Another stepped hull goes dancing
06-02-2004, 12:39 PM
#161
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Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Unsolicited related comments from another website.
Story behind the pics
I use to run boats for Customs in the Caribbean. Stepped hull 42’ Fountains were inflicted on us in the late 90’s. They were crap! In conducted law enforcement pursuits we were often forced to basically dogfight the bad guy boat until we could disable his engines. The friggin stepped hull was dangerous as hell when turning, and not just at high speed. The hull would hold for about half a turn and then break free and the stern would hop and then hook up again. The action was incredibly violent and many of our Marine Enforcement Officers had the bruises to show for it. We luckily had Stidd seats with five point harnesses that held you from being pitched out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Fountains are nothing more than high performance Bayliners!
Sorry I didn't post the story behind this but here it is.
Check out this boat wreck that happened on Hartwell the other day. It is a 38 foot Fountain. The owner had it for about a week and has not made the first payment on the 375,000 dollar pricetag. He was going 80 mph made a sharp turn, it threw him and his passenger out of the boat. He did not have his kill switch on, so it steadily accelerated until it hit the bank, went airborne and split on this tree.
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I use to run boats for Customs in the Caribbean. Stepped hull 42’ Fountains were inflicted on us in the late 90’s. They were crap! In conducted law enforcement pursuits we were often forced to basically dogfight the bad guy boat until we could disable his engines. The friggin stepped hull was dangerous as hell when turning, and not just at high speed. The hull would hold for about half a turn and then break free and the stern would hop and then hook up again. The action was incredibly violent and many of our Marine Enforcement Officers had the bruises to show for it. We luckily had Stidd seats with five point harnesses that held you from being pitched out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Fountains are nothing more than high performance Bayliners!
Sorry I didn't post the story behind this but here it is.
Check out this boat wreck that happened on Hartwell the other day. It is a 38 foot Fountain. The owner had it for about a week and has not made the first payment on the 375,000 dollar pricetag. He was going 80 mph made a sharp turn, it threw him and his passenger out of the boat. He did not have his kill switch on, so it steadily accelerated until it hit the bank, went airborne and split on this tree.
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06-02-2004, 12:39 PM
#162
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Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
This is like the argument about rear engine cars... they have a tendency to spin.... especially the old 930 Porsches with an inexperienced driver behind the wheel... Did Porsche discontinue the rear engine cars... they tried.. they came up with the 928... didn't sell well.. the "purists" liked the rear engine cars... weird handling quirks and all... But.... I think the issue here is "who to blame"... did people "blame" Porsche for building a evil handling car if driven to it's limits?... Nope... mostly they blamed the idiot behind the wheel... But... it didn't stop insurance rates from climbing through the roof for that particular model... and this is what is going to happen with stepped hull boats.. whether it is the manufacturers "fault" or more likely the "operators" fault... the rates are going to skyrocket. I think that the driver of a high performance boat thinks he can get the kind of side "G" loads in a boat that can be felt in a good handling car... Unlike driving a car... there isn't any "feedback" to the steering wheel when you are approaching the limits of adhesion. It takes lots of experience of driving a potentially lethal vessel until that experience has accumulated. I'm thinking that the Government won't have to step in and regulate stepped hulls... the insurance industry will just price the ability of owning a stepped hull out of the hands of the average boater.Maybe by then Darwin's theory will have eliminated the potential accident perpetrators... 
06-02-2004, 12:40 PM
#163
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Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Originally Posted by Downtown42
T2, that's the same oops!!
T2x
06-02-2004, 01:01 PM
#165
Gold Member
Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Originally Posted by T2x
Actually ....no, because if the top guys can't handle 'em.....who can?
The accidents are not just occurring on the race course..... but in the bays, rivers and lakes. Last weekends Activator/Gladiator adventure was in a Poker Run.... and people do put the hammer down in Poker Runs..... What's the point of bringing a go fast boat to a go fast boat event....if you don't....go fast?
Safety must be the overriding concern...and a less safe design should be sacrificed...in all cases.
T2x
The accidents are not just occurring on the race course..... but in the bays, rivers and lakes. Last weekends Activator/Gladiator adventure was in a Poker Run.... and people do put the hammer down in Poker Runs..... What's the point of bringing a go fast boat to a go fast boat event....if you don't....go fast?
Safety must be the overriding concern...and a less safe design should be sacrificed...in all cases.
T2x
06-02-2004, 01:20 PM
#166
Registered
Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Seems to me we have a compound problem here. Boats that take special skills to drive fast and safely and drivers who lack them. So whats the simplest way to solve it. Force specialized training on all step hull drivers or stop making the hull available to John Q (uneducated) Public? Not everyone can just go drop the green and buy a formula one car can they? Hell knows if John Q got behind the wheel of one he wouldn't be alive very long. On the other hand, John Q Moneybags CAN drop the green for a Ferrari Enzo or a twin turbo Porsche and survive, maybe because the vehicle is inherently safer by design?
06-02-2004, 01:38 PM
#168
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Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Originally Posted by audacity
an R1 is 10k...anyone can buy one!
06-02-2004, 01:39 PM
#169
Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
I remember when I was a kid being at a boat dealer who had a 24'er with an Olds 455 engine and a jet. I think that's when I realized I wanted "in". It went 45 mph and everybody couldn't believe anything could go that fast on water. At 45 mph it was squirrelly at best. So my feeling is that after 7 pages we need to take a breather and look how far design has come and realize perhaps that there is still a ways to go. I know for a fact that a couple major manufacturers out there if not most all read this stuff here daily. They want what their customers want.
Last edited by Hydrocruiser; 06-02-2004 at 01:44 PM.
06-02-2004, 01:59 PM
#170
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Re: Another stepped hull goes dancing
Troutly, don't you know that boats *never* crashed before the stepped hull was invented by Reggie Fountain in 1864? Get with the program!
