New safety rules

[Heatwave]

C1 and X cat have introduced new rules as a result of the Victory crash centered around improving cockpit safety including mandatory structural additions to the cockpit area and accordingly have increased the minimum weight for the C1 by 400 lbs and Xcat by 175 lbs. The Victory boat took off at approx 125 mph and hit the water (upside down)at 109 mph with the resulting damage we have all seen. These speeds are within the normal racing speeds of all the Cat classes including X cat and SCL. Are the/should the US racing orgs going to follow suit.

[Ryan Beckley]

I read the new rules and they are going to obsolete about 1/2 of the X cats class already. It seems to me that they are grasping to make it look like they are doing something. Unfortunately it took a Victory Team Class 1 accident to bring this to the forefront. When I raced there in April a racer was killed in a poorly constructed X Cat boat but no one knows about that... Some of the mandates are great but not many teams will be able to complete them all before the start of the season. I expect to see some teams bail out of those series and be racing in the states this year. Canopy safety definitely needs to be looked at as well as building techniques. I,for one, don't agree with the addition of Rally Car types of seat being mandatory, as it seems to me, they limit mobility of getting out of the boat for some people. I think that the safety people of OSS are second to none and police the safety as good as any sanction that I personally have seen or raced with.

[skaterdave]

ryan can you put a link to these new rules ?

if the new safety rules limit the boats in x-cat would it be wise to let them race that same boat here in the US?

how did they mandate the additional weight to say that it somehow improves safety?

[Ryan Beckley]

The added weight is so that teams can strengthen their canopy structure and not add too much weight.

I have the rules in a format that can't be posted..... I can email them to interested parties.

Of the boats that may race here they are actually some of the safest ones there.....

There are MANY there that would not pass OSS safety tech here....

[skaterdave]

The added weight is so that teams can strengthen their canopy structure and not add too much weight.

I have the rules in a format that can't be posted..... I can email them to interested parties.

Of the boats that may race here they are actually some of the safest ones there.....

There are MANY there that would not pass OSS safety tech here....

i have not read the new rules but unless the added weight has to permently mount, how does this force teams to actually build a safer boat?

unless the weight is without moveable ballast, the lazy teams will just add more ballast ???

[shifter]

Could you send them to me gearboxes@hotmail.com

thanks Ryan

Can you describe the xcat wreck?

[Sean H]

i have not read the new rules but unless the added weight has to permently mount, how does this force teams to actually build a safer boat?

unless the weight is without moveable ballast, the lazy teams will just add more ballast ???

You have to meet the canopy specs, the weight increase is so you don't have to steal weight out of the boat elsewhere to strengthen the canopy/cockpit/windscreen system.

There are plenty of poor canopy designs running around out there that the crews think they are safe in, ultimately, somebody (org) has to put their foot down and set some guidelines. We don't need any more canopies coming apart in incidents that they should easily handle.

[Ryan Beckley]

The X Cat wreck was in a newer Hotboat. The boat crashed and flipped. The hull broke, the window broke, the rear cockpit bulkhead broke, the lid failed......

[2TR]

Ryan,
What speed do you think they were traveling at?

[2TR]

It's difficult to tell from the pictures but the shape looks good but very thin.

[shifter]

thanks Ryan,

The "A" pillar is pointed right at the opening and not across the lid...not good.

pat W

[BradH]

What are they doing to improve diver/rescuer response time?

Can someone post the new/revised canopy specs?

[Ratickle]

thanks Ryan,

The "A" pillar is pointed right at the opening and not across the lid...not good.

pat W

Sorry Pat, I don't understand. Can you sketch what you're describing, or fill in this bonehead....

[2TR]

What are they doing to improve diver/rescuer response time?

Can someone post the new/revised canopy specs?

Hope this works

[2TR]

X-Cat

[2TR]

To shrink the file size on the X-Cat safety report I removed 2 pages, a blank 19 and a disclaimer page 13 I think. so if the numbers don't line up you know why.

[Ryan Beckley]

Those ARE NOT the additions that just came out...

[2TR]

You are correct..Thanks

[Ryan Beckley]

Thanks for posting.....

[Heatwave]

"It seems to me that they are grasping to make it look like they are doing something."

Ryan, I don't think that is a fair statement. There has been an accident, an investigation and then a recommendation to improve cockpit safety, which has then been converted into new rules by the WPPA. In the US in the last 2 seasons there have been several racing accidents resulting in cockpit failures and 2 deaths. I am yet to see any recommendation from any US org coming out of any investigation into these crashes.