Enough is Enough: Torrente Calls for Focus on Safety

[Speed on the Water]

A must-read—Shaun Torrente opens up about risk-taking and his hope for increased safety measures following one of the most tragic years in performance boating history.

https://speedonthewater.com/in-the-news/safe-boating/safety-features/4167-enough-is-enough-torrente-calls-for-focus-on-safety

 

[fund razor]

Outstanding.

Shaun's example of a non-avoidable crash has a way of contrasting against the avoidable crashes in a powerful way.

 

[Ratickle]

One issue where Shaun is off a bit. Garth and Jim were running 197 at the time of the blow over, not 150.

There is no offshore boat capsule that has allowed participants to live in a crash at those speeds. The best chance anyone would have at that speed is the capsule systems utilized in Unlimiteds and Drag Boats. But, based on my conversations with the Unlimited designers and racers, those systems would not stand up to the constant pounding of the offshore environment.

However, they will stand up to the environment in shootouts.

Should they be required for participation in any boat going over a speed of, say, 130?

 

[phragle]

But, based on my conversations with the Unlimited designers and racers, those systems would not stand up to the constant pounding of the offshore environment.

Quite simply, they wont stand up to offshore pounding because no one has worked at designing one that would. If half the emphasis was put into that as making a 1600 hp motor run on pump gas, 200 mph crashes would be spectacular but not fatal.

 

[fund razor]

Yet, as difficult as it sounds, it would still be easier than getting a drunk guy to leave the boat tied to the dock at the bar.

 

[Ratickle]

That is true. We certainly lost more to that this year than to accidents caused by speed alone.

 

[Ratickle]

Quite simply, they wont stand up to offshore pounding because no one has worked at designing one that would. If half the emphasis was put into that as making a 1600 hp motor run on pump gas, 200 mph crashes would be spectacular but not fatal.

There has been a lot of work done on the safety capsules and equipment. In Class 1, they have done many experiments and tests. All of that information is available through APBA to all race organizations. There is not a single boat in the US that passed the capsule safety for the race in Qatar set by UIM. Every boat had to receive a waiver to participate.

However, even they recognize that anything over 150 in a capsule is a 50/50 survival chance at best. H1 boats, who currently have the closest thing to a safe capsule system at high speed crashes, only weigh 6575 pounds. An Extreme Vee weighs 9000 pounds. A Supercat weighs 9500. Class 1 boats weigh 8800, and yet the US boats won't even meet the minimum canopy requirements of those lighter boats.

As Peter Hledin says, the first thing they have to do is increase the minimum weight of the race boats so a proper canopy can be put on the boats. But, every person we lost this year was in an open, non-race, boat I believe.

 

[Ratickle]

I did spend a lot of time chatting with the guys at Lifeline during the PRI show. one of his suggestions, we need to make parachute jackets mandatory in the open boat classes where the speeds exceed 100 or so. He believes Garth and Jim would have made it if they had been wearing chutes. I am reviewing drag boat accident vids where chutes were used to see if there were any with similar incidents.

Help would be welcome.

 

[Ratickle]

I also discussed the Lifeline jacket not floating Jeff face-up after his crash at the LOTO shootout. That one really gives me the shivers.

 

[Ratickle]

The guys at Lifeline said that all jackets should be sent back for recertification regularly. And that all need to be fitted properly.

Plus, some of the ones made for poker runs, versus racing, are not designed to float an unconscious person face-up. I am looking more into that, and if that is the case, rules need to be made for shootout contests about what kind of jackets are allowed. Not just the manufacturer.