Fatal Accidents in Motorboat Racing

[Ron Hill]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_accidents_in_motorboat_racing

WOW! Reading this list, knowing many names aren't on it, makes me think Boat Racing needs to look at safety.

[seacow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_accidents_in_motorboat_racing

WOW! Reading this list, knowing many names aren't on it, makes me think Boat Racing needs to look at safety.

Remember in the good old days of Boat Sport Hank Bowman used to write that boat racing was the safest motor sport in the US. That is until he perished in a boat race.

[Ron Hill]

After Hank's death, every OPC boat had a kill switch. I drove a Glastron, at Havasu 1966 like Hank was killed in. My boat had kill switches.

[Powerabout]

Yes I think the safety got better only after too many deaths
F1 cars were no better people like Jackie Stewart pushed as hard as he could to move it forward but the powers that be dragged their feet, F1 has 1 issues though car and track.
I would think boat racers have more power to change as a simple consensus among drivers should be all that is required???
Capsule tunnel boats are still lacking in a canopy that can survive impact with the water, I think that was the issue with the recent F2 death
Offshore seem to still not understand the forces on the deck when upside down and going backwards at race speeds
Boat racing is still killing more than motor sport for no good reason, I wonder if that is preventing people from entering the sport?

[seacow]

I wonder what role increasing speeds over the past 45 years has to do with the statistics.
Also I wonder that if the percentage of fatalities per number of drivers has gone up or down over 45 years. Membership in APBA has been steadily declining during this period. If it were found that the number of drivers decrease while the number of facilitates stays the same or increases this would indicate a very serious situation, indeed.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

I wonder what role increasing speeds over the past 45 years has to do with the statistics.
Also I wonder that if the percentage of fatalities per number of drivers has gone up or down over 45 years. Membership in APBA has been steadily declining during this period. If it were found that the number of drivers decrease while the number of facilitates stays the same or increases this would indicate a very serious situation, indeed.



I would think that coming to a conclusion about what Seacow is asking would be very difficult, as unlike most motor sports (wheeled type) the type boat, conditions they participate in, open or closed cockpit, kneeling, sitting, outboard, inboard, etc., and all the other factors would have to taken into consideration. I am sure it could be done, just don't know what the relevance would be if everything were lumped together as "boat racing fatalities". That is fairly obvious when you look at the information Ron referenced from Wikipedia. It is incomplete as to ALL the various type of boats in the sport.

If you wanted to take just the PRO category from APBA, it is very hard to say whether the introduction of the closed cockpit, strapped in rule did much one way or another regards safety in a narrow outlook way, as after the introduction of that rule it basically killed the numbers from what they had been in the 500/700/1100 Hydro numbers before versus after the rule took effect. We lost probably 3/4 of the competitors after the three year phase in period of the rule, not because the majority were afraid to race anymore because of the speeds being attained, but because the equipment cost escalated by a factor of at least 2-3 times and they either could not or would not absorb the extra cost to continue competing in the same classes.

As someone who has an artificial joint from a boat racing crash, I am all for safety, and continued my racing career for another 20 years after, BUT, as as example, I still think the capsule rule was an overreaction in the PRO category, and most of the same things could have been achieved with other/different changes rather than the road taken, which as stated basically resulted in the end of the classes affected as we once knew them participation wise except for a few people willing and/or able to pay the price equipment and cost wise.

[seacow]

I can see what you are saying and can partially agree, Bill. I also agree that drivers that still race are not afraid of increasing speed. I was referring to the drivers that no longer race because they are concerned by this. I have the impression that over 5 decades that more drivers have left the sport than signed-up or stayed-in. Cost is certainly a major factor but I would not completely discount the growing perception of danger as an influence on some decisions to abandon ship.

Another aspect of safety rules whether or not they hurt the sport or not is the issue of legal liability. I can speak as a former expert witness in lawsuits. Let me say first that I am not a fan of the legal system. Anyone can file a suit about anything and cost the other side hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to defend themselves even if they "win". If APBA cannot demonstrate that racing dangers are recognized and addressed the legal sharks could have a field day with lawsuits against the organization as the result of death or injuries. Waivers that drivers sign can successfully be challenged and defeated in court if it can be proved that APBA did not adequately address the issue.

An example of what can happen is seen in the great number of current suits against the NFL as a result of concussions that are alleged to trigger deaths and memory loss, dementia, depression etc. Some sports commentators have predicted the ultimate demise of football as we know it. All it takes to file suit is agreement with a shark law firm to give them 50% of any award if successful. Granted the claimants would not get much money from APBA before it was put out of business. Race Insurance would pay to its relatively low limits but be exhausted by any class action suit from widowed relatives of several drivers. After that premium rates could not be afforded. UN-aggregated overall APBA fatality figures and the trends over decades would figure as evidence for the plaintiffs in a law court.Dis-aggregated fatality rates by category would be attempted by defendants. A court or jury might rule and decide on cases on the basis of whether or not APBA took reasonable precautions to address growing evidence of fatalities.

Having said all of this I do not like capsules. I for one will never race a capsule boat because to me boat means the experience of open air. I choose slower lasses for the open air and for what I assume but do not know is greater safety at slower speeds.

[Powerabout]

damn hard to a class to go slower, with outboards that would probably mean most of your engine changed, open air is great but I was always thinking if this thing rolled at this speed its going to be ugly
Is sst45 the biggest class because its the cheapest or because its the safest?

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

damn hard to a class to go slower, with outboards that would probably mean most of your engine changed, open air is great but I was always thinking if this thing rolled at this speed its going to be ugly
Is sst45 the biggest class because its the cheapest or because its the safest?

Least expensive & entry level in to OPC tunnel boat racing

[Powerabout]

Least expensive & entry level in to OPC tunnel boat racing
is there any other class ( to step up to) where you can confidently run the season without going into your engine?
in other words, buy a more expensive boat but not have a big rise in operating costs?

[jon66w]

To think this list doesn't contain any of us kneel down racers. The names that jump to mind that I raced against are Jerry Waldman, A guy whose Name I don't remember was driving Jerry's Honker F hydro at Frostprof FLA which well over 100 mph,. I never saw a boat ride with sponsons out of the water so high. The boat took off on the backstretch and threw the guy out who hit the water head first while still going forward at over a 100 snapping his neck. And of course my good frend Hank Menzies who was killed at Mass. Nationals in C hydro, getting tossed out late in the day and driver behind him hit Henry's helmet from behind snapping his neck from which he never regained consenceness. I don't know how any of these could have been prevented. Jn Walters

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

To think this list doesn't contain any of us kneel down racers. The names that jump to mind that I raced against are Jerry Waldman, A guy whose Name I don't remember was driving Jerry's Honker F hydro at Frostprof FLA which well over 100 mph,. I never saw a boat ride with sponsons out of the water so high. The boat took off on the backstretch and threw the guy out who hit the water head first while still going forward at over a 100 snapping his neck. And of course my good frend Hank Menzies who was killed at Mass. Nationals in C hydro, getting tossed out late in the day and driver behind him hit Henry's helmet from behind snapping his neck from which he never regained consenceness. I don't know how any of these could have been prevented. Jn Walters

Actually Jon, Henry's tragic accident was at the SO nationals in Lake Placid, NY

[FurnalFlyer]

Actually Jon, Henry's tragic accident was at the SO nationals in Lake Placid, NY

John,
Hank was killed at Saranac Lake 1978 Stock Nationals. It was in the 35 SSH class.
Leigh,

[seacow]

So I would like to ask those who just detailed the kneel-down accidents particularly the fast alky ones that they knew about: does it seem that canopies would have prevented these fatalities?

[Steve Litzell]

I Think the cabover you refer to was that of Ben Perry. A very tragic day indeed as we lost a great competitor and good friend. There have been a few kneelers KIA over the years. Not as many though as the unlimited and OPC crowd. Offshore to has added many. Steve

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I had six friends killed in the alky category, one I knew who he was and one much after I was out of it. Capsules would have probably saved most of them, although in a couple of the accidents, these were smaller classes and I'm not sure capsules would allow them to be competitive.

Without doing research, this is a brief recap of what I remember.

The first was Jerry Waldman whom worked with my Dad, Marshall Grant, Tim Butts, Steve Jones, Harry Bartolomei and Lee Sutter and myself to put on an invitational race at Catherine Lake outside of Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was 1972. It was one heat racing, winner take all, teams chosen by Captains from the North, South, East and West. It was judged to keep the D and F Hydros down to a ten boat field for safety. Even then it was the most hair raising start I ever made. Everyone made a great start and we were only inches apart side by side as we were all over 100 mph at the start and nobody wanted to back off too soon before the first turn. I can still clearly feel the apprehension waiting for someone to back off. Billy Seebold was just to my right, and I was on the inside. When we made the turn, I was gone and halfway down the straight with Billy close behind before we saw the black flags. They weren't just waving them, everyone in the two pickup boats on the bottom half of the turn was furiously waving flags and arms. The video was scary looking. You could see everything, but you could see nothing of the accident. The whole turn was covered in spray. All the boats were turning together and you could see the big splash but no details. Jerry drove under a boat that had flipped, and he ran into the bottom with his upper body. Both arms were broken, but the doctor said a younger man would have survived. He had a full face helmet which protected his face, but the impact was just to much for his brain. He had a steel plate from a previous accident, and the trauma was just too severe. A capsule I think may have protected him. However, I'm not sure how safe a field full of capsule boats would have been at this particular time, and this particular race. Having never driven a capsule, I am not qualified to say for sure, but in my opinion the limited visibility would have probably resulted in a pileup in the turn if everyone started like we did that day. However, maybe in capsules we wouldn't have been running so close together.

It was several years until the next tragedy. UIM OD World Championships at Laredo, Texas in 1980. This was a freak accident like Dale Earnhard'ts. We had entries from Germany and Austria, and Leif Ahlborg from Sweden came as an observer. We had Canadian licenses and a Federacion de Motonautique official was there to issue Mexican licenses, but first we ran qualifying heats to get the five American entrants. The water was good, but with a little chop. I had just completed my two lap circuit and Jim Stone went out for his. It was a little bumpy on the front straight, but not that bad. Just after Jim completed his first lap, he clipped the top of a wave. His hydro seemed to be running downhill the way he set it up. The nose was low to the water and the transom was light. When he clipped the wave, the front portion leading wing section broke off but not the sponsons. The boat continued on for a long way before it coasted to a stop. The initial hit though was enough though to sling shot Jim ahead of the boat. The way he laid in the boat was a contributing factor most of us think. He kind of wedged himself in almost in a laying position and kind of angled from the transom to the throttle. He went out head first and his neck was broken as soon as he hit the water. There has also been speculation that he may have contacted the steering cable on the way out. A capsule would have saved Jim without a doubt.

Erwin Zimmerman was killed at a race in Europe near the same time as Jim. I don't remember what class it was, but he was a big guy and mostly drove OC and OD. He just was starting a successful OPC career when he was killed. He was a multi World and European champion and drove kneelers. This was the very first race he ran a proprider. He was thrown out in a turn and was hit in the helmet by a lower unit. I'm not sure capsule boats would have been competitive in the class or the type course he was running.

Erwin Zoller died a few weeks within when Erwin Zimmerman did. He was run over in the OB World Championships. He lasted several weeks before he passed away. That class could not support a capsule boat.

A Canadian named Raymond, (I'm sorry I cannot remember his name right now) was killed at Acworth, Georgia during the rescheduling and moving of the remaining heats of the 1980 Pro Nationals. We did not attend that race and so I do not know the details of the accident, but it was either 250 or 350, and so would not be a class for a capsule boat.

George Andrews was killed while setting the outboard speed record. My understanding is that he made consecutive passes good enough for the record, then was making another run when he lifted off. I don't know how badly the boat was torn up, but I'm guessing a capsule might have saved him. John Sherwood might provide some insight. John Schubert may also know something about that.

Jerry Drake was killed at DePue. He blew over his 700 hydro and most likely he would have survived with a capsule.

[Ron Hill]

Actually Jon, Henry's tragic accident was at the SO Nationals in Lake Placid, NY

I wasn't very old in 1957, in fact I was 13. Stock Outboarding was fairly new in '57, we raced 16 boats per heat. Little that I really know about the U.S.'s geography, but that summer of 1957, it rained from Flagstaff, Arizona to Worchester, Massachusetts. Where I lived we got rain, 5-6 inches a year, in Massachusetts, they got 5-6 inches in a day. Chet McClung was defending C Stock Hydro National Champion, becasue of the rain, the race was on Monday. As we left Worchester on Monday morning I remember looking down at the race course as we cross a bridge. I could not really see the water on the lake, but I did see C hydros. When I got home, I heard that Chet had been killed. To prevent this type of accicent in the future, heat races were cut to 12 boats. That was APBA's answer to safety.

I almost crashed my BeZoats D Hyrdo/35 Hydro at the 1977 Nationals. Both rigs went bewteen 73 and 74 MPH. I quit Stock racing to race MOD VP. At the time, my 21 foot Daytona Eliminator went 78 MPH. I quit MOD VP when we were doing 100 MPH!

[T2x]

After Hank's death, every OPC boat had a kill switch. I drove a Glastron, at Havasu 1966 like Hank was killed in. My boat had kill switches.


Hi Ron:

Hank Bowman was killed at the 1966 Orange Bowl 9 hour marathon. He was not in a Glastron, although he did race one previously. He was in a Mercury owned Sea craft I believe and was sitting at deck level on the stern next to the engine and was pitched over board only to have the boat turn circles before it ran over him. As you noted that led to the kill switch rule which has, no doubt saved many lives and prevented even more injuries. I was in that race and it was restarted a day later, but Mercury had pulled all of their factory boats in the interim.

[Ron Hill]

Hi Ron:

Hank Bowman was killed at the 1966 Orange Bowl 9 hour marathon. He was not in a Glastron, although he did race one previously. He was in a Mercury owned Sea craft I believe and was sitting at deck level on the stern next to the engine and was pitched over board only to have the boat turn circles before it ran over him. As you noted that led to the kill switch rule which has, no doubt saved many lives and prevented even more injuries. I was in that race and it was restarted a day later, but Mercury had pulled all of their factory boats in the interim.I knew, or at least I remember Dick O'Dea and Hank Bowman driving a Glastron with two in the boat. I guess I thought it was the sale boat. The 16 Glastron I drove at Havasu, 1966, had been driven by Jim Hinigan from Garden Grove, OMC told me that Jim had been injured at the 1966 Orange Bowl (It was in January, correct??), but un like Hank Bowman he was not killed.

[Ron Hill]

He mentioned two SST 45 drivers that were killed, one in Wisconsin, one at the PARKER KILOS (Peliese) and the Sport C, 16 year old girl at Kanakee a few yearback.Mac McCune, Bob Ellis and Jimmy Gordon were all killed driving in the 9 Hour. Red Hinman and one of the Drosde brothers was killed in MOD VP. Jimmy Hauenstein in a Formula One tunnel. Was Jimmy Mertens on that list? Loud and Proud's dad was killed in a Super Sport at Parker. Lance Faulkner and Mike Hoban we both killed in Gn's at Parker. Ted Whalen, Miller (at San Diego) Buzz Miller at Havasu (These three were all in SST 140). Brian Daley's co-Driver at Yamaha.

[seacow]

Reading the posts in this thread - as much as I don't like capsules it seems like they could have saved several of those lives no matter the category or class.
In some of the posted fatality examples high speeds do seem to be a factor. Racing may seem to be about going as fast as possible, yet the real essence of the sport is in the driving and the competition - going faster and faster in classes may represent achievement and progress yet I wonder if it makes things more unsafe. If it does is the advancement worth the toll? I found 1950s-60s FRR heats at 75 mph just as exciting to watch as 1100 heats at 95 mpg. Same for early crackers with flat-head Ford V-8s compared to those with current specs.
I am struck by the number of deaths identified in this thread, which gets back to Ron's original post -I
do not know what would make things safer but maybe more attention needs to be given to safety in APBA.

[seacow]

Maybe someone can answer this question. Current JSS boats have what looks like a roll-bar or cage over the driver and rider. Is that safety equipment and if so what if anything does it accomplish? Prevent folks from being thrown out of the boat? If it works as some sort of safety feature should it be used in other classes?

55626

[Ron Hill]

One death resulted in the requirement of a 4" washer under the driver's seat to prevent it from pulling through the tunnel top. The other death resulted in setting current or close to current capsule standards. When we raced on TV, 39 straight weeks, the most popular class was the slowest. The 36 runabouts bounced and bobbed. And when they did turn over it usually took about a minute and everyone could see what was happening. I was watching a Super Stock race, with Dave Bryan at Parker. The guy was just going down the straight away about 1/3 the way down, and the boat just "Nose dived" and killed him instantly. Steve Earl's boat that he owned, "Cork Screwed" as he came out of the first turn at Bakersfield...and killed his driver. Read this about Ted Whalen: http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/showthread.php?3008-Teddy-Whalen-and-Family&highlight=Ted+Whalen

[Master Oil Racing Team]

The roll cage is to keep other boats off of them.

Looking back now, as the PRO 700 and 1100 hydro classes started to dwindle due primarily increased costs during a recession and loss in the value of the dollar, couple with increased speeds and a rash of deaths, we should have shortened the course. With the bigger bore engines there was still plenty of power to get up over 90 on a three quarter mile course. Maybe even shorter than that, and the smaller field would be closer together and provide some good racing. I had a half a dozen close calls that could have gone either way without luck or help from above, so I don't think there is just one fix for all. The single best thing is to know when to back off. We spent thousands of dollars and many days testing and traveling to and from the OD World Championships in Berlin in 1978, and we sat on the bank. Our boat was not made for the water conditions we saw there. We were roundly criticized by people who didn't know us, but our friends supported our decision not to race.

Sean McKean came close several years ago at DePue when he went upside down, and his capsule was under the mud line. It took several good kicks to get the capsule open enough for him to escape before he ran out of air. There have been deaths and some bad injuries from open cockpit racing, but when you consider all the heats in total, there have not been that many deaths. In fact, if you looked at the bad things that happen when people test on a lake near home without any safety crew, ambulance or even a friend or pit crew standing by with a boat, you would be amazed at how many were hurt or killed doing this. There is an element of danger in any sport, and those who compete know and take the risk. It is important though to learn, observe, wear proper safety equipment and know when to back off. The more you are prepared, the better off you are to come out O.K. Capsule requirements all the way around would mean the end of outboard racing. But never stop looking at ways to improve safety. A lot of what drivers suit up with can mean the difference between serious and not so serious injuries.

[Powerabout]

Chuck Skelton told me the 4 point harness and capsule saved his life ( although injured) but he would have been far better off with a 6 point which we all have now.

[Ron Hill]

Tri Hulls have had "ROLL CAGES" since the class started. I think it started when I was OPC Chairman, 1998. As far as I know, the TRI HULL group in Texas have not had a fatality. But, Mike Schubert had made sure all roll cages were built by him, at least I think this is true.

Now, a few years back a Jersey Speed Skiff , crashed and sank. Seems the dad unhooked the son's belts, but he went down with the boat. Before the JSS Roll Cages, they sometimes had boat landing on each other with bad results.

Personally, I like roll cages and think more boats should have them.

[Ron Hill]

https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/p480x480/1470153_10151701128586965_1060959548_n.jpg

[Powerabout]

these guys test the roll cages as often as the Texas Tri hulls
http://www.v8superboats.com.au/