Speedboat accident

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Rapier
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Location: West Glos

Speedboat accident

Post by Rapier »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44769604

Quite aside from the circumstances of this, i.e drunk in charge, exceeding the 12knot limit & night time on the Thames (in winter) with an inexperienced driver (I used to watch waterlogged logs and sleepers going under Hammersmith Bridge en-route to work, so the thought of a night time trip in our type of boat fills me with dread)

Was looking at the pics of this ca. 1987/88 Fletcher GTO. Judging from the pics it looks like it was generally a well cared for a 40 year old boat, with all it's original features and the addition of nav lights and extra side rails. Those GTO windcreens are flimsy (witness the many that are bent by people hauling themselves out the seats). After 40 years of use any seat base is going to show signs of water ingress and even new ply might break under the shift in load. The kill switch is in situ, so I assume that the clip was missing on the lanyard and I've often driven small boats that have very odd steering setups, including those that prefer direct wire cable, rather than step down, teleflex, etc. My shakey (with brand new rack steering) does the very tight starboard turn once the wheel is released, now that I've set the trim tab up (and some OMCs & Mercs don't have them..) I hope it will be more manageble, but many small speedboast do exactly that. The original report said there was some play or movement (this report says back and forth, so perhaps a plastic bushing was worn) in the steering column..again depends on how it's set up. These deep V hulls are also very succeptible to people moving around on the boat. The GTO also has that ski locker between the front seats, assume that's where the lifejackets were.

Boat won't have needed a safety certificate and there's no operator licencing needed here either. Remains to be seen what the outcome is ...
Fasten bra straps and remove dentures...

Fastjeff
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Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:59 pm
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Re: Speedboat accident

Post by Fastjeff »

Too bad. A couple of fishermen just bought it here on the Chesapeake Bay--slammed into a buoy at high speed.

Jeff

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