TYPHOON

Does anyone have any facts or info? Spin,chine walk, in a turn? I plan on racing mine this weekend and the following and any info would help me sleep at night. This sucks.
RIP
Pm me if you want.
Randy

Philm

I dont think that anyone really has much concrete info on it so far Randy. With that said, I have my own opinion on it that may or may not turn out to be correct.

I highly doubt that chine walk was the issue, as the driver, Frank, said that they were only running between 70-80mph. Don had that boat up over 110mph on more than a few occassions, and always said that it was rock solid. I have had mine, with virtually the same setup, albeit much less power, over 100 on a few occassions and it was rock solid. It is so solid that my girlfriend drove it 98mph with no issues, and she had never driven a boat before the previous day. I can safely drive my boat between 70 and 80mph all day and cant trim it out to the point that it gets loose or scary, it just wont do it.

Frank also said in the sherrifs report that the boat started wobbling uncontrollably, and hooked before he could pull out of it. That sounds to me like a mechanical problem with the steering, or even pitching off a prop or throwing a couple blades (however this is not likely, as i have thrown a blade on mine at over 90mph and all it did was start vibrating badly). I know that Don had an ITS box on the boat, as do i, and as did the Disturbed boat. The interesting thing is that on the Dristurbed boat, according to the accounts that I have heard, the ITS assembly broke, causing the boat to hook, ejecting both people in the boat and killing the passenger. Sounds familiar. Now as I said, the info about the ITS failing came from the owner of the boat. http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/k...ng-system.html

I dont know any specifics regarding what that boat was doing at the time of the failure, ie turning, running hard, cruising, etc. All I know is in both cases, the boat became uncontrollable and ejected both people onboard, and killed the passenger on both boats.

I understand your concern Randy, however you have more seat time in the Kryptonite than probably anyone else on this board. People die in boats from time to time, sometimes it is operator error, sometimes it is mechanical failure. I am going through the same problems right now with my girlfriend, who knew about Don's project, and after finding out about his death, is worried about our boats safety. Looks like life vests will be worn from now on, that is for sure.

Good luck this weekend Randy, I will most likely be stopping down in AC to watch the races and walk the pits, I will stop by if I see you and introduce myself.
Phil

jdub

I highly doubt that 34disturbed wants to rehash his experience but I do think he would have some valuable insight if mechanical failure was involved in this accident also. I do find it interesting that both boats were equipped with ITS. And it seems from the accounts of both drivers from both accidents that both boats acted or reacted in similar fashion.

I was out running this Saturday also in the leftover wake of Earl. The wind was blowing nice and the river and bay had some nice 3-4 footers. We were running pretty hard and I can remember thinking to myself this boat is eating this up...it was a awesome ride. We stopped at one point and my wife looked over at me and said this is by far the best boat we've had yet. I just looked over....smiled...and hammered down for some more. Sunday I wake up still pumped about the ride and read about Don's accident. I was floored. After reading everything I couldn't help to think it was mechanical failure...but what exactly failed? Hopefully we are able to learn what caused this accident.

I hope nobody takes us speaking of this tragic event as being done in bad taste. The last thing I would want to do is offend Don's family during this time.

Gary D

I heard about this from JDub over the weekend. Our prayers go out to Dons family and friends.

Mastercraft240

I'm in agreement with everyone else here. Most probably a mechanical faliar with the ITS setup. I've been talking to don the entire week about maybe purchasing his ilmor. I spoke to him late last week. Really wierd to think someone you spoke to less than 24hrs ago has passed.

Either way Randy, you're probably the most knowledgeable and experienced racer when it comes to kryptonites. This is like JT being scared of a cat!

Tom A.

Let's find out what happened first before we speculate too much. I had mine for 5 years, it had the Imco box with the integrated steering and I never had a problem with it. It is possible there was a catastrophic failure that caused the boat to hook (that much power could make an Xr do funny things), it is possible that they caught a wave wrong (in a true fluke type incident), or it is possible there was driver error (even for a split second). Right now no one knows exactly what happened and guessing isn't going to help.

TYPHOON

I hope its not in bad taste talking about what happened. I would think it would be apreaciated that we were talking. Maybe it could help someone else that owns the same boat. At those speeds we should all be wearing life vest. I know it is a pain in the ass and may not have saved him but lets all keep safty in our minds with our boats. I learned the hard way when I rolled a boat testing. I didnt have my belts on or my helmet or jacket. I was just testing in the calm river I thought. Well I almost lost my eye and have the scares on my face to prove what a idiot I was. I posted on the internet what I did and showed a pic of my face. The moral of the story is I have had several people confess to me that they also never used to strap in or wear there gear testing but after reading my post they always do now. So if any one has any info on how there Krypto reacts I am all ears. The only thing worse than one person gone is two for the same reason.
Randy

jdub

I hear ya Randy. The only way we can learn from these accidents is to talk about them and share our experiences. It's just a shame that it takes something like this to happen before people start talking.

Like I mentioned before I was in some snotty water this weekend and not once did the boat seem unpredictable. It was very stable and tracted straight and level. But stuff happens regardless of water conditions...hopefully the cause will be found so we can all draw some good from this bad situation.

34disturbed

hey guys its very early to speculate anything that happened on Dons boat but i can say this.... Its not easy living everyday knowing that my bestfriend was killed in my boat due to an uncontrolable incident! its easy for anyone to read about a situation like this in the boats we own and say "oh that had to be driver error" but know this at 70-80 mph which was about the speeds we were at during my accident, that these boats are comfortable in their performance per say and unless a wave inadvertantly catches the driver off guard or something drastic happens to him or her not a situation like this would happen. unless hthey had no control over the boat! its interesting to me that the driver of Dons boat stated he felt a shake or wabble in the wheel. This same uncontrollable action happened to my boat and the steering got stiff and in a matter of seconds, i mean a second or two the boat veered and hooked right!! now i had my boat in the best of condition mechanically with no dollars spared and the ITS system failed! the boat came out of impound with a report of mechanical failure with the right steering ram completely fracturing at the clevis. the initial veer and pull before hooking was my hydraulic lines finishing the circuit and emptying out, once it did i had no control whatsoever my right ram was empty. i know these systems have performed well on big boats with large power but is it possible putting an extra 16-18 inches setback on the back of a 23• v deadrise 27ft boat with a high x and a short lower (mine was 2inches) isnt reliable with these units over time with any serious power? this is all my opinion about why this may have happened to me and possibly to Dons boat also, mercury didnt have any acceptable answers. my situation was mechanical and it still isnt any easier to talk about but i want people to know and lookout now that like jdub said its happened again!! i had my boat for 6 yrs and had experienced high speeds,roughwater, all that stuff but all that cant prepare u for a mechanical steering failure at any speed! u feel totally incompetant and useless because at that point u r! i wish Dons family the best during this terrible time in their lives and hope people dont just view this as driver error this was to close to home in every way.

jdub

Thanks for sharing bro....that's gotta be tough to talk about, but your experience may help others.