Jeff wrote in
:

* Ed Gordon wrote, On 6/10/2007 11:49 AM:

I did find this though...

http://www.ne-ts.com/ar/ar-407capsize.html


You can't blame the boat for that terrible tragedy. It said the guy
was drunk and it said this too: "The boat that capsized on the Fourth
of July and killed two children was overloaded and was being used
incorrectly, according to the boat's manufacturer."

"The 26-foot MacGregor, which is a cross between a sailboat and a
power boat, is designed to hold up to six people, according to Roger
MacGregor, the boat company's owner. The boat carried 11 people the
night of July 4."

"The boat's hybrid design uses a water tank on the bottom to provide
stability. The tank should be filled when there are more than four
people on board, MacGregor said. The tank on the boat driven July 4
by George Dean Martin was empty, according to the prosecutor in the
case."

The guy was dumb and drunk. Don't blame the Mac!!!

Sure we can blame the Mac. Half the boaters out there were probably
drunk and yet only one capsized. And he didn't just capsize it, it
rolled within seconds of leaving the anchorage because he goosed the
throttle by mistake.

While there were 11 people on board, 3 were small children and down
below, so the boat was not grossly overloaded by the standards of
ordinary boats.

My issue with this situation is that the boat is marketed to novices,
yet requires extra attention to issues that are found on very few
other boats.



Well, then maybe they should sit down and read the owner's manual. What
do you expect? a warning sticker plastered on every part of the boat? No
matter how hard you try to think of how people can screw up people can
always screw up worse than you think they can. If you had a warning that
said don't get drunk and operate this boat, don't put more than six
people in it, and so forth you'd just get ignored. If you don't count
the little kids you end up with eight adults. That's still two too many.

Would you blame an airplane that crashed because it said it was for four
passengers and they crammed eight people in it? Nope. That would be
pilot error. So don't blame the Mac. If you built a boat that was idiot
proof it'd be a square room with rubber walls firmly stuck to the
ground.

--
Cheerio,
Ed Gordon
http://www.freewebs.com/egordon873/index.htm

* Ed Gordon wrote, On 6/10/2007 7:06 PM:
Jeff wrote in
....
My issue with this situation is that the boat is marketed to novices,
yet requires extra attention to issues that are found on very few
other boats.



Well, then maybe they should sit down and read the owner's manual. What
do you expect? a warning sticker plastered on every part of the boat? No
matter how hard you try to think of how people can screw up people can
always screw up worse than you think they can. If you had a warning that
said don't get drunk and operate this boat, don't put more than six
people in it, and so forth you'd just get ignored. If you don't count
the little kids you end up with eight adults. That's still two too many.

You miss the important issue here. There are very few other boats
that would have capsized in this situation. If this had been a keel
boat, or if the ballast tank were filled, or if it didn't have a 50hp
engine, there would not have been a problem.



Would you blame an airplane that crashed because it said it was for four
passengers and they crammed eight people in it?

The people were not "crammed" onto the Mac. I'm sure that they felt
there was plenty of room. A Rhodes 19 would be "crammed," but not a
16 footer.

Nope. That would be
pilot error. So don't blame the Mac. If you built a boat that was idiot
proof it'd be a square room with rubber walls firmly stuck to the
ground.

Sorry. I prefer boats that do not suddenly roll over when there is no
wind or waves.