Saw this on the news

http://www.kcra.com/news/28164425/detail.html


Boating Accident Leads To $31 Million Verdict
Manufacturer Designed Luxury Boat With Hole In It, Says Attorney

POSTED: 7:13 pm PDT June 7, 2011
UPDATED: 7:42 pm PDT June 7, 2011

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. -- A Butte County jury voted 10-2 to award two young woman a combined $31 million dollars after they suffered "catastrophic injuries" due to a design flaw in the luxury boat they were riding in during a July 2006 outing, said Sacramento-based attorney Roger Dreyer.

"This is a $100,000 boat and it is still being sold today," said Dreyer.

Niki Bell, 27, and Bethany Wallenberg, 26, suffered serious injuries ranging from deep cuts to brain damage when the boat they were riding in began taking on water, said Dreyer.

Following a three-month trial, evidence showed that Mastercraft's X45 24-foot boat was designed with a hole in the bow that could cause it to take on water, said Dreyer.

"The manufacturer never presented a single document to show they ever even tested this boat before putting it on the market," said Dreyer.

Mastercraft did not immediately return a call for comment.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/28164425/de...#ixzz1OeiCAwvX

Wow! I thought there was like 8 people too many in that boat if I remember correctly? I cannot believe they got awarded that much....I smell appeal.

That is insane.

two young woman a combined $31 million dollars

Anyone have their names?.... they sounds like they just became #1 bachelorettes - ~15 million and possibly liked to wakeboard before this, sounds good to me.

Considering I've been in some SLAMMED picklefork MCs in my day and never taken on water I'm going to say they're lucky as hell because they screwed up.

Nick the girl who got most of the verdict was brain damaged and lost an eye. And it's still gonna be a while (if ever) till the plaintiffs see a payday. At $30M, an appeal is pretty much guaranteed.

Originally Posted by technarider

http://www.kcra.com/news/28164425/detail.html


Boating Accident Leads To $31 Million Verdict
Manufacturer Designed Luxury Boat With Hole In It, Says Attorney

POSTED: 7:13 pm PDT June 7, 2011
UPDATED: 7:42 pm PDT June 7, 2011


Mastercraft did not immediately return a call for comment.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/28164425/de...#ixzz1OeiCAwvX

Hey Leo...my apologies for the duplicate post (in wakeboarding section). This case/verdict is nauseating!!!

@ Jake, From what I read, they had 20 people on the boat, which was over capacity. But, they had 12 of them pile up front because the boat wouldn't plane out when someone tried to wakeboard.

Here is some more info...

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_18229022










.

20 people! That's like jogging down the highway and suing the state because you got hit by a car. No common sense should be a crime! The owner of the boat should be sued for being stupid, the jury for being having no balls and the attorney for a BS lawsuit. There is either a major flaw in the system or more to the story...in truth its probably both. Maybe Mastercraft should add a bunch of warning stickers all over the boat like Nautique.

What's next....

The people suing and their attorney's should be stoned to death. This is ridiculous.

That is absolute BS. How is it Mastercrafts fault that these people had everyone in the boat move to the front and overloaded in the first place. So is the design flaw supposed to be that its a pickefork bowrider that can hold more people.....so all boats going forward will be closed bow again. I really wish common sense could come back in to play in this world. The law protects the stupid more then the ones on the right side. When the rider fell and the driver came of the throttle A) she just pulled right off instead of slowing down gradually not to dig the bow. B) Never told the people to move to the back of the boat before she came off the throttle. The girls went out the front because of the amount of forward momentum the boat still had.

No personal responsibility. They should have gone after Mr. Shirley for founding MasterCraft in 84'.

In the above article, the design flaw is that the through holes on the front ladder support and the opening under the ladder that could easily take on water. This just goes to show you that people and attorneys will sue for anything. The jury should be slapped too for their verdict.

i ran out of gas in my car. im sueing the car company because it clearly should have a bigger tank and the gas company cause their product is not efficient enough( i should be getting more mileage out of it).

add this to the list of problems with our country. shame on the jury. this all start with law suits not being thrown out that had no business being tried.... ex. robber breaks in and cuts himself on glass or breaks arm. yada

I already posted on the other thread, but two more things come to mind.....

1) Master Craft will reference WW and the people that post on it during the appeal.
2) We've had multiple X-stars with the same ladder holes. They do take on water when HEAVILY loaded and you come off the throttle. On our last one we replaced the cover with one from a boat that didn't have a ladder... Therefore it didin't have the cutouts that took on water. At any rate.... It would take the better part of an hour with those holes under water to appreciably sink the boat to the level where it were dangerous. They are small holes....

C'mon.... really.... ?

It sucks because the girls didn't know they were in danger. In all reality the liability lies with the driver or owner. Whomever overloaded the boat is at fault.

80/20 operator to manufacturer in my opinion.

12 people in the bow? Come on. You can't even see what's going on.

That's on the operator.

How can you guys say it isn't Mastercrafts fault??? Of course it is their fault. They make such a sweet boat you want to buy it. And who doesn't want to cram that huge bow with a dozen chicks???

But seriously...where did it say 12 people were in the bow? I didn't see that part. If it was even over 5 I'd say 100 percent driver fault.

Add in the fact that once he did swamp the front and people were at the point of actually coming out of the boat he kept it in gear...Not bright at all.

It mentions the 12 here

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/08/368...-to-chico.html

Originally Posted by bftskir

It mentions the 12 here

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/08/368...-to-chico.html

Thanks BFT...WOW. COMPLETELY DRIVER FAULT. How can this even be debated?

Hopefully MC gets out of this in an appeal. If this was really an issue, wouldn't there be a lot more cases of this happening?

This is kind of like the idiot father who's kid drowned behind a Calabria because the dad let his kid teak surf with no life jacket.

In the case of this MC case I do think it is the driver's fault but everybody in the boat should take some blame for being complete idiots and piling up to the front of the boat while someone was wakeboarding. No one should be sued. The girls sat up in the bow on their own accord.

I'm at a complete loss for words. I had read the thread on Teamtalk last week and shrugged it off thinking "NO WAY" would a court or jury side against the manufacturer in this case. I'm not 100%, but not only was it operator error, but it was overloaded by 1 person to begin with if you count the rider in the water (19 with an 18 person or XXXX amount of weight rating).

I want to believe so badly that this can't hold up under appeal. .

It's unfortunate for sure and I'm very sorry for all those involved, but to blame the manufacturer is just flat out dillusional.

I can't imagine that an X45 would safely seat 18 people in the first place. I'd like to see it.
But how any jury could think that any captain allowing 12 people to be up in the bow and then driving the boat in such a manner that 2 people fall out and are run over and seriously injured could be considered what a reasonable person would consider safe.
With 12 people up front how could the driver even see where he was going.

Mastercraft got shafted just like Calabria/teaksurf

Sounds to me like the issue for MC is that they never specify anywhere that the bow of the X-45 is designed for X amount of people. Anything over that number is overloading the boat. 12 people in the bow is OVERLOADED.

What I want to know is how does a girl get cut up when a boat is swamped or sinking? Sounds to me like the driver couldn't see past his 12 passengers in the bow of the boat to notice that he'd LOST 2 passengers & motored right over them both! How is that NOT the driver being at fault?!

The jury got told part of the story. And they were not boaters. Would be interesting to hear from any of them on what the hell they were thinking.

yay, more expense for boats, and more stupid warning stickers.

im sorry this happend, but sometimes accidents are just accidents.

Bill- my guess is they throttled down for a fallen rider...bow went under, boat was still in gear moving forward slightly. with 12 people, Im sure they were pushing 2,000lbs in front just in people. I doubt people "flew" out, but im sure they fell out/jumped out/ swam out, and unfortunately with that many people not everyone can stay afloat and away from a moving prop. They should be happy no one went unconscious and drowned.

The fact MC is being drug into this is absolutely ludicrous. Because an area of a boat will fit that many people they are held mojority liable?

So toyota should be liable if one of these people hurt themselves because this car can fit 20 people?

Originally Posted by bftskir

I can't imagine that an X45 would safely seat 18 people in the first place. I'd like to see it.
But how any jury could think that any captain allowing 12 people to be up in the bow and then driving the boat in such a manner that 2 people fall out and are run over and seriously injured could be considered what a reasonable person would consider safe.
With 12 people up front how could the driver even see where he was going.

Mastercraft got shafted just like Calabria/teaksurf

I can assure you the X45 will hold 18 people. We had 22 in my buddies X45. That being said we putted out about 200 feet off the dock and just floated there partying with the boat off.

i just really don't see how anybody is anymore at fault then anybody else. The people in the boat chose to get in the boat and overload it, the driver chose to let that many people in the boat, the 12 idiots made teh choice to all move to the bow. As a nation are we just trying our hardest to get rid of common sense? This is just plain BS.

I want to see what 12 people in the front of a X45 looks like. It's gotta be near impossible.

With our X-Star I dont' think we ever had more than 4 or so. It get's pretty packed up there pretty quick. I could see maybe 6????

What is this talk of a hole in the boat that is in all the articles about this? None that I have read specified what this hole was or where exactly it was.

Originally Posted by cadunkle

What is this talk of a hole in the boat that is in all the articles about this? None that I have read specified what this hole was or where exactly it was.

On the X45 and Xstar there is an option for a bow ladder. It may actually be standard on the X45 but whatever. On both these boats there is a hatch that opens up so you can pull the ladder out or grab the anchor as this area is anchor storage as well. They cut a couple holes in the front of the hatch so that if you are parked and want the ladder out you can close the hatch. The hole are about 1 or inch and a half in diameter each. The ladder cylinder/stantions usually sit in there and take up 3/4 of th hole even when the ladder is in the away position. It may let some water in but nowhere near enough to swamp the boat. The entire bow would scoop water and sink the boat before just water coming in through those holes did anything. With 2 bilge pumps it would probably pump out the water almost as fast as it was coming in.

That is part of what makes this BS. The jurors must hear holes in the hull and freak out or something.

See where the ladder comes through the bow hatch. Those are the holes they are talking about.

it's the cover for the ladder. If the nose dips above the rub rail it'll allow water to pass through the holes in the ladder cover. This is an extreme situation and if the boat were sitting low enough for water to get in those holes, then you've already sunk. It will, however, allow a bit at a time to come in when it dips. Ours used to dip almost every time we came off the throttle when fully loaded. It would take in enough water to make the bilge pump run for a couple seconds. Definitely couldn't sink a boat.

Originally Posted by guido

It will, however, allow a bit at a time to come in when it dips. Ours used to dip almost every time we came off the throttle when fully loaded.

just playing devils advocate here. if the boat was fully loaded and you came off throttle while in a turn, especially into a roller, a bit of water could turn into a gallon of water or a lot more. put six full grown people up there, and it could be exacerbated. maybe that is the primary design flaw that the jury made there judgement on.

i have no experience with the X45. i do have extensive experience w/ running a loaded X Star. the boat required extensive driver attention, even when at rest, to keep rollers from coming over the bow. another experience: 4 years ago, we were pulling a local contest w/ a brand new X Star on a windy and choppy day. the driver (10+ years experience) came off throttle and turned to retrieve his downed rider. he took a roller over the bow and before he knew it, the bow was under and he had water approaching the dash. fortunately he was able to full throttle reverse the boat to shore and was able to keep it from sinking. the boat had just under 8 hours on it.

in my opinion, that design (low, downsloping freeboard in the bow combined with the pickle fork which drops the freeboard even lower when the vessel lists to one side or the other) requires too much driver attention to enjoy. the new X boats (25, 35, 55), the tige RZ boats (i do have experience w/ these and never experienced the same phenomena), and the Axis boats all appear to have overcome this by raising the freeboard in the bow. of course, it can be overcome by having extensive knowledge of how the vessel handles, but there are no laws requiring anyone to pass tests on their particular vessel before being allowed to operate it.

The X45 is not low. It may look low because it is so long but I don't think we ever took water over the bow on my buddies and we surfed a lot with a lot of weight and also would go out on the weekends and surf/play around with 10-15 people.

Okay thanks for explaining. Those holes are above the rub rail... Not holes in the hull. If you're run rail in the bow is below water you're already screwed and those holes have nothing to do with it.

Anyone ever ride around in a jet boat or flat bottom vdrive? Most of those have just about no freeboard. Gotta be real careful driving around on a rough day or with large boat traffic around. How about early ski boats, many of those sit extremely low in the water. Most are closed bow, but most have holes on the cap (not the hull) as large or larger than those on the X45... They're vents so air is always moving through the engine compartment and bilge while moving. By this logic all manufacturers of all those types of boats should be fined heavily as well.

Bottom line is this is absurd. It comes down to personal responsibility. The driver and passengers on this boat were not responsible and paid the price. They should be happy anyone who went over survived. The drive should have immediately went to neutral as soon as he saw someone go over, then there would be no harm from the prop... At worst banged up a bit though the boat likely would have sunk. Sunken boat or dead friends? I'll take a sunken boat any day of the week. I have insurance and can get another boat. These people were dumb and as unfortunate as it may be, they got what was coming to them.

"i do have extensive experience w/ running a loaded X Star. the boat required extensive driver attention, even when at rest, to keep rollers from coming over the bow."

Not trying to start an argument but Harley, Rusty, Parks, and the other MC pros are consistently running 5K + in their Stars and I haven't heard of them sinking one. We have a Star and I haven't seen much of a difference between that boat and other loaded boats. I think if you put that many people in the bow of any boat close to that size, you are going to have an issue.

Originally Posted by wake77

Not trying to start an argument but Harley, Rusty, Parks, and the other MC pros are consistently running 5K + in their Stars and I haven't heard of them sinking one.

i believe i qualified my assertion above with the following quote. sounds like you corroborated it with your comment. those people certainly have extensive knowledge of the the boat and how it handles. i dont think the argument, rather we are in violent agreement.

Originally Posted by tdc_worm

of course, it can be overcome by having extensive knowledge of how the vessel handles, but there are no laws requiring anyone to pass tests on their particular vessel before being allowed to operate it.

from a design and physics standpoint i am not sure that you can argue that square type bow is without its drawbacks. with only the keel line in the water on the fore portion of the hull, the hull is going to pivot around the center line of the keel. when it does this, it will dip a fore corner closer to the waterline. to offset that, you have to widen the hull or add more hulls,as in the case of a trihull. for our purposes, a wide bow and a trihull both serve to create wake killing lift and create a rougher ride.

if you look at the front of an Xstar and a Tige ZRwhatever, the both look like modified trihulls, but with less emphasis on the tri... the less emphasis on the tri, the further one side of the bow dip when the boat lists.





and as a disclaimer, i dont have a dog in the fight and am not brand bashing. the picklefork design has certainly evolved and has grown into its feasibility as proven by its staying power. i think the first iteration (current gen X Star), while not without out its faults, is a great boat, it just requires more input than some others...how much more input is relative to your experience.

Whats the lesson here?????

Mastercraft can seriously injure you(if your overloaded and have a dumbazz driver behind the wheel).......

All other boats are just plain fun!!!!!!

I have a Star (which has considerably less freeboard than a 45) and have taken on copious amounts of water over the bow (we get some large waves in our area and sometimes it just happens). I've had it well past ankle deep before it drained into the bilge. The two bilge pumps make fast work of it. The two ladder holes can't take on that much water that quickly to sink a 45. Wasn't there, but it seems to me he overloaded the bow and submarined it. Operator error.