Focus on the bigger problem - wakes

Little Bear · 02-28-2007, 09:45 AM

WMUR is reporting that a tragic accident in the Connecticut River was caused - among other things, by the rescue boat hitting a wake from a passing boater. "Investigators said that when the boat returned with Yates and an additional firefighter, it struck the wage (sic) from a passing motorboat."... "If the boat was larger, if she was placed in a different place, if there had not been a wake," Hathaway said."
http://www.wmur.com/news/11128705/detail.html

This was a bad situation gone worse, but the fact is that a boat wake started the chain reaction. While the cry goes out by the kayakers, WINNFABS and the rest of the feel good crowd against go fast boats, the biggest problem remains the huge wakes caused by the big cruisers. Every day these monster waves cause property damage to the shorefront, boats, and docks, and may also be causing injury to swimmers and people being thrown around their 18' bowriders when they hit these monster waves. The fact is that the go fast boats are not making these huge waves and are involved in few accidents. I can tell you that I personally fear the huge cruiser waves, but don't worry one bit about the fast boats. Where is the outrage from WINNFABS about these huge cruisers compromising safety and destroying their quality of life? If they complained about this, I might actually lend credence to their argument about safety, but all they want is to get the fast boats off of the lake.

codeman671 · 02-28-2007, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Bear

Where is the outrage from WINNFABS about these huge cruisers compromising safety and destroying their quality of life? If they complained about this, I might actually lend credence to their argument about safety, but all they want is to get the fast boats off of the lake.

This will be the next goal if they finally get their speed limit through. They won't stop until we are all running 4 stroke pontoon boats, sailboats and kayaks.

Rayhunt · 02-28-2007, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Bear

WMUR is reporting that a tragic accident in the Connecticut River was caused - among other things, by the rescue boat hitting a wake from a passing boater. "Investigators said that when the boat returned with Yates and an additional firefighter, it struck the wage (sic) from a passing motorboat."... "If the boat was larger, if she was placed in a different place, if there had not been a wake," Hathaway said."
http://www.wmur.com/news/11128705/detail.html

This was a bad situation gone worse, but the fact is that a boat wake started the chain reaction. While the cry goes out by the kayakers, WINNFABS and the rest of the feel good crowd against go fast boats, the biggest problem remains the huge wakes caused by the big cruisers. Every day these monster waves cause property damage to the shorefront, boats, and docks, and may also be causing injury to swimmers and people being thrown around their 18' bowriders when they hit these monster waves. The fact is that the go fast boats are not making these huge waves and are involved in few accidents. I can tell you that I personally fear the huge cruiser waves, but don't worry one bit about the fast boats. Where is the outrage from WINNFABS about these huge cruisers compromising safety and destroying their quality of life? If they complained about this, I might actually lend credence to their argument about safety, but all they want is to get the fast boats off of the lake.

Thank god im not the only one that sees monster wakes from monster cruisers as the real problem out there.
The only mention of wakes from the proponents side have been accusations of speedy boats making large wakes .."which is nonsence" Go Fast type boats are planing, not displacement hulls ..the faster you go the less water you displace which equals a smaller wake.
Just an observation but if anyone is causing havoc on the lake its the Oerpaid, Overfed, (Rodney Dangerfield) types who feel "Ignorance is bliss.
If I had a nickle for evey time ive been cut off or swamped by a 30+ foot summer cottage in excess of 10000 pounds id be a millionaire..

Little Bear · 02-28-2007, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codeman671

This will be the next goal if they finally get their speed limit through. They won't stop until we are all running 4 stroke pontoon boats, sailboats and kayaks.

How right you are codeman. It's a slippery slope back to the "On Golden Pond" era. On the other hand I wish they would do something about those hooligan ducks that call Winnipesaukee their home. I'm really tired of them spreading their duck itch around...

SIKSUKR · 02-28-2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Bear

WMUR is reporting that a tragic accident in the Connecticut River was caused - among other things, by the rescue boat hitting a wake from a passing boater. "Investigators said that when the boat returned with Yates and an additional firefighter, it struck the wage (sic) from a passing motorboat."... "If the boat was larger, if she was placed in a different place, if there had not been a wake," Hathaway said."
http://www.wmur.com/news/11128705/detail.html

This was a bad situation gone worse, but the fact is that a boat wake started the chain reaction. While the cry goes out by the kayakers, WINNFABS and the rest of the feel good crowd against go fast boats, the biggest problem remains the huge wakes caused by the big cruisers. Every day these monster waves cause property damage to the shorefront, boats, and docks, and may also be causing injury to swimmers and people being thrown around their 18' bowriders when they hit these monster waves. The fact is that the go fast boats are not making these huge waves and are involved in few accidents. I can tell you that I personally fear the huge cruiser waves, but don't worry one bit about the fast boats. Where is the outrage from WINNFABS about these huge cruisers compromising safety and destroying their quality of life? If they complained about this, I might actually lend credence to their argument about safety, but all they want is to get the fast boats off of the lake.

Wow!That's quite a stretch to to go from the rescue boat striking a wave to make the comparison to monster waves causing property damage and injuries to smaller boats and swimmers.Doesn't say anywhere in that report the size of the wave,what size boat made the wave,how fast it was traveling.I would guess the passing boat would probably be in that small 18 or under size based on the majority of the boats that frequent that river.Quite a leap if you ask me.If the wake WAS from a small craft should we follow your logic and outlaw all moterized boats?This is besides that fact that they strapped a person with a ankle sprain onto an airboat with running currents operated by an inexperienced driver.How scary is that.Ya,it must be the boat that made a wake(however small or big it was).
What you neglected to show on that report was that the operator of the rescue boat was inexperienced with that craft which is exactly what most of here against the speed limit sight as the problem.It's the inexperienced small boat operaters that we see all of the time driving like Capt. Bonehead.Thanks for making our point!

Dave R · 02-28-2007, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Bear

How right you are codeman. It's a slippery slope back to the "On Golden Pond" era. On the other hand I wish they would do something about those hooligan ducks that call Winnipesaukee their home. I'm really tired of them spreading their duck itch around...

Fish and Game wishes we'd buy more licenses, hunting is on the decline... 12GA is pretty effective duck itch prevention.

Little Bear · 02-28-2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Wow!That's quite a stretch to to go from the rescue boat striking a wave to make the comparison to monster waves causing property damage and injuries to smaller boats and swimmers.Doesn't say anywhere in that report the size of the wave,what size boat made the wave,how fast it was traveling.I would guess the passing boat would probably be in that small 18 or under size based on the majority of the boats that frequent that river.Quite a leap if you ask me.If the wake WAS from a small craft should we follow your logic and outlaw all moterized boats?This is besides that fact that they strapped a person with a ankle sprain onto an airboat with running currents operated by an inexperienced driver.How scary is that.Ya,it must be the boat that made a wake(however small or big it was).
What you neglected to show on that report was that the operator of the rescue boat was inexperienced with that craft which is exactly what most of here against the speed limit sight as the problem.It's the inexperienced small boat operaters that we see all of the time driving like Capt. Bonehead.Thanks for making our point!

SS you make good points for discussion. My argument sounded crazy, which was basically my intention. What you demonstrated was that this accident was not caused by a go-fast boat. You also demonstrated that accidents are caused a lot of times by inexperienced Capt. Boneheads. Great points. Why then are these people so intent on ramming a speed limit down everyone's throat when there is no record of accidents caused by speeding go-fast boats?

Aquadeziac · 02-28-2007, 04:03 PM

I believe it was also said in an interview aired on WMUR that the town was told by the boat manufacturer, prior to purchase, that that type of boat (air boat) was not designed to be used for purpose for which they were purchasing a boat.

Woodsy · 02-28-2007, 04:11 PM

the airboat accident was just that.... an accident. It was a comedy of errors as most accident usually are. Look at the tour boat accident over on Lake George... after the mods were made to the tour boat it should have been certified to carry about 14 people or so... not the 40 they had on it. But hey, Lake George does have a speed limit!

back to our regular scheduled debate about why we need a speed limit in NH when there were no boat collisions that exceeded 30 MPH....

Woodsy

fatlazyless · 02-28-2007, 07:20 PM

In this boating-rescue death, which was the only one of its' kind ever in the US where a rescue boat mishap caused the death, the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute it as a crime is a municipal employee who is from the same municipality as the rescuers. The phrase 'same church - different pew' can be accurately applied here.

No one believes that the boat operators-rescuers were acting with criminal intent in their thoughts, at the time. They were trying to do their job and make a successfull rescue.

The civil side of this accidental death is another matter. Will the family of the deceased file an accidental death claim due to inexperience, operator error, and a boat too small for its' mission against the fiscally well-dressed municipality which carries a large liability insurance policy? If you were to be the deceased, would you want your family to collect a money payment for your accidental death?

The woman who drowned while strapped into a Stokes litter that was tied to the bow area only had a sprained ankle, and she was drowned which is a relatively slow and chokingly painfull way-to-go. (Ugh-ugh-ugh....I can't breath and I'm quickly gagging water out-of-control, and choking and am all tied into this steel stretcher.........very nice!)
.................................................
Today's March 1 www.cmonitor.com has a lengthy and detailed article that takes a legal look at this Connecticut River air-boat, rescue-drowning tragedy.

Sorry Skip, but I was trying to create an accurate self-description of what it's like to drown. Is this appropriate for a boater's forum? I think so.

Skip · 02-28-2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

... the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute it as a crime is a municipal employee who is from the same municipality as the rescuers. The phrase 'same church - different pew' can be accurately applied here....

I think that Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway will be very surprised to learn that he is a "municipal employee". Of course he is not, he is the elected County Attorney for Sullivan County, answerable to all the voters of that particular county and not to any specific city or town.

I will not comment or quote your last paragraph, it is particularly distasteful in light of the tragedy and I would sincerely hope that you would have the decency to re-read it and then subsequently remove it!

Pineedles · 02-28-2007, 07:53 PM

OK, I've heard all the arguments, both speed limit and non-speed limit. I am in favor of an unlimited speed limit somewhere in the broads only. Some meters by some meters area of open water is necessary in order to go X miles per hour. That's it, end of story. It lets those who want to go X miles per hour in an area do it, and protects those who do not want to navigate in those areas a chance to avoid it. We have maps to avoid rocks, so why not "high speed areas". Please don't tell me that kayaks will suffer because I don't think that kayaks have a place in the middle or even on the edges of the broads. For those boaters who fear the "high speed area" WATCH OUT" or avoid it. It is a comprise solution just to get beyond this controversy.

ApS · 03-01-2007, 05:27 AM

Winnipesaukee boaters would recognize many of the photos and graphics shared by the Florida Boaters Guide. One difference is that one full page is devoted to airboats and stresses the airboat's top-heaviness hazard.

The following quote is taken from an entertaining and well-written introduction to airboating:

Quote:

"...Be on the watch for root clumps, large 'gators, and other obstacles in the trail - an airboat is so top-heavy that if you hit something in the trail it can easily knock you over...."

fatlazyless · 03-02-2007, 07:14 AM

Yesterday's March 1 Concord Monitor had a real long story about the botched rescue attempt, where the Cornish rescue squad turned a 65 year old women's injured ankle and bruised head into a drowning while using a Stokes litter and an air-boat. That's a supposed first for a botched water rescue in the USA. It's a long article. It's a real interesting read. I'm hoping someone (...hello Skipper, & thanks in hindsight or something) will post a link since my Concord Monitor links never work.

RI Swamp Yankee · 03-02-2007, 12:52 PM

The bottom line is, you can't prosecute stupidity and that is what the so called rescuers are guilty of. Too many people in too small a boat that was improperly loaded.

Skipper of the Sea Que · 03-02-2007, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

... March 1 Concord Monitor ... where the Cornish rescue squad turned a 65 year old women's injured ankle and bruised head into a drowning while using a Stokes litter and an air-boat. ... I'm hoping someone (...hello Skip) will post a link since my Concord Monitor links never work.

Airboat pilot avoids charges in drowning. This should link to the
Concord Monitor article FLL was talking about.

(P.S. I'll say, "...hello Skip" too

)

Chris Craft · 03-03-2007, 09:44 AM

We live on a river and I am always amazed that people will drive up it at speed in cruisers, bow riders and jet ski's. We have lost over a foot of shore since I put in my dock not quite 4 years ago. I have had two trees fall in the water and 3 more that I am going to have to cut down this spring or they will fall on the dock and lift. Errosion and millfiol have always been my #1 concern. This year I am going to have to line my waterfront with rocks to try and help prevent it from getting any worse

fatlazyless · 03-03-2007, 09:06 PM

Thankyou Skipper for posting the link. Isn't this a very interesting case. Simply put, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all the lawyers that are kept busy lawyering on this will not be able to bring back the deceased no matter what.

How many lawyers and how long in the courts?

ITD · 03-04-2007, 09:42 AM

I just visited the Yankee Airboat site, http://www.yankeeairboats.com/ according to the article the boat was 15' 6" long. They list a Yankee 16 boat, which has a capacity of 2000 lbs. I would think 4 rescuers plus a patient would be within this capacity. ( 5 X 200 lbs( avg estimate, probably less then that) equals 1000 lbs). The website is short on details though and 2000 lbs in sand bags loaded on the deck of the boat is much different from 2000 lbs in people and equipment which would have a much higher center of gravity. This looks like a small company making what amounts to a not so small product. A little more detail in their written specifications and probably some more testing will go a long way to avoiding this type of accident in the future.

I hope the rescuers are sheilded from liability personally (Skip ??) in this case, these people did not get up in the morning and say I'm going to kill someone today, they're victims here also, at worse they were victims of faulty or no training.

Hopefully some good will come out of all this. Some rules among rescuers that if you place a patient on a boat that some type of floatation device should be used that will protect the patient. If the patient must be secured to a boat that someone is assigned to be with the patient at all times and in the event of a capsize that the patient is automatically released or at least a quick release device is used. These boats should be put thru their paces before being used (or bought for that matter). I would think tests for these types of situations would be pretty easy to develop and perform. Especially being loaded in real life situation and hitting a 12 to 18 inch wake at an odd angle.

fatlazyless · 03-05-2007, 08:56 AM

No doubt, whoever strapped her into a Stokes litter instead of just wearing a pfd and sitting on a seat is regretting that decision. She slipped(?) off a dock and injured her ankle and her head, or something(?) .

As I understand it, the plaintiff's attorney plods along through a lengthy case like this and doesn't get paid till the bitter end when they get 33% of the pay-out. For the defendants, it's payment up-front at $200./hour to keep their defense poised and ready to smack the ball back to the other side. Any predictions on how long this game goes?

A 30 second slide off the bow of the airboat will keep a lot of plaintiffs and defendants engaged for years while they get worn out and worn down. Everyone loses except the attorneys!

Hottrucks · 03-05-2007, 04:57 PM

What allot of people are not seeing ( and keep in mind I live next to Cornish and the coffee shop info is way better than what they want you to hear) the biggest problem with the air boat wasn't the boat it was the way it was loaded.........they strapped her to the board placed it across the BOW .. if you are any kind of boater you know even distribution of weight.... the seating in the boat is designed to keep the boat level by placing the extra weight so far forward it caused the boat to dive and ( look at the hull design) scoop water in causing it own demise ......... this is an operator error ....if the hull was larger there would have been more room for forgiveness in this case........
That all being said this is a small town with a small budget for these types of things.... keep in mind this is a four season vehicle that they are trying to save your life with ( remember they are vollies too) This is like complaining that your house burned down because the water tank truck was to small then complained on how can they justify $300,000 in the budget for a water truck..........

02-28-2007, 04:03 PM	#8
Aquadeziac Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Concord NH Posts: 239 Thanks: 19 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Town bought wrong boat I believe it was also said in an interview aired on WMUR that the town was told by the boat manufacturer, prior to purchase, that that type of boat (air boat) was not designed to be used for purpose for which they were purchasing a boat. __________________ "He who dies with the most toys wins"

02-28-2007, 04:11 PM	#9
Woodsy Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Weirs Beach Posts: 1,949 Thanks: 80 Thanked 969 Times in 432 Posts	the airboat accident was just that.... an accident. It was a comedy of errors as most accident usually are. Look at the tour boat accident over on Lake George... after the mods were made to the tour boat it should have been certified to carry about 14 people or so... not the 40 they had on it. But hey, Lake George does have a speed limit! back to our regular scheduled debate about why we need a speed limit in NH when there were no boat collisions that exceeded 30 MPH.... Woodsy __________________ The only way to eliminate ignorant behavior is through education. You can't fix stupid.

02-28-2007, 07:20 PM	#10
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,527 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 295 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	...very nice! In this boating-rescue death, which was the only one of its' kind ever in the US where a rescue boat mishap caused the death, the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute it as a crime is a municipal employee who is from the same municipality as the rescuers. The phrase 'same church - different pew' can be accurately applied here. No one believes that the boat operators-rescuers were acting with criminal intent in their thoughts, at the time. They were trying to do their job and make a successfull rescue. The civil side of this accidental death is another matter. Will the family of the deceased file an accidental death claim due to inexperience, operator error, and a boat too small for its' mission against the fiscally well-dressed municipality which carries a large liability insurance policy? If you were to be the deceased, would you want your family to collect a money payment for your accidental death? The woman who drowned while strapped into a Stokes litter that was tied to the bow area only had a sprained ankle, and she was drowned which is a relatively slow and chokingly painfull way-to-go. (Ugh-ugh-ugh....I can't breath and I'm quickly gagging water out-of-control, and choking and am all tied into this steel stretcher.........very nice!) ................................................. Today's March 1 www.cmonitor.com has a lengthy and detailed article that takes a legal look at this Connecticut River air-boat, rescue-drowning tragedy. Sorry Skip, but I was trying to create an accurate self-description of what it's like to drown. Is this appropriate for a boater's forum? I think so. Last edited by fatlazyless; 03-01-2007 at 09:32 AM. Reason: spell-n

02-28-2007, 07:53 PM	#12
Pineedles Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Moultonborough & CT Posts: 2,535 Thanks: 1,059 Thanked 652 Times in 363 Posts	I'm making my stand OK, I've heard all the arguments, both speed limit and non-speed limit. I am in favor of an unlimited speed limit somewhere in the broads only. Some meters by some meters area of open water is necessary in order to go X miles per hour. That's it, end of story. It lets those who want to go X miles per hour in an area do it, and protects those who do not want to navigate in those areas a chance to avoid it. We have maps to avoid rocks, so why not "high speed areas". Please don't tell me that kayaks will suffer because I don't think that kayaks have a place in the middle or even on the edges of the broads. For those boaters who fear the "high speed area" WATCH OUT" or avoid it. It is a comprise solution just to get beyond this controversy.

03-02-2007, 07:14 AM	#14
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,527 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 295 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	...Concord Monitor article Yesterday's March 1 Concord Monitor had a real long story about the botched rescue attempt, where the Cornish rescue squad turned a 65 year old women's injured ankle and bruised head into a drowning while using a Stokes litter and an air-boat. That's a supposed first for a botched water rescue in the USA. It's a long article. It's a real interesting read. I'm hoping someone (...hello Skipper, & thanks in hindsight or something) will post a link since my Concord Monitor links never work. Last edited by fatlazyless; 03-03-2007 at 08:41 PM.

02-28-2007, 09:45 AM	#1
Little Bear Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 561 Thanks: 105 Thanked 237 Times in 126 Posts	Focus on the bigger problem - wakes WMUR is reporting that a tragic accident in the Connecticut River was caused - among other things, by the rescue boat hitting a wake from a passing boater. "Investigators said that when the boat returned with Yates and an additional firefighter, it struck the wage (sic) from a passing motorboat."... "If the boat was larger, if she was placed in a different place, if there had not been a wake," Hathaway said." http://www.wmur.com/news/11128705/detail.html This was a bad situation gone worse, but the fact is that a boat wake started the chain reaction. While the cry goes out by the kayakers, WINNFABS and the rest of the feel good crowd against go fast boats, the biggest problem remains the huge wakes caused by the big cruisers. Every day these monster waves cause property damage to the shorefront, boats, and docks, and may also be causing injury to swimmers and people being thrown around their 18' bowriders when they hit these monster waves. The fact is that the go fast boats are not making these huge waves and are involved in few accidents. I can tell you that I personally fear the huge cruiser waves, but don't worry one bit about the fast boats. Where is the outrage from WINNFABS about these huge cruisers compromising safety and destroying their quality of life? If they complained about this, I might actually lend credence to their argument about safety, but all they want is to get the fast boats off of the lake.

03-02-2007, 12:52 PM	#15
RI Swamp Yankee Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Kingstown RI Posts: 688 Thanks: 143 Thanked 83 Times in 55 Posts	The bottom line is, you can't prosecute stupidity and that is what the so called rescuers are guilty of. Too many people in too small a boat that was improperly loaded. __________________ Gene ~ aka "another RI Swamp Yankee"

03-03-2007, 09:44 AM	#17
Chris Craft Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 120 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	We live on a river and I am always amazed that people will drive up it at speed in cruisers, bow riders and jet ski's. We have lost over a foot of shore since I put in my dock not quite 4 years ago. I have had two trees fall in the water and 3 more that I am going to have to cut down this spring or they will fall on the dock and lift. Errosion and millfiol have always been my #1 concern. This year I am going to have to line my waterfront with rocks to try and help prevent it from getting any worse

03-03-2007, 09:06 PM	#18
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,527 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 295 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	Thankyou Skipper for posting the link. Isn't this a very interesting case. Simply put, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all the lawyers that are kept busy lawyering on this will not be able to bring back the deceased no matter what. How many lawyers and how long in the courts?

03-04-2007, 09:42 AM	#19
ITD Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 2,860 Thanks: 461 Thanked 666 Times in 366 Posts	I just visited the Yankee Airboat site, http://www.yankeeairboats.com/ according to the article the boat was 15' 6" long. They list a Yankee 16 boat, which has a capacity of 2000 lbs. I would think 4 rescuers plus a patient would be within this capacity. ( 5 X 200 lbs( avg estimate, probably less then that) equals 1000 lbs). The website is short on details though and 2000 lbs in sand bags loaded on the deck of the boat is much different from 2000 lbs in people and equipment which would have a much higher center of gravity. This looks like a small company making what amounts to a not so small product. A little more detail in their written specifications and probably some more testing will go a long way to avoiding this type of accident in the future. I hope the rescuers are sheilded from liability personally (Skip ??) in this case, these people did not get up in the morning and say I'm going to kill someone today, they're victims here also, at worse they were victims of faulty or no training. Hopefully some good will come out of all this. Some rules among rescuers that if you place a patient on a boat that some type of floatation device should be used that will protect the patient. If the patient must be secured to a boat that someone is assigned to be with the patient at all times and in the event of a capsize that the patient is automatically released or at least a quick release device is used. These boats should be put thru their paces before being used (or bought for that matter). I would think tests for these types of situations would be pretty easy to develop and perform. Especially being loaded in real life situation and hitting a 12 to 18 inch wake at an odd angle.

03-05-2007, 08:56 AM	#20
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,527 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 295 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	No doubt, whoever strapped her into a Stokes litter instead of just wearing a pfd and sitting on a seat is regretting that decision. She slipped(?) off a dock and injured her ankle and her head, or something(?) . As I understand it, the plaintiff's attorney plods along through a lengthy case like this and doesn't get paid till the bitter end when they get 33% of the pay-out. For the defendants, it's payment up-front at $200./hour to keep their defense poised and ready to smack the ball back to the other side. Any predictions on how long this game goes? A 30 second slide off the bow of the airboat will keep a lot of plaintiffs and defendants engaged for years while they get worn out and worn down. Everyone loses except the attorneys!

03-05-2007, 04:57 PM	#21
Hottrucks Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Lakes region NH Posts: 48 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	What allot of people are not seeing ( and keep in mind I live next to Cornish and the coffee shop info is way better than what they want you to hear) the biggest problem with the air boat wasn't the boat it was the way it was loaded.........they strapped her to the board placed it across the BOW .. if you are any kind of boater you know even distribution of weight.... the seating in the boat is designed to keep the boat level by placing the extra weight so far forward it caused the boat to dive and ( look at the hull design) scoop water in causing it own demise ......... this is an operator error ....if the hull was larger there would have been more room for forgiveness in this case........ That all being said this is a small town with a small budget for these types of things.... keep in mind this is a four season vehicle that they are trying to save your life with ( remember they are vollies too) This is like complaining that your house burned down because the water tank truck was to small then complained on how can they justify $300,000 in the budget for a water truck..........