Big Accident

[Mick]

Glad the guys are ok.

Guess the boat would not have survived a rough day at Theewaters then...

[Navrik]

Rougher WC conditions is always a concern when choosing a bass boat. Some brands just don't feature down here when you get to local competitions.

This is where the Rangers and Rebels have made a name for themselves. Does anyone know what the future holds for Rebel boats?

[Jim_From_Zim]

About 2 years ago whilst fishing the vaal dam, a storm came through and all the boats high-tailed it to there respective launches. I watched a Triton doing mach crit to get back in front of the storm, when it hit 2 successive waves (vaal dam can get nasty at times), became airborne on the first, clipped the second wave with the tail and proceeded to lawn dart into the water with a sudden stop. Fortunately no damage to the craft, but the rest of the trip back to the launch for them was pretty slow as I can only imagine they were shaken up a bit.

Then early last year, we were bashing the vaal river, speeding from spot to spot, where we also hit a wave (probably a wake) and the nose pitched in. Fortunately the VX's nose sits very high in the water so it didnt do the submarine thing as bad as to be expected. But, the trolling motor jumped forward with the sudden stopping, pitched in and snapped the main shaft clean off. (We now secure it down properly when changing spots)

Learning from this, I figured out that the biggest problem with high speed on the water is quiet simple really:
1: If the water is stained (like TWK, Vaal dam, Kwagga's) keep the speed manageable
2: Same for if the wind picks up.
3: Trim the motor up(picking the nose up higher) and track either into or downwind, keeping the speed down at the same time. Its painful, but safer.

The issue with stained water, is that you cannot see a wave/wake as easily as you can on cleaner water. The wave/wake does not create a shadow line, regardless of the time of day. This makes it extremely difficult to see it when speeding along. I suspect this might be the case here in this accident. Hope the crew recover soonest.

If the hull is rated to 'x' HP, and its got something bigger on the back, does that not mean that the person who signed out the certificate can be in hot water?

[Brenden]

Hi jim there are currently no restrictions regarding the motor here in SA. It will probably come in the future, but lets not open a can of worms yet. I ask one question, both incidents u descibed are very scary, but did any of the boats shatter? This incident is not entirely related to the motor. As smurf and I both said something else was wrong. There are loads of bass boats that have big motors on in SA that have hit many wakes and been in very rough conditions and none have shattered like that. Many guys have nose dived into a swell or hit a wake or even been ejected but never has a boat disintegrated like that. My opinion.

[Jim_From_Zim]

Howdy B,

Nope, both boats were fine after the events, although on the Vx my pocket hurt a bit :blue-lol: (I've replaced that darn pole 3 times already...)

Do you also see that the Tribal is made from carbon instead of glass? This sure give's it the lightness it needs for the higher speeds, but might compromise the handling making it twitchy.

Does anyone know if they just darted nose first, or did they get the twitch/wobble/rocking motion followed by the flat spin?

[smurf]

Brenden,I have to agree here,there are,and have been for 30 plus years of bass fishing,boats that according to USA standards are considerably overpowered,that have encountered waves and wakes of huge proportions.I have personally stuffed a boat INTO an oncoming wave (under the bridge at Theewaters !) resulting in half a meter of water coming over the entire boat,but the craft survived the incident,although the screens and sonar were gone !Being tuned in to your capabilities and the capabilities of your equipment is key...if you let testosterone loose,things are going to end up in tears,as was the case here.NO amount of surveys or Certificate of Fitness is going to prevent this happening if common sense goes out the window .

[Riprap]

There will (legally) have to be a full investigation into this incident and the results will be made known.

[Ninja]

There will (legally) have to be a full investigation into this incident and the results will be made known.

Who will do this, SAMSA or SAPS?

[Q]

Just another look at things.
Isn't that boat a prototype? And they are still testing it? So the only people who has to investigate it is the manufacturer themselves.
I'm no expert, but as others pointed out, it looks more like structural failure i.r.o what motor is on the back.

[Jim_From_Zim]

Q, I think it was the 3rd or 4th boat out of the moulds. I think the prototype was red and white.

I recon it was a similar accident to this video clip: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UEETjztLqI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UEETjztLqI</a><!-- m -->

[Riprap]

Morning Ninja. SAMSA (reluctantly) took over control of inland waters in March 2009 after the regulations were updated in 2007. Of importance here is that design and construction compliance by boat builders was given a 2 year grace period till August 2011.

SAMSA appointed the SAPS Waterwing, SAPS & Surveyors as authorised agencies to help manage and control inland waters, either of which can initiate an incident report which would then determine if a full investigation is required. Remember Oscar’s incident on the Vaal river……and the booze empties, hmnnnn!

[Baarsmeister]

JOH!! scary how quickly and how bad such an accident can happen. That boat is a total wreck! The guys must be thankful to get away with such minor injuries and not to have drowned. This could have happend whilst they were the only boat on the water and then there would have been serious problems. Besides the seriousness of the accident, which is of main concern, the financial loss of the boat is serious in itself.

So het elke sport ook maar seker sy beserings ne, although most accidents can be avoided.

[Peter]

I have to agree with Smurf and Brenden. Something did go horribly wrong and I would imagine it was in the Hull Construction Stage. Just my opinion.

[August]

Ive seen one crash and two other boats involved in a crash.

In 2011 in the BETT at driekoppies a guy lost it in a sniper boat. Not at 130, but slit fairly significant crash with guys flung out about 20-30m from the boat. Minor damage to the console, further nothing.
The damage on the other two boats was basically none.

[breedesmallie]

Sorry to say and I know I am stepping on toes now but 138 km/h with a boat is just to show off. I saw a lot of guys during comps with these huge motors with speeds out of this world and at weigh in they fished like my ass. It became a show off bussiness. It's time that there must be laws in place to fit a motor on a boat not exeeding the hp that it was built for. I will eat every single fish raw you catch at 138 km/h.
Don't understand me wrong, if your boat is built for a 250 hp, fine and luckily for most of us most bass boat owners are responsible people. I just think our laws aint strict enough concerning speeds on our relative small waters and fitting boats with over powerd motors.