in a head-on race collision which ended his life.

BK

Many of you may know this guy....Offshore racer Laith Pharaon (Boat #3)


From several years ago, Italian Francesco Cantando and Pharaon (They were both ok afterward )

http://www.f1boat.com/02/portimao/ca...ith_flying.htm

BK

While flips are common and expected and are mostly injury free, it is these types of crashes (below) we never want to see and which send the crowd into pure terror:

(These guys were ok, but EXTREMELY lucky)

This is the story from F1boat.com :

" Guido Cappellini the pole sitter broke free on the inside lane but American Scott Gillman (#27) in 2nd and Italian Massimo Roggiero (#6) in 3rd found a fast charging Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon from his 6th starting spot making it four wide into the corner. Something had to give and it did, within a split second Roggiero after he and Pharaon hit went over the top of Scott Gillman as then speared Roggiero and came to a stop."

"As Gillman sat in the water, Danish driver Gert Ladefoged came up and thru the spray of blinding water, crashed sideways into Gillman, the Emirates number one driver, who now had two boats hanging off his DAC hull. Both Roggiero and Gillman dodged the bullet as both could have easily seriously injured. Pharaon's new hull, the first of the 2004 version DAC was damaged heavily also with Ladefoged also out of the race."





For a large size image, click the first picture in the second row here:
http://www.f1boat.com/03/stralsund/s...action_03.html

BK

I think all boat races should have a live Jumbo-Tron live screen for the spectators, as seen in this promotional film from Brazil. I've been to a few races that had them, so you could watch the action happening out of view. It made a world of difference to the crowd.

This is a cool 33 second promo-clip:
http://www.mteodorovic.co.yu/home/home1.htm

Wasabe

Holy Chiz Nitz. Thank God he's okay. That looked hairy!