stay in or get out ? ?

[will350]

I'm really curious about what other folks think about
staying in the boat or getting out of the boat when the
" unscheduled take off" comes around .
I'm fairly sure opinions will based on realative speed .
I'm leaning towards staying in because you have some
say ( control ) about the inside of it . You know what kind
of devils you're dealing with in there . Whereas , personal
experience tells me that the second you leave , fate and
luck take over.
Not just idle musing on my part . There is a reason
for this question . R-14 Will

[Ron Hill]

HILL FAMILY RULE: You don't leave the boat unless you take the wheel and throttle with you... Stay with the boat. The guy behind you can see a boat, and will try and miss it...If you are out of the boat, a guy turns to miss the boat and runs over your ass.

Seat belts (In cars and capsules work)...

I've blown tunnels over (not MY FAULT) but staying with the crash until the end is best...If you are out of the boat, when it stips, you may run into the boat....

Captains stay with their boat...

Best answer is not to WRECK!

[B1PRORACER]

There is always a chance that you might save the boat if you continue to try to control the boat... If you are going a decent speed, it happens so fast that you don't have any time to do too much! I have always hung on untill my hands get ripped off the throttle and steering wheel.... its like bull riding: no-one can hang on forever...and thats no bull!

[Dave_E71]

lately (the last 3 times I went out of a boat) I found I didn't have much of a choice,

blowover 250ccH kneeling, I kind of fell out at some point but I think the boat was inverted when I did (reference the knucklehead post in the From the HydroRacer.Net archives thread)

blowover 250cch laying down, I didn't come out of the boat until it hit the water and when I came out I took out the cockpit side with me, I stayed with the boat because I physically was not able to get out.

stuff 500ccH laying down, no choice at all! I was thinking I can catch that guy and then I was hanging off the side of Dan Kirts boat waiting for the rescue boat to strap me to a board so my ride to the hospital could be really uncomfortable.

Dave

[Big Don]

Take the boat with you. That is what I always did. You can replace wood. That is what I taught my kids, so I thought. But Donny kicked out at the nationals this year in AXS runabout when he knew there was no saving the thing from going over. He figured if he wrecked his sisters boat for J she would kill him. So he kicks out, boat comes back around and runs him over, 40 stitches. Lesson learned. I think story's could go both way though.

[G Stillwill]

This was the end of one the best boats I ever had

it was repaired but never ran the same again.

It was Kirkwood N.Y. and a rookie driver made sure

they was to the first turn first but forgot you had to make the turn

chopped in front of me and flipped , it was either run over her

or her boat and that is where her lower unit ended up. Man those

steering wheels are rough on the knees when you go out the

front.

[epugh66]

In fast blowovers(like my avatar) its hard to stay with the boat. I know when I was hit from behind on the second corner at the '86 OSY wc in england I stayed with the boat. I was in second and there were about 25 more boats behind. I remember another boat going bottom to bottom with my boat:eek:

[modracer7b]

I always stayed in the boat as long as possible. I always felt that the boat offered me some protection from oncoming traffic. Made a few good saves that way too. One year at Taunton MA, I stood my CMH (Merc) on end. The entire boat was straight up with the pipe tips gurgling in the water and she came back down without even going off plane, although I had to get off the deck and back into the cockpit pretty quick. - Bill Rosado

[Geezeracer]

Starting in inboards, I come from a different direction here. Speed in an old conventional boat had a way of spinning up Newton's numbers so the forces of nature were gonna jerk you out no matter what you wanted. And the thought then was that you really wanted to be flung as far away from all that mass as possible, so the boat wouldn't thug the snot right out of you.

Two examples from the Same event in 1960:

Mickey Remund is in a 48 called "Full House Mouse" and is running about 104 (5 mph over the straightaway record) on the chutes of Green Lake. The breeze off turn two from Woodland Park catches him and over he goes...Sails off like a bird while the boat mostly destroys itself. Mick's gone off to Virginia Mason for about an hour and comes back with a splinted thumb, sprained from his death grip on the throttle.

In the Re-Run, Jack Phillpot, probably running no more than about 65, blows over...same way, same place...but the boat comes down inverted on top of Jack, then rolls upright pitching Jack about 40 feet. The only damage to the boat is a peeled aluminum trim strip, and Jack's off to Virginia Mason too, but doesn't return. When I got to the hospital I was told visitors were off until Monday. When I did get to see Jack he looked like he'd tried to catch a locomotive with his teeth. Lumps, Bruises, broken arm, collar bone and tibia...Lots of ow points.

We ran big courses with plenty of room, and boats always seemed spread out...And most important, when you went over the heat was stopped. Altogether I never felt a lot of concern.

In outboards the whole set-up's different. You have a LOT of other boats around you on a shorter course, and if you get pitched you're a buoy. In my two outboard events run something over 40 years ago That Buoy business was on my mind plenty, and was one of the reasons it took so long to get here.

When Will went out at Eatonville he was running second into turn two with 9 other 350s right behind him. The boat cranked up on the sponson with Will hanging onto the throttle, as Al Peffley describes it, "Looking like a flag flying in a stiff wind", and Foom!...out he went. Boinking out in front of all those other boats was a big enough surprise, enhanced though, by the re-entry snatching his helmet off. Fortunately he hit close to the boat, and was back in the boat with his helmet cinched on so quickly that the Referee didn't even know he'd been out.

So what I think is that because an outboard boat's lighter you're probably best off staying in or as close as possible to avoid getting mowed by the rest of the field. I still don't like that buoy business though.

John

[David_L6]

I'd rather stay in.... I don't always get what I want though. :eek:
If I'm out of the boat, you can bet that my @$$ was chunked out -I didn't jump!

[39R]

Will, you might have noticed that for myself, staying in the boat has been a challenge over most of last season and I can say personally that my preference would be to stay in. I can't emphasize enough how vulnerable you are to being run over by your friends once you exit the craft. But then again, the choice to exit or stay in has not been mine, it simply happens and its so fast that the next thing you know the engine sounds disappear to be followed closely behind by large splashing sound and a lake water enema!

My driving was so poor last season in this regard that I took to wearing a helmet restraint system that I purchased from Pat to keep from stretching my neck. At least I hope it will.:confused:

[Geezeracer]

staying in the boat has been a challenge over most of last season

Yes, but you've showed such incredible style this year! I thought the 25 runabout exit almost merited something like a golden saddle award :-)

In a lot of ways this thread reminds me of the Dave Gardner line regarding the safest place to be in the event of an Atomic attack...It's any place where you can ask yourself what the heck that noise was.

John

[Kevin Martin]

KEN THIS IS A GREAT DISCUSSION FOR YOU. I THINK YOU'VE DONE A LITTLE OF BITH HAVEN'T YOU? I KNOW YOU SURE SEEM TO BET WET AN AWFUL LOT, YOU JUST A GUY WHO NEEDS COOLONG OFF FROM TIME TO TIME?? :) :) COLIN WAS ASKING ABOUT SOME PLUMS THE OTHER DAY. KEVIN

[hozperu]

THis discussion brings back a lot of memories. I only had five spills over about 30 years. Worst was testing new 500 cch. Scariest was stuffing a different 500cch. Worst was being hit in 250cch. BUnky Bowerman put all the pieces back together and got us a couple of records. MOst disctructive was a B Stock hydro when there was not too much left. All but being hit were my own fault. Never had much choice about staying with the boat. But I agree the bigger "target" would probably be safest.

What I remember the most, though, is the friendships gained. And, the sportmanship; Gary Augustine has my vote there.

Have fun, be careful, go fast. Hoz Compton.

[39R]

Thanks John and Kevin, I’m at least thankful that you all where entertained with my somersaulting antics and not chagrin at the carnage. That last one at Lawrence could have been ugly as I went out in front of what seemed like 5 or 6 other runabouts as we exited turn two. I didn’t leave anyone following close any time to maneuver around me. As I recall Pat Gleason was on my hip and as I went sailing I had time to wonder before impact if he was going to be able to see me through the spray!

Kevin, tell Colin he has a good 7 moths before those Italian prunes will be ready again. Until then he’ll just have to watch what he eats to stay regular.

But on a more serious note, I think John is correct in that anyplace is a good place to ride out a blow over, stuffing or just stupid stuff like I’m known to do so long as you can talk about it afterward.

I think my biggest problem is too much ambition and to little skill. Knowing that is probably the case, I would think my competition would give me a little more room to work; what do you say guys, can I get a head start next year?;)

[mercguy]

my thoughts EXACTLY!!!!!!!!

Ken says..."I think my biggest problem is too much ambition and to little skill. Knowing that is probably the case, I would think my competition would give me a little more room to work; what do you say guys, can I get a head start next year?"

I just hope that we BOTH do not have an accident, when running together!! Are we gonna see ya at the Winter Nat's?

[Geezeracer]

Ken Says..."That last one at Lawrence could have been ugly as I went out in front of what seemed like 5 or 6 other runabouts as we exited turn two. I didn’t leave anyone following close any time to maneuver around me."

That's always been my biggest concern. I've seen people hit and escape undamaged, but I recall a driver pitched from Slovak's 280 losing an arm, and Saw Lorne Collwell run over and killed on Green Lake. In those days the driving suit was often a T-shirt and shorts, and really, Lorne was done because the bow of Jack Fite's 135 hit below the edge of that walnut-style helmet Lorne wore, so you'd think that with today's better helmets and our bullet-proof pants there'd be no need to worry much.

Then I see something like Jeff Kelly's dump last summer, right in front of Doug at Eatonville, with it's very obvious helmet test and scary results. And shortly after that I see my brother go on his ear right in front of a wad of 350s. Then I start thinking how much happier I might be belted into something with a good cage, and give real consideration to racing stuff that's more protective and doesn't present sharpened fins and a 6 inch diameter, high rpm cuininart.

John

[sponsonhead]

Originally posted by 39R
As I recall Pat Gleason was on my hip and as I went sailing I had time to wonder before impact if he was going to be able to see me through the spray!

Given your record for staying in (or not staying in) the boat last year Ken, I saw the whole thing unfold in front of me, and actually counted it down ("10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...LIFT OFF!!!").

Not to worry buddy--I had you covered. Now, had Kyle been driving, it might have been a whole different issue. For one thing, we both know he would have been in FRONT of you!

R-19/84-R

[jeff55v]

This guy chose to get out!