Right Time for Cockpit Safety Review?

[audacity]

dux:
i ran a caesar (dux style) boat...fun! but u have to have someone willing to ride upfront in the suicide seat. everyone is willing to give it a shot,,,once! you'll be lucky to get them back in again. 2 foot slop you will annihilate any jet ski, jet boat, or small offshore. you can ride wheelies alone but you will not be able to run hard alone. buy one, they are fun as hell. ps...i have crashed those hard too...the cops were freaking out when they saw the boat cartwheeling with an exposed propeller...anytime we took it out we had problems with the man. something about a guy hanging off the front holding onto a rope laying down ripping it up.

the bald man still has the boat. he'll sell it at a song i would bet. it just sits there. it needs rubber work, but the engine is fresh and strong.

loose a rudder at speed on any boat you will be more of a danger to others than yourself. $hit happens all the time!

thanks for checking us out in KW! i always look forward to placing faces with names.

[Sean Stinson]

I was just surfing the net looking at safety equipment and things incorporated into boats to promote safety.....

One thing that has intrigued me for awhile now is the following:

S.B. SYSTEM
RETARDED FLOATING SYSTEM
MOD. 413 R

DAC, Burgess, Seebold, and others all have this incorporated into the top of the cockpit of their tunnel boats!!! I know an offshore cat is much larger and in a rolled over situation this alone isn't going to suffice, HOWEVER, if it could be scaled up to a larger version and go to a breakaway capsule scenario we might be going down a path that has some merit to it!!!!

Lets face it a high speed crash is going to scramble your brains and you are going to be disoriented for a period of time how long depends on the severity of the crash but with this thing floating your dumb ass in a position that will make rescue and recovery more accessible now we are talking critical time saved!!!!

Just a thought!!!!

[Sean Stinson]

Here's a link to the tunnel boat version!!!!

http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vf...-0-file,00.pdf

[Sean Stinson]

Another link maybe repetitive

http://www.f1boat.com/technic/catalogairbag.htm

[T2x]

Just to let you know; I'm glad you are still with us Sir.

I heartily concur......

[audacity]

"a breakaway capsule"?

for offshore?...you could not engineer something to "breakaway" in a crash; in something that sustains larger impacts and stresses while racing in offshore conditions.
the boat materials are and the engineering cost are very expensive in the current boats. this massive expense is also without any testing and development. and then you have the fact that the boats we race are also sold as "pleasure boats" too. "breakaway capsule" from what i see is done in boats where the hull is NOT the major expense.

[Sean Stinson]

"a breakaway capsule"?

for offshore?...you could not engineer something to "breakaway" in a crash; in something that sustains larger impacts and stresses while racing in offshore conditions.
the boat materials are and the engineering cost are very expensive in the current boats. this massive expense is also without any testing and development. and then you have the fact that the boats we race are also sold as "pleasure boats" too. "breakaway capsule" from what i see is done in boats where the hull is NOT the major expense.

I didn't say a break away capsule in an indy car the TUB is the boat!!!! So using that analogy the attached components are made to absorb energy as it goes through the crash...So what is attached that could be used to absorb energy, if anything at all?? I am just saying maybe something could be incorporated to absorb the energy of the crash.....The floating balloon thing may just right the boat if it is large enough or float it out of the water to get the occupants out of the capsule in a quicker manner!!! I don't care what anyone says the more you crash it really doesn't get any easier to do.....it just happens!!!! So the more you do it and the easier it gets, the faster you're going to go and the harder you're going to crash!!!! An accident is nothing more than force and energy being displaced in an uncontrolled manner!!!!! With that being said just maybe there is a way to control the uncontrolled to a point....now if you're really confused let me tell you about.......

[phragle]

Racing by it's very nature is man's attempt to control something beyond his limits to control. Think of it as a marraige... I don't care how great of a husband you are..sooner or later she IS going to get pizzed and go off on your azz...

same thing with a race boat...

[Sean Stinson]

Maybe that's why I have TWO ex-wives because you just contol them they are all psychotic or maybe they just can't control an butthole like me!!!!

[Pete B]

tubing the entire cockpit would be a good start, Dont think $$ are into a breakaway capsule. Look at various aviation designs, one that comes to mind A-10, pilot sits in a titanum tub, not fool proof but quite the design.

[phragle]

that was one of my thoughts... you cant make it "pop out" like the drag boats.. but if you mae the tub STRONG.. much stronger than the rest of the boat...the boat breaks up..the tub is intact

[Ted]

I have thought of this too. Basically an "egg" if you will around the cockpit that has a lip on the top all the way around. It is placed into the hull, then the deck comes down over the hull and the "egg" to hold it in place. The idea is to keep a sponson or hull failure from compromising the passenger compartment. And in a horrific crash where the sponsons are ripped apart they will expend most of the energy, hopefully cushioning the forces on the "egg". I use the egg analogy because the shape is very strong and hydrodynamically smooth too.

[audacity]

now someone just needs to come up with a million dollars and over a year to complete. to just get 'er rolling.

again, the big 3: mystic, skater, and mti...ask yourself why they have not done what is being talked about???

i am looking for realistic ideas/input that can be implemented right now, in our current build, for little or NO money that will increase the safety of team jbs racing. as well as ideas that will allow teams to upgrade their personal safety as well.

thanks!

[phragle]

simple effects of kenetic energy..the bouncing that offshore boats take. the drag boats don't bounce that much, when they do, they come apart and the capsule breaks free. th only way I see it working offshore is for the capsule to be significantly stronger than the portion of boat surrounding it..so that the boat would 'break' away from it in a catastrophic accident.

EGGzactly.....

[Sean Stinson]

now someone just needs to come up with a million dollars and over a year to complete. to just get 'er rolling.

again, the big 3: mystic, skater, and mti...ask yourself why they have not done what is being talked about???

i am looking for realistic ideas/input that can be implemented right now, in our current build, for little or NO money that will increase the safety of team jbs racing. as well as ideas that will allow teams to upgrade their personal safety as well.

thanks!

Get your panties out of a twist there pal!!! The flotation could be implemented for very little cost.... I am saying that if the boat goes upside down (Gentry's crash comes to mind) the flotation could bring the cockpit up to a postion that could be out of water and be easily accessible...forget all the rest right now make the thing float as a solid unit if it goes over placement of the flotation device could in fact bring the cockpit up and out of the water!!!!! Now wouldn't that be better especially if your brains are scrambled after doing some 200mph acrobatics in a 10,000 lb boat!!!

[audacity]

the major problem i see in a flotation device large enough to impact a 50 foot offshore cat would be huge. flotation would have to occur at the CG and be close enough to the hull. if ANYTHING was off and or a puncture(debris or heat) in the floatation system occurred; it would then act as a massive bag...kinda like jumping on a swimming pool cover.

we have escape hatches on the bottom in the even of a roll. if that does not open(often they do not!) i want a clear path out of the bottom and right to the top. if the hatch is underwater, and your cockpit is not filled yet, your not going to open that hatch either.

[Sean Stinson]

I will debate this with you....This is what I am saying after a 200mph bobble you ain't going to be doing much of anything except trying to unscramble your thoughts.....so the more things you have in palce to make a systematic series of events begin to take place immediately after your stunning display of acrobats, the better off you are and the easier it will be for the safety crews to extract you!!!!! Thats all I am saying!!!! I think it is worth exploring!!!!

[Sean Stinson]

BTW drinks are on me when we get together in the very near future!!!!

[Sean Stinson]

Actually I am taking that back....You're part of the big show now so it's on you my friend!!!! Call me when you have a free minute!!!!

[audacity]

i need a drink...and don't drink alone!