The Gratton lawsuit trial began today, http://speedonthewater.com/in-the-ne...-lawsuit-trial

with all due respect.... we all sign waivers before we start in any of these events... and we know the what the consequences can be tragic or not... I find it very disappointing that when horrific wrecks happen everybody wants to point fingers of why it's someone elses fault...... Ban go fast boats and all events?? maybe we should ban kids with tobaggens they might get hurt and then we can sue? Respectfully submitted

I agree

And this is why you will see boating events go way! We know what we are getting into every time the boat goes into the water.

You definitely have a point but lets think of this as a Nascar event....same deal, drivers know the risk but they take the risk knowing that highly trained personnel are there to help them if they get in a jam. Now imagine a wreck and they pull "Joe Fan" out of the stands to go try to extract the wrecked driver out of the car which is now on fire.....suddenly that isn't what the driver signed up for! Looks like the race promoter may have not had the right safety personnel on the job that day........

From my experience, there are 2 parts to the rescue team, the diver and the medic. not to say the diver cant be a medic, but its the divers job to get him out and the medics job to work him.

No matter what, this lawsuit is a lose lose scenario... There is no amount of money that will bring Joey back.

10 years ago ,all these " just released" threads would have been pounced on by hundreds a day .
Now ? not many seem to care what happens to offshore boat racing .
can,t really blame them.between this , and the Qatar 4th of july party things do seem grim.

I agree , but this was not a fan it was diver that has done this for yrs one of if not the strongest diver on the team. I'm curious when u say this is not what the driver sign up for?? I know every time I get in a boat it could be my last, I depend on myself to do what I need to and that the diver will do what they can. Lets take this for an example what if there is muliple accidents on opposite ends of the race course at the same time. Rescue can only do what they can do. You mention not signing up for something, well I know I never signed up for anything saying go out run as hard as u can and if u have an accident no matter what we will save you. Racers get killed in all sport its part of what they sign up for and there is not a team that you can ask that will tell u they dont think about it everytime we get in a boat. I find it hard to blame someone else if something god for bid should ever happen to me and I was killed doing something I love.

I know a lot of racers what this very same dive team has saved including my partner in KW this pat yr, so lets talk about that . I'm sure you guys all know some of the teams and have stories to share.

from Matt's article: helicopter-deployed divers known as "angels" should have been able to retrieve Gratton from his sinking boat more quickly. Instead, Barnhart said, race organizers deployed Mike Haugh, a diver with no specialized rescue training who worked professionally as a tattoo artist, from a safety boat.


Mike might be a great guy, but he might have not been the best guy for the mission at hand "with no specialized rescue training"

1. Not stopping the race while a guy is drowning seems wrong.......there isn't a trophy in the world worth someone's life
2. Chopper dropped diver would have been there in seconds, how long for a boat to arrive to drop diver?

While no money in the world will bring Gratton back, it sends a message to the organizers that safety is worth more than profits.....