Gould,

Go to: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/sinking/default.asp look half way
down and you will see the list of why boats sink when underway. click on
the link for Hull splits open and you will see:

Three of the boats--six percent-- sank because their hulls split open. In
each claim, the cause of the failure was a lightly built hull slamming into
waves or, in one case, another boat's wake.

Prevention: How can you tell if your boat was intended by the builder to
withstand offshore conditions? A boat's weight, relative to other boats the
same size and type, can give you a clue. So too can the quality of its
hardware and finishing work. The best source for finding a boat's
reputation, however, is other boat owners, marine surveyors, repairers, and
the BoatU.S. Consumer Protection Bureau. The BoatU.S. web site (boatus.com)
includes a "Boater to Boater Directory" that allows you to ask over 1,100
boat owners about specific make and model boats.

Don't depend solely on a manufacturers' promotional literature. A surveyor
called Seaworthy recently to talk about a lawsuit that involved a boat whose
hull split open after flying off of a large wave. The boat's manufacture
claimed that the boat had been abused. The owner countered with a photo of
the same model boat flying off a wave at high speed. The photo was being
used in the manufacturer's promotional literature

wrote in message
oups.com...

The real ME wrote:
According to Boat / US and their insurance pamphlet, the reason for
boats
sinking on open water a


Reason
Percentage
Taking Water Over the Gunwales: 30%
Leaks at Thru-hulls:
18%
Leaks at Raw water Cooling System/Exhaust: 12%
Drain Plug Missing:
12%
Navigation Error (Grounding): 10%
Boat Construction (Hull Split Open): 6%
Leaks at Outdrive Boots:
4%
Struck Floating Debris:
4%
Other:
4%

I was surprised that leaks at Outdrive Boots only accounted for 4%.



Do you have a link to the site that supports "the hull split open" as
the definition of boat construction?