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News Update - August 8, 2001
There was a serious boat racing accident during the Inboard Hydroplane Nationals in Renton, Washington on July 15th.  A flat-bottom Hydro called Money Monster driven by Chuck Palm of Arlington Heights, Illinois had an incident on the course and flipped upside down.  He was wearing his brand new Tiger Performance SCUBA mask and up to this point he was breathing cockpit air thru Tiger Performance's patented ambient air valve, which enabled him to conserve his compressed air until the time of the accident. 

When interviewed Chuck made the following statement, "First I want to thank you for providing me with your equipment that worked flawlessly.  When the boat flipped upside down the cockpit immediately filled with water.  My first instinct was to hold my breath, but then I realized that I could breathe thru the SCUBA mask, which had activated.  When I tried to open the canopy on my safety cell I realized that it had jammed and it wouldn’t open.  Rescue arrived and I signaled to them that I was OK and breathing compressed air.  Rescue tried feverishly to get the canopy open and when that failed they tried to break it with an emergency hammer and pry bar.  Nothing worked and the canopy was still fully intact.  I was later told that the crowd of spectators was screaming and chanting "roll the boat over".  In fact the rescue divers had tried, but they couldn’t due to the weight of the inboard engine.  Rescue then signaled that they were going to tow the boat, which I acknowledged.  The boat was finally hoisted out of the water upside down with me in it.  One of the lifting straps had been slung around the canopy, which temporarily further trapped me in the boat until the boat was set on the ground.  Later I checked and found that I had used all but 500 out of 3000 PSI compressed air in my 30 cubic foot SCUBA tank."

Bob Wartinger, APBA Safety Committee Chairman, coincidentally was stationed on a turn boat at the scene of the accident.  He reported that "when the accident occurred I noted the time.  I continued to monitor the time until the rescue was complete.  Chuck was under water for 20 minutes with a few additional minutes to hoist the boat out of the water.  The spectator crowd was in disbelief that Chuck had survived that long under water.  The canopy pins had to be cut by the Fire Department with a saws-all to open the canopy." 
This accident raised serious questions that the APBA and UIM Safety Committees for each category and class need to consider, including establishing uniform standards for canopy and cockpit design.  Currently many configurations exist that do not adequately protect the driver(s).  Uniformity of canopy and cockpit designs would also be very helpful in enhancing rescue efforts.  By establishing these standards it would make racing safer and as a result encourage increased participation.    There are several specific items to be learned from this accident that would not only benefit Inboard Hydros, but also Outboard Tunnel boats, Drag boats, and Offshore race boats.
  • This canopy system had a continuous stainless steel piano hinge.  These types of hinges should not be allowed since they offer no means of secondary canopy release or exit and can easily bend and jam.  Rather, individual hinges with quick release pins should be used.  The primary latch mechanism in this case was a dual pin hook and lock type mechanism with linkages that once jammed cannot be opened.  Any type of positive locking device should not be allowed.  Instead only devices that passively latch, such as an arm that rotates against a striker, should be used, which can then be opened from the inside or outside. 
  • A secondary means of escape such as a bottom hatch should become mandatory for all new boats and existing boats should be retrofitted whenever possible.  
  • An automatic air bag rollover system, such as now mandatory in UIM Formula One, Two, and Three, should be designed and then become mandatory wherever practical for all new boats and existing boats should be retrofitted whenever possible. 
  • Rescue personnel should be properly equipped and trained with air saws and other equipment to quickly extract a trapped driver.  They should also have the means to quickly rollover an overturned race boat. 
  • The amount of onboard air supply should be sufficient to provide enough compressed air for the worst possible scenario. 
  • There have been other incidents, for example in shallow water, where drivers have been trapped.  Races should never be conducted in shallow water even though they commonly are.
If you wish to contact Chuck Palm to confirm the details of this accident or for further information he may be reached at 847-304-7995 or emailed at moneymonster@ameritech.net.
Headquarters: 525 Bullis Road • West Seneca, New York 14224 USA • E-mail: shawkins@tigerperformance.com
Phone: 1-716-674-8545 • Fax: 1-716-674-7497
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