Two dead, four injured in Padstow speedboat crash.
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prv
Well-Known Member
Flat out is exactly when you do need to stand up, otherwise you're liable to find your kidneys coming out through your ears.
Pete
chewi
Well-Known Member
only the ones with any weight on I think.
Seajet
...
Eh ?
What about driving a Buggati Veyron or Caterham 7 over our increasingly popular pot-holes ?!
prv
Well-Known Member
In your car, yes. But not in Seajet's, apparently, because he says these systems don't use weight sensors
Pete
prv
Well-Known Member
If your road has potholes the size of even a "Smooth or slight" sea-state, the Veyron will ground out on the very first one. Even on the smallest wind-ripples it would probably shake itself to bits at any speed.
I don't claim to be an expert on fast motorboats, but I've done a little bit here and there. You clearly don't know the first thing about the subject (probably proudly so), so don't you think you ought to be a little less strident in telling them how to do it?
Pete
chanelyacht
Well-Known Member
From a number of years driving an 8m Delta rib, you certainly do stand up the vast majority of the time. It's the only way to maintain a 360 degree lookout as well as allow your knees to absorb impact, not your back.
KevO
Well-Known Member
st599
Well-Known Member
If you like your gonads where they are, you won't drive a RIB at 30 knots sat down.
Seajet
...
Pete,
I've also done a little bit here and there on fast motorboats - rescue boats mainly - I also know how car systems work which you clearly don't ( I can think of an ex girlfriend where the car would have refused to start and a computer voice say " one at a time please ! " ) ; as for being strident with opinions you are infamous for it here so buckle up !
prv
Well-Known Member
So why the surprise and reference to cars when people talk about driving standing up?
So why write this:
?
The difference is that when my statements are assumptions, conjecture, or guesswork, I say so rather than asserting them as fact. If and when they're shown to be incorrect, I cheerfully admit it. You are notorious to the point of mockery for insisting on keeping digging.
I also don't have to send apologies after I've sobered up, for sending unpleasant PMs the night before.
Pete
Seajet
...
Nor do I...care to give an example ?
Seajet
...
PRV,
I thought not re your latest wild claims; it is you who are notorious for egotistical posts and being a loudmouth on here, to the extent it was privately commented to me by several people on the Poole cruise before you all even set off.
Let's agree to end this here now.
Andy
I thought not re your latest wild claims; it is you who are notorious for egotistical posts and being a loudmouth on here, to the extent it was privately commented to me by several people on the Poole cruise before you all even set off.
Let's agree to end this here now.
Andy
Iain C
Well-Known Member
IMHO, sad as it is, it's just a simple case of education. I agree with the comments that had it been a bunch of tattooed lager louts the reporting would have been different...but as it was a media exec, what do you expect from the media?
People just don't appreciate what a weapon a powerboat can be. People just need to stop and think. If you had said "here, have a go in this. It's a 300hp off roader, there's a load of jumps over there for you to play on. There's no roof, no doors, no seatbelts, no roll bar, no brakes, it's only got a hand throttle, so for christ's sake don't fall out 'cos it will keep going...so pop your family in the back and go and give it the beans" the average person would say "hang on a minute...that doesn't seem like a great idea...are you sure?". Why is a boat any different?
It's terribly, desperately sad and I can only imagine what was going through the family's minds as the RIB was circling. And thank goodness no third parties were caught up in it (if that makes any kind of sense?). If there is one bit of positivity out of all this, perhaps it will make people think again about killcords. I'll hold my hand up...in my poxy little 2.3m rubber duck tender with my 2.5 on the back, if I was accompanied, going 50 yards between Lymington river moorings and the quay, I might not bother with it. Guess what I did religiously this weekend.
The killcord goes around your leg because it does give a degree of movement and enable you to stand or move around without cutting the engine inadvertently. Wrist is a big no no as it is very easy to slip off (and do we know for sure that this isn't the case in Padstow?). Prop guards have, I believe, been shown to potentially make things worse...sucking in or trapping a limb in low speed incidents. TBH if a RIB is circling at 20 knots and you get hit by the unguarded or guarded prop, the bow shackle, the hull or the outboard leg it's going to hurt and make a mess.
People with any degree of common sense would not drive a car without a seatbelt. You shouldn't drive a powerboat without a killcord. I'm sure in this case it was a tragic oversight rather than a "killcord...whatevaaaa" situation. And for the muppets who insist on riding bikes with no brakes, not weating seatbelts in cars, riding mopeds with the helmet strap flying in the wind, or for that matter deliberately driving a RIB with no killcord because it won't happen to them and they are a rebel/too cool for killcords, no amount of education will help as they are trying to make a "statement" so we must fine the bejesus out of them or leave natural selection to do it's thing (to repeat, I do not think for a moment the Padstow family were in this bracket.)
I ride mountain bikes too. If you turned up at a trail centre and hit the singletrack with a dodgy looking bike, no helmet, and no idea on riding etiquette, you'd get called a total ****** by every other rider there. It would be totally socially unacceptable on the basis that you do not have the right to bugger up someone else's life by making them the one who cradles you in their arms as the last bits of brain trickle out of your left ear hole because you've made a big mistake. Unsafe powerboating needs to have the same stigma as lighting up a fat cigar on the quiet coach of the train. People WILL say something as it's potentially THIER life you are endangering.
So very sad but I do hope this is the tipping point for powerboat safety...
People just don't appreciate what a weapon a powerboat can be. People just need to stop and think. If you had said "here, have a go in this. It's a 300hp off roader, there's a load of jumps over there for you to play on. There's no roof, no doors, no seatbelts, no roll bar, no brakes, it's only got a hand throttle, so for christ's sake don't fall out 'cos it will keep going...so pop your family in the back and go and give it the beans" the average person would say "hang on a minute...that doesn't seem like a great idea...are you sure?". Why is a boat any different?
It's terribly, desperately sad and I can only imagine what was going through the family's minds as the RIB was circling. And thank goodness no third parties were caught up in it (if that makes any kind of sense?). If there is one bit of positivity out of all this, perhaps it will make people think again about killcords. I'll hold my hand up...in my poxy little 2.3m rubber duck tender with my 2.5 on the back, if I was accompanied, going 50 yards between Lymington river moorings and the quay, I might not bother with it. Guess what I did religiously this weekend.
The killcord goes around your leg because it does give a degree of movement and enable you to stand or move around without cutting the engine inadvertently. Wrist is a big no no as it is very easy to slip off (and do we know for sure that this isn't the case in Padstow?). Prop guards have, I believe, been shown to potentially make things worse...sucking in or trapping a limb in low speed incidents. TBH if a RIB is circling at 20 knots and you get hit by the unguarded or guarded prop, the bow shackle, the hull or the outboard leg it's going to hurt and make a mess.
People with any degree of common sense would not drive a car without a seatbelt. You shouldn't drive a powerboat without a killcord. I'm sure in this case it was a tragic oversight rather than a "killcord...whatevaaaa" situation. And for the muppets who insist on riding bikes with no brakes, not weating seatbelts in cars, riding mopeds with the helmet strap flying in the wind, or for that matter deliberately driving a RIB with no killcord because it won't happen to them and they are a rebel/too cool for killcords, no amount of education will help as they are trying to make a "statement" so we must fine the bejesus out of them or leave natural selection to do it's thing (to repeat, I do not think for a moment the Padstow family were in this bracket.)
I ride mountain bikes too. If you turned up at a trail centre and hit the singletrack with a dodgy looking bike, no helmet, and no idea on riding etiquette, you'd get called a total ****** by every other rider there. It would be totally socially unacceptable on the basis that you do not have the right to bugger up someone else's life by making them the one who cradles you in their arms as the last bits of brain trickle out of your left ear hole because you've made a big mistake. Unsafe powerboating needs to have the same stigma as lighting up a fat cigar on the quiet coach of the train. People WILL say something as it's potentially THIER life you are endangering.
So very sad but I do hope this is the tipping point for powerboat safety...
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
well said Ian C
alant
Well-Known Member
Anything above a certain HP/Speed perhaps!
alant
Well-Known Member
Does your car work in seawater?
alant
Well-Known Member
Driving a RIB at speed, when sat down, leads to back problems, so most experienced drivers are standing with knees flexed.
GrahamHR
Well-Known Member
Pete,
I've also done a little bit here and there on fast motorboats - rescue boats mainly - I also know how car systems work which you clearly don't ( I can think of an ex girlfriend where the car would have refused to start and a computer voice say " one at a time please ! " ) ; as for being strident with opinions you are infamous for it here so buckle up !
Most car seat belt warning alarms use a pressure sensor to detect if anyone (or shopping etc) is on the seat.). Likewise, for the airbags. It's a yes/ no situation. If yes, then the switch on the fixed seatbelt buckle is able to sound the alarm ( or the airbag sensors can trigger the airbag detonation). On some, merely pressing the release button on the buckle is enough to switch off the alarm warning, if you are so inclined.
As to standing up in our sportsboat, at high speeds I always do; it's the only way to get a clear view of upcoming potential hazards, which come up pretty rapidly. At lower speeds, maybe around 15- 20 knots I tend to semi sit down on the bolster on the seat, which can be raised. Always with the kill cord attached to me; usually on a belt or belt loop..
Tintin
Well-Known Member
I am fairly certain the RNLI beach lifeguard ribs have prop guards with a cage / mesh to stop limbs going in.