Catmando

If that canopy had been constructed within the Lavin Safety guidelines, would it have been so completely destroyed?

Catmando

Miss Geico has that now. So do Aqua Mania and JBS. Class1 needs to step up and make these changes MANDATORY. There is no excuse for anything less. Why does almost every improvement in safety have to come at the sacrifice of racers' lives?

Sorry Ben I had to say it. I'm just very distraught over this.

MikeyFIN

Or Ocke Mannerfelt and the swedes design that US Navy uses...
Ironic that the new 30 footer Xcat by Victory team is a Mannerfelt design.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs..../1010/national

I found the rescue men being more than unskilled just fumbling there on the slippery surface...
I mean we practice similar stuff yearly to help people out from going thru the Ice...etc.
And why didnīt he have his gear on all the time and did he have them on at all in the beginning ? Questions that spring to mind.
Think they need some quality surface rescuers there ?

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs..../1010/national

MikeyFIN

Not even we do it with 24 foot 100+mph boats and havenīt done it for years... part time oxygen yes but that might change.

stainless

Looks to me that that canopy was laid up real light! Needs to be alot beefier for boats running those speeds!

Wahoo ATV

This is just pure speculation on my part, but it kind of looks like the water went in thru the deck and out of the canopy. The deck looks pushed up and the canopy appears to be blowen out.

In the pictures of the Al Copeland boat it looks like they tried to address this with a vee shaped bulkhead in front of the canopy.

phragle

iTrader: (3)

Dean, that would explain the reports I have seen stating that both were in the water, not in the boat.

flat rate

iTrader: (3)

Out of respect you shouldn't speculate on things you know nothing about many racers here don't wear masks and some have raced class one. The Victory boats are laid up VERY light no balsa or kevlar just honycomb and carbon. Not trying to bash this is a sad thing for life and racing in general. It just seems like everyone thinks they would have done different. JMO

Apache041

Our deepest condolances to the families, and the Victory team.

Warpaint Offshore Racing

Aoteoroa

I have known Jean Marc for about 15 years and he was one who was always very safety conscious, but he can only work with the gear he had. The sad thing on that day was Sara his wife and children were standing on the beach watching the race. Frenchy was a great guy to chat with and my last memories of him were when we were in Doha for the first race of the season. As usual he had a great attitude to life and was looking forward to moulding Mohammad into the Victory team and judging by the way they went throughout the season he was doing well.

I know a lot of you have mentioned the canopy and how it came apart. But one thing you are forgetting is that the boat came down going backwards, not forwards. Now I dont think I know any team or driver than builds boats based on the possibility of them coming down backwards. I was talking to one of the Victory Team guys not long after the accident and he explained the other problem was that the boat came down perfectly horizontal to the water.

Normally, if I understand it, a raceboat will have the sponson or some other part hit the water first and disperse all the energy, well in this case the canopy area took the whole brunt of the force. If you look at the video footage of inside the boat look at the 31 sec mark and you can see the water is absolutely horizontal, thats as the boat is completely upside down. That was another of the main problems.

I had a chat with Jeff at JBS the other day about this safety stuff and he was telling me about all the mods they have in the boat as well as new ones coming, so maybe as some of you said its about time safety was given just as much attention as speed.

Hopefully everyone will learn some hard lessons from the death of Jean Marc and Mohammad and their deaths wont be in vain. I for one will be pushing as much as we can through the mag for safety improvements and this goes for not just the Class 1 boats but the Cat Lights, 750, 850s etc etc. You guys all run hard and fast no matter what the class is. Dont leave your family standing on the banks numb because they have just watched you leave them a widow and fatherless. You owe it to yourselves and your families to make safety the number one priority.

Rest in Peace Jean Marc and Mohammad - Inshallah.

Ned