Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

This is Lake of the Ozarks and why they need to limit the size of boats on the lake.....these size wakes belong in the ocean....

http://www.itn.co.uk/World/54782/seven- ... t-accident

YEP

My two cents on this video....

The video doesnt show the wake that the boat hit/struck the boat... but, it does indicate the boat was hauling ass, in broad daylight.... shouldn't the captain seen the wake and slowed down, and/or approached the wake differently? Maybe I'm missing something here, because I don't have much experience with huge wakes/waves... but, whenever I see a boat with potential to make the huge wakes, I'm already thinking about what to do - even if it involves changing course/speed, and I'm certainly telling my passengers what to expect. I don't expect them to be watching out for the dangers (although it's nice when they do) - it's the job of the captain/driver to always insure the safety of the passengers.

If what' I've said is true, then it's not the fault of the boats that make the big wakes, it's the fault of the driver of the 'videoed boat'....

And, if that's also true, why should big wake boats be banned from a public recreational lake?

If he tried to hang this on the other guys wake he is full of crap. Where was his 'kill cord' When he got tossed out the seat, it would have shut off his boat and not knocked everone else around. AND, as fast as he was going, should have told everyone to SIT DOWN.

PlaynDoc wrote: If what' I've said is true, then it's not the fault of the boats that make the big wakes, it's the fault of the driver of the 'videoed boat'....

Yep. It's how he approached the wake that caused the accident. Even a a blistering 18 MPH max speed, EVERYONE sits down when I'm underway.

this could also be a shared blame between both boats... one for the way this guy approached the wake, and partially on the other boats captain ( assuming they were hauling ass ) for going at such a rate to cause a big wake with other boaters near by... hard to say without seeing the "whole" thing.

I agree with Playndoc, operator ignorance in the videod boat. On our big lake here in NH (Winnipesaukee) a group pushed thru a 45 mph max speed limit in daytime 30 at night, to "make the lake safer". All of the issues they used as examples were BS. here in NH we already had a law on the books that within 150 feet of any other boat, dock, raft, swimmers, shore etc you must slow to headway speed, (6 mph or as slow as you can go and still maintain steerage) The speed limit did nothing but chase a few boaters off the water, the capt' boneheads are still out there causing problems, the examples they used all were violating the 150 ft rule.

I myself don't boat on Winni, and if I did I couldn't break the limit, But I still fought against it because I also know how politicians work if 45 is max speed on a lake the size of Winni (69 square miles) then eventualy I can see then making much slower limits for the lakes I do boat on.

Looks like they crossed a wake and did a Bat Turn. Lucky know one was thrown out of the boat! No life jackets or kill switch attached.

Looks like bad decision on driver, seeing a large wake is something every captain is responsible for.

LOTO is too rough for me. I'll take the Gulf of Mexico anyday. Well...except for the Tropical Storm and Hurricane days.

Plain and simple the video boat was at fault. Just cause you have the $$ to buy a high performance boat doesn't mean you know how to drive it and or read the water ahead. I see dummies like this here at Havasu a lot. Limit the size of Boats???? No Way!!! Don't give me about safety crap,,, it all comes down to the Driver of the Boat period!!

By the looks of the logos on the seats, the video boat was a Fountain 38, built to run fast in big waves...operator error, plain and simple. A LOT of gofast "drivers" think all you have to do is turn the wheel and firewall the throttles...experienced operators know better! Hit a wave or wake at a bad angle and your boat will turn regardless of what you do with the wheel!
Dumb ass...

First, he was pushing the boat's speed since he had a Lake TV camerman on board and filming.

Second, this occurred after a "fun run", but there was a ton of cruisers doing their thing. For those who haven't been here, we have cruisers exceeding 50 feet and when they are plowing down the lake, hang on to your shorts (and bring a change of underwear as well).

Third, yes, the guy is an idiot trying to get a good video shoot in water just too rough for his capabilities. Tres Martin has regular performance boat courses down here to teach proper handling, and no, the operator hadn't taken the course.

Fourth, if one watches the orignal video, pausing and starting, you can see the girl that hit the dash actually bent the throttle handles. She suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. The cameraman broke his pelvis and a wrist, the operator broke an eye socket, and everyone else had moderate injuries.

Fifth, most of the action at LOTO takes place within a certain set of mile markers ( from the 6 to the 35 or so) so there remains a good amount of lake (probably another 90 miles of channel) of calmer water available. Not to say you won't see a plowing cruiser, but not by the dozen or more you see in the rougher section, and then mainly on a holiday weekend.

Speed limits? Only at night - 30mph. During the day - the sky is pretty much the limit. With David Scott having a place a couple of miles east of us, we have seen plenty of performance boats being tested. Although he does most of his during the early morning hours. And over the years, we have seen the Geico turbine, Miss Budweiser (unlimited hydroplane), along with the MTI's, Nor-Techs, Outerlimits, Skatrs, etc. flying by and being launched.

LIfe is good.

Pretty much go along with everyone on this but still glad our lake doesn't allow house boats and big cruiser. Lanier has some boats that can produce some good size swells. For the most part owners are oblivious to their wake cause they are gone when it hits and don't even know or in some case care what they are leaving behind. The wind alone can produce some pretty good chop on an open expanse of water.
doc

OUCH

Wow, that driver just PLANTED aka disappeared from video and must have hit sooooo hard.

Anyone know apx. speed at time of crash ???

I'm surprised the boat didn't flip completely over, that's scary.

I do agree w/most here... this is the driver's error in the video. He's lucky he didn't kill those passengers and/or himself.