Question:
FAST BASS BOATS?
I hope that I don't sound like too much like a wimp but I recently
fished a MBAA tournament and came into 3rd--Great!
But this was my first time on a 18' Ranger with a 200 horse Yamaha and
the driver took the boat to 65mph on the Potomac with winds. Bottom line
is that this "fast" stuff made me hang on and I was scared that we might
crash and that I might die.
How often do accidents happen? Aren't these bass boats really safe at
high speeds? Please give me a dose of "reality" on this. I would
probably be much braver if I were driving--I don't like being a passenger
in a car either.
Answer:
- Big, fast bass boats CAN be dangerous. But in the 3 years I've had mine,
fishing on Lake Fork (which must be the busiest lake in the nation), I
have never seen a boat flipped over or broken in half from waves. That's
not to say it could never happen. I think your bigger worry is from
drinking boaters, stumps and boat operating idiots.
- No boat is "safe" at any speed. It is a matter of the experience and
skill of the operator. There is no IQ test before they sell and allow
someone to launch such water rockets. An experienced skilled operator
with knowledge of the waterway can be "safe" at much higher speed that
the dollar rich sense poor boater at idle.
