Runaway Contender
 

Saw this on THT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSxK9bhMNj8

Re: Runaway Contender
 

I had a friend borrow my 16' Slickcraft 160SS one day and get thrown out being stupid. He was in Lake Worth by Peanut Island, showing off & wake-jumping behind a 23' SeaCraft inboard with 4 or 5 girls on board. He hit their wake from behind at about 45-50 mph at a 45* angle and the boat landed on the hard chine and then chine-walked violently. He was thrown out, taking the windshield with him, and his arm was broken as it hit the shift lever, throwing the boat into neutral. (The throttle was a hot-foot pedal). Even though the boat was equipped with a cut-off switch, he was not wearing it.

The girls on the SeaCraft picked him up and took him to the dock at Port of Palm Beach where he was taken to the hospital. The girls also picked up all the gear thrown out of my boat along with Jeff: the skis, CG package, seat cushions, etc., and one of them drove my boat to the Port as well. It was just floating there idling after the accident.

It was powered by a Mercury 1500 150hp inline 6. That was a great motor. The name of the boat was "Divine Wind".

Back from '83-'87, I had this thing about severely overpowering 15'-16' boats. I had

• an '81 15' Whaler with an 115 hp Johnson, WOT 57-58 mph
• the '69 SlickCraft SS160 w/ 150 Merc mentioned above, WOT 63-64 mph
• a '71 15' Cacci Craft (14'10" LOA) with an 165hp XS1500 Mercury (Checkmate V-mate copy), WOT 82 mph, and
• a '79 16' Allison XTB-16 prototype with a 135 hp Evinrude, WOT 71-72 mph.

But most fun was the '86 21' Checkmate Starflight with a Mercury 3.4L 300 hp, WOT 103 mph. (That boat actually belonged to the Bayside Boatel marina in Ocean City)

Re: Runaway Contender
 

That is a wild one. I have seen it on the local news a few times. I have to wonder how they were thrown out. The news said there were 3 people in the boat who were ejected. I do not remember it being very rough and looking at the seas in the video it looks fairly calm.

I don't normally wear the kill switch unless the Ocean gives me a reason. I may have to change that policy. Perhaps it is time for someone to invent a cordless kill sensor that can be used while you are fishing in a small boat. I bet more folks would wear it if they did not have to be attached to the console.

Re: Runaway Contender
 

smells like insurance fraud.

Re: Runaway Contender
 

It does exist. The auto tether. http://www.autotether.com/

In regards to this video though, I agree it is pretty strange...