the danger of bowriders....

Firefly625

Firefly625

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...well various folk claim that you don't get closer to death than riding in a bowrider in anything but a boating lake... well I now have found proof of just how dangerous they really are!! :)



in all seriousness....have you ever seen anything quite so odd...
 
So they just whacked a jet drive into reverse at full throttle forward ?

Dont think that was done on purpose, serious risk of flooding the engine and killing it
 
mlines said:
It was done on purpose
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Definitely, but I wonder how.
The boat looks like a standard MasterCraft skiboat, and I've helmed a similar one in several occasions.
She has inboard engine and straight shaft, and there's simply no way to reverse quickly enough to produce that result.
Beside, the helmsman seems to do something with his left hand before the boat goes down, and there's nothing to maneuver on that side of the helm, in the stock boat.
My guess is that they fitted some sort of hydrofoil tabs astern, similar to those meant to create more wake for wakeboarding, but maybe bigger, and by moving them quickly from the "stern down/bow up" position all the way to the opposite, the helmsman can actually sink the bow.
 
MapisM said:
Definitely, but I wonder how.
The boat looks like a standard MasterCraft skiboat, and I've helmed a similar one in several occasions.
She has inboard engine and straight shaft, and there's simply no way to reverse quickly enough to produce that result.
Beside, the helmsman seems to do something with his left hand before the boat goes down, and there's nothing to maneuver on that side of the helm, in the stock boat.
My guess is that they fitted some sort of hydrofoil tabs astern, similar to those meant to create more wake for wakeboarding, but maybe bigger, and by moving them quickly from the "stern down/bow up" position all the way to the opposite, the helmsman can actually sink the bow.
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I must be on your ignore list !, its a jet drive unit, it has a bucket that drops down over the jet instantly putting it into reverse, normally there is an interlock, but it must be faulty
 
TopDonkey said:
I must be on your ignore list !, its a jet drive unit, it has a bucket that drops down over the jet instantly putting it into reverse, normally there is an interlock, but it must be faulty
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It's quite an old vid; was on here maybe 5 years ago. It is a shaft drive boat as MapisM explained, not a jetboat
 
TopDonkey said:
I must be on your ignore list !, its a jet drive unit, it has a bucket that drops down over the jet instantly putting it into reverse, normally there is an interlock, but it must be faulty
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Nope, I saw your comment. And I know how a jet drive works.
I also agree that reversing it at wot could produce the same effect.
But I've never heard of inboard skiboats with jet drives, whilst I'm aware of special flaps meant to increase the boat's wake.
I did qualify my idea as a guess, anyway.
If your idea was based on anything factual, I'm all ears.
 
MapisM said:
Nope, I saw your comment. And I know how a jet drive works.
I also agree that reversing it at wot could produce the same effect.
But I've never heard of inboard skiboats with jet drives, whilst I'm aware of special flaps meant to increase the boat's wake.
I did qualify my idea as a guess, anyway.
If your idea was based on anything factual, I'm all ears.
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It was based on personal experience driving jet boats and knowing the dangers of the reverse bucket being dropped at significant throttle.

I dont have any experience with inboard prop driven ski boats, and i just cant see how it could come to a dead stop so quickly and then reverse just with some underwater flaps, as soon as the boats stops, the stern lifts slightly and it starts going backwards, just like a jet bucket had been dropped, but then i've never seen these extra flaps that you mention, so could be wrong about it being jet, and you make a good point, that jet boats arent normally used for water skiing !!
 
Firefly625 said:
...well various folk claim that you don't get closer to death than riding in a bowrider in anything but a boating lake... well I now have found proof of just how dangerous they really are!! :)



in all seriousness....have you ever seen anything quite so odd...
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I managed it 3 times in one trip !

In my opinion the clip is carefully cropped , he hits a very deep wake just before stuffing it.

In our case we stuffed a bayliner all the way over the w/s and 6-8 inches up the clear canopy above the WS. short sharp waves similar to large wake which I think has been cropped out.

the poppers failed after wave 1

wave 3 ran straight through the cockpit and us, engine kept going.
 
It was discussed at great length on the ski forums when it first appeared in around 2007.

The driver claimed he was trying to do a straight forward 'Master Craft' turn where the boat spins in its own length. They are easy to do and drivers occasionally add a little reverse to help it along (and they have no mechanical sympathy !)He says he didnt do anything different or try to submarine it.

I have never seen a plausable explanation for why it happened, the only thing I can think of is that hes either got the anchor from the Titanic in the bow locker or the boat was already partially full of water, but it still doesnt explain the agressive way it goes under water.

I beginning to think Daka might have the correct explanation, but if hes right its a very very good bit of editing.
 
landlockedpirate said:
It was discussed at great length on the ski forums when it first appeared in around 2007.

The driver claimed he was trying to do a straight forward 'Master Craft' turn where the boat spins in its own length. They are easy to do and drivers occasionally add a little reverse to help it along (and they have no mechanical sympathy !)He says he didnt do anything different or try to submarine it.

I have never seen a plausable explanation for why it happened, the only thing I can think of is that hes either got the anchor from the Titanic in the bow locker or the boat was already partially full of water, but it still doesnt explain the agressive way it goes under water.

I beginning to think Daka might have the correct explanation, but if hes right its a very very good bit of editing.
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Skiboats have a deep finn kiel, and as such able to make very sharp turns.
Miscalculating the seastate (wave as Daka writes) can cause a problem. Heres is one that was succesful....:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsF8niEGEMQ
 
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