Future Safety Suggestion - Shorten the Shootout Courses
#41
Driver-441
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Fiore's crash was at similar speeds, very similar aerial launch and still had the same result with a canopy and additional safety measures in place.
I have never gone these speeds in anything except an airplane! I think as a participant of these races/events you need to accept the risk yourself and live your life as you see fit. I don't see the need to run 150+ in a boat (or car but I have in the past), I don't skydive (I have in the past) but I certainly don't want to stop others if they want to. I'm not pressing my will onto others so they can be safer as it is their choice to run their boat the way they want.
On the safety concern, lets say they are more protected but end up paralyzed from the neck down as a result of the accident. Is that better than being dead for these guys? I had an uncle that had a pretty cool life. Raced Porsches, rode Harleys for years (not a biker type guy but a guy that owned a chain of drycleaners!), he rode bikes from New England to Sturgis then on to Southern California. He rode Harleys on the autobahn in Germany! Guy fell off a porch (railing was dry rotted) while taking out the garbage, fell about 15 ft. Broke his neck in 3 places, he stayed alive for about 12 hours (with machines). It was worse than the Christopher Reeve injury, his living will stated......"Disconnect" all artificial life support methods in the event of a vegetative state/paralysis etc. For him, living like Christopher Reeve wasn't living and he died at age 56. The plug got pulled and he lived about 3 minutes.
I have never gone these speeds in anything except an airplane! I think as a participant of these races/events you need to accept the risk yourself and live your life as you see fit. I don't see the need to run 150+ in a boat (or car but I have in the past), I don't skydive (I have in the past) but I certainly don't want to stop others if they want to. I'm not pressing my will onto others so they can be safer as it is their choice to run their boat the way they want.
On the safety concern, lets say they are more protected but end up paralyzed from the neck down as a result of the accident. Is that better than being dead for these guys? I had an uncle that had a pretty cool life. Raced Porsches, rode Harleys for years (not a biker type guy but a guy that owned a chain of drycleaners!), he rode bikes from New England to Sturgis then on to Southern California. He rode Harleys on the autobahn in Germany! Guy fell off a porch (railing was dry rotted) while taking out the garbage, fell about 15 ft. Broke his neck in 3 places, he stayed alive for about 12 hours (with machines). It was worse than the Christopher Reeve injury, his living will stated......"Disconnect" all artificial life support methods in the event of a vegetative state/paralysis etc. For him, living like Christopher Reeve wasn't living and he died at age 56. The plug got pulled and he lived about 3 minutes.
#42
Driver-441
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Before anyone takes this and twists it into a form of me trying to be disrespectful, I have the utmost respect for the gentleman lost this past weekend and their hobby is still the coolest in the world. I can't imagine the pain their families are going and I'll always be a massive Skater supporter, I just hope after a particularly tragic summer we can finally make some moves to make this sport safer.
Last edited by TeamSaris; 10-17-2016 at 08:24 PM.
#43
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Don't forget that in reality the canopy in that accident did a pretty good job...a 46 foot boat landed on it's head from 50 feet in the air at 150mph..I get it, Mike isnt here anymore, But that wasn't from impact from the accident, it was an unfortunate circumstance at the hospital, and the driver is still with us. Cat Can Do blew over at a kilo run a few years ago....canopy boat...both still here with us. I get it, there's no way to make any of this perfectly safe, but why not try and make it as good as we can? Safety measures from 1985-1995 leaped forward....then kinda just stopped...problem is, the speeds didnt.
#44
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I agree with the last couple of posts, shootout course length is irrelevant. These cats are made to trap air and fly, and at speeds approaching and in some cases exceeding 200mph, all of the safety systems in the world are not going to prevent these boats from going airborne. They already do that at just about any speed given the right conditions. The safest solution I see, although a large amount of risk would still be involved, is a return to offshore racing roots, where 40'+ deep vees battled head to head in true offshore conditions, like they used to do in offshore racings heyday. Throw in some helo coverage and I think it could be a success in providing some needed exposure to the sport.
There isn't going to be a "one size fits all" answer for this.
As far as racing offshore. I agree but most of the guys doing these runs aren't interested.
#45
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Last edited by PARADOX; 10-17-2016 at 08:53 PM.
#47
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First off I truly feel for the families of these drivers and all the previous drivers who have passed in these horrific crashes. These boats at these speeds are just asking for trouble and all who do it know the risks. I am a lifelong boat in recreational and performance. All those who want to over analyze calling it "drag boats" or not by what they call rules or discrepancies is BS. These large cats at these speeds in flat water.....oversize drag boats is exactly what they are! Offshore cats in the ocean were meant to run I flatter ocean for speed when they could beat the Vs in flatter water and could run what, 120,130 in the flats and people were dying then pushing the limits, it's going to happen. Did anyone watch that video in Mayland or the OL cat at LOTO flip a couple hundred feet or whatever in the Fkn air