Motor Crash Leash

[mikesxpress]

The boat won't stop at 60mph; something will break off first.

I have been in two different boats with two different results. 1st was a rock hit at 70 mph which sheared the lower unit off at the bolts and we coasted to a stop 50' past the impact. 2nd was a 2' diameter semi-submerged cypress log 30' long at 60 mph just after blast off on Santee. Engine kicked up/shut off and it was enough of an impact that the steering wheel imprinted my chest, the 3/4" pedestal pin on the front seat pole snapped, and my passenger in the single console Bumble Bee barrel rolled to the trolling motor. Busted every stringer from the console to the transom but still no leaks. Started the engine and loaded up. Hull was totalled.
Lots of variables for any of these impacts.

[barbarian]

I definitely think there is a speed that is safer to be above than below to a certain point. Just a thought, but you would think motor mfg could/would make motor mount bracket to be stronger than the lower unit bolts - thus allow the lower unit to act like a shear pin in a sense.

[cyclops2]

This is why we have the Corvette V8 engine modified into a outboard motor. Safety first !!

[PGIC]

Gary how many actual instances of an outboard striking an object resulting in the engine being flipped up onto the rear deck of the boat have you verified? Over how many years?

We maintain two lists of them, one is for outboards of 150 HP and above, one is for all outboards. The all outboards list currently has about 90 accidents on it with the earliest events being in 1952 and the latest being in 2017. As to verification, to be on these lists i have seen the outboard in person, the accident was reported in the media, the accident is described in the Coast Guard Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) (note verbal descriptions in Public BARD first became available in 2008), we have a copy of the state boating accident report, I was contacted personally by someone involved with the accident, the accident became a legal case (see several listed at the bottom of the list of accidents), I have seen photos of the accident, or other comparable levels of verification. We do not list them when we see something in a boating forum like, "Uncle Joe flipped one in on Lake XYZ back in the 80s". We do follow up on many anecdotal reports and try to find evidence of them in the Coast Guard database or media reports. As an example of verification am attaching a 4 September 1961 report from the Chicago Daily Tribune that actually covers two separate fatal accidents. We have archived media reports for many of these accidents. We also have a very large collection of anecdotal reports (like the example we made up involving "Uncle Joe" above). We gradually go through them as time permits and try to follow up on the ones of greatest interest that
we might be able to verify.
We are not able to verify very many of the anecdotal reports due to how long ago many those accidents occurred, the sketchiness of the exact year they occurred, and not knowing exactly where they occurred.

The 1961 accident report above is interesting in that it reads like it could have happened yesterday, but that was well over 50 years ago and the same accidents are still happening. Our "lists" show more accidents in recent times because it is much easier to track them to verify more recent accidents than those from long ago, plus the Coast Guard only began providing written narratives of accidents in Public BARD in 2008 making it much harder to identify these events in Coast Guard data prior to 2008. Before someone says there were only 90 of these spread over 55 years, we note many accidents are not reported and we only began publishing these lists in 2012 and our first list only had 16 accidents on it. These lists are far from complete. They just illustrate the problem exists and show some of the objects struck and some of the outcomes of those on board. A few of the accidents listed were SLAMS, the outboard slammed over into the boat, damaged the transom and/or rear deck, and may have injured those on board, but did not totally break off and flip into the boat.
gary

[PGIC]

. The all outboards list currently has about 90 accidents on it with the earliest events being in 1952 and the latest being in 2017.

I failed to supply a link to the all outboards list, that link is below:

http://www.propellersafety.com/wordp...-into-boat.pdf

gary

[CaryLab]

I'm kind of intrigued by the physics involved in flipping an engine into the boat. If the initial problem is a lower unit strike, it would certainly impart a force that would try to stop the forward motion of the engine as well as a rotational component due to the location of the transom attachment relative to the impact. Still, it would seem that the boat would want to keep going and get out from under a disconnected engine. In the cases where the engine ended up in the cockpit, was the underwater obstruction one that stopped the hull as well as the engine? In that case, it might "slip the leash" and just come head first forward.

Bottom line: If a company is selling a safety related product, they have a higher responsibility to test its effectiveness than a bait manufacturer does.

The boat does not have to stop dead in its tracks for the motor to wind up on the back deck or worse in the cockpit. A hard enough hit by the lower unit can flip a motor into the boat without question.

[Coreyfishing]

This weekend on Pickwick a team from Campbellsville University. The Two students came out of the accident safe!

[MN1965]

^^^^^^^

Running on plane in water half the depth of an engine cowl seems problematic from the start.

[haus9393]

Also I posted much earlier about my cousins accident. My other friend was running about 50 mph and hit a submerged rock jetty last fall just about 1 month after my cousins accident. He ripped the lower unit completely off and that was all that was done for damage. Insurance replaced the lower unit and mid section to the Mercury and it was back running 2 weeks later. I did not mention anything but my cousins lower unit was completely undamaged during the accident. Prop was 100% fine and the lower unit still had all the paint. I was pretty amazed by that.

[cyclops2]

Gotta read the bottom maps BEFORE going WOT. Some of us have a little WWII Kamakize in us, to get to the next stop............... I use the 10 hp OB motor to put around. Fish do not care about it in my area. They here screaming 4 big O B off shores blowing by every day. My Minnkota is just for decoration now.

[Coreyfishing]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to share that Bassmaster's elite series rig article that they posted this week showing off Justin Lucas's rig. They showed his LEASH that he is running this season. Be safe out there!

[bfrank]

The post from the leash guy scares me more than helping things because it mentions SFI. SFI is not a safety organization, it is a manufacturer trade organization aimed at selling memberships and protecting products from competition. I'm concerned that they may be trying to enter the boat market. Nobody needs/wants that to happen. Next thing you know things like anchor ropes and boat tie downs will have to be recertified every 2 years.

[gonnabe]

I'm not an engineer but respect the opinions of those that are. I'm sure they are alot smarter than me. However I do work in the transmision powerline industry and we use the type of rope that he Leash uses on a daily routine. The rope they use in the Leash appeares to me to be the same stuff. I have seen first hand how strong this type of rope is and how it performs under a heavy shock load. I have installed a Leash on my boat. I don't know what all will break if I ever hit anything but I doubt it will be the rope used on the Leash.

[Hookset5]

never knew it was a thing!

[191 champ]

I wonder if transmission blankets and drive shaft loops were "tested" before they hit the market. I did a quick search on a couple models and they said that they were this or that approved but not tested. I don't think anyone would argue that they can help and probably have plenty of imperical data to support their claims now. I know I had a couple instances made me consider adding a blanket and folks saying "it's not going to a flywheel at the time.

[haus9393]

I'm not an engineer but respect the opinions of those that are. I'm sure they are alot smarter than me. However I do work in the transmision powerline industry and we use the type of rope that he Leash uses on a daily routine. The rope they use in the Leash appeares to me to be the same stuff. I have seen first hand how strong this type of rope is and how it performs under a heavy shock load. I have installed a Leash on my boat. I don't know what all will break if I ever hit anything but I doubt it will be the rope used on the Leash.

and some are just flat out know it alls. I expect the leash to stick around like anything else.