another reason to wear your lanyard

[zod550]

i was launching the boat off a few swells and when i landed the boat veered violently to starboard. it was amazing i was not thrown out of the boat as it was the steering cable that broke. i was able to tie 2 lines between the motor and the arch and steer by sitting on the motor pushing down with my feet. i was able to do 15-18 mph doing this. wish i could afford hydraulic steering. anyone ever have a steering cable brake at 30mph? chris

[batfalcon]

I have never had such an expirience, but a friend of mine had. He used a rope and tied a steel pipe he had on board on the side of motor's head, using it as a helm.
From that day after we always carries a steel pipe accordingly shaped, which can be bolted on the same point where the steering cable is.

Michael

[Powerboat]

It happened me once a few years ago driving a searider with a 115 Yamaha on the back while 6 miles from home .

We managed to cruise home at 30 knots by leaving the motor in the sraight ahead position and by steering on the throttle .

You can do this by pulling back on the power causing the nose to drop . As the nose drops , get your crew to lean gently to the side you want to turn to and apply power smoothly straightening out the boat again in the new direction .

This is ok for drive over open water ..I wouldn't try it in confined spaces !

We always teach people to never take your hand off of the throttle while driving as it is a far more important control ( safety wise ) than the wheel .

We also get all drivers to wear killcords on the leg rather than on the wrist or the life jacket where it can easily come off !

Best wishes ,

Stuart
www.powerboat.org

[Paul Glatzel]

Stuart

Have one or two observations to make re your comments:

- Kill-cords: I dont really see how a kill cord attached to a lifejacket can come loose if it is secured around a strap. However I am very sceptical about kill-cords around a leg. In my experience if a kill cord is around a leg then it starts around a knee (when on a jockey console) but the buffeting/bouncing tends to loosen it so it drops to the ankle. From there it is feasible (and i've had it happen ) that a foot movement can release the cord. Okay this is rare but I believe it is impossible when around a lifejacket.

On a related subject does anyone test their kill cord? I do and particularly as part of courses however the other day the student pulled the cord, it came out but didn't switch the engine off (Mercury 90) so you need to test it from a variety of angles and strength of pulls.

Finally steering. The other way is to use the trim to steer. Its not ideal but fun when on the plane and in a well set up boat you can get some good turns .

[Alan Mckewan]

Strongly agree on the kill cord testing. We now have "TEST KILL CORD BEFORE LAUNCH" stickers on all our club ribs following a couple of not-working ones.
Another local club recently suffered a total writeoff when a new 5.5m 70HP rib "ejected" the (lone) helm who was standing up and not wearing a cord. The boat went at full speed up the beach, across rocks and onto a grass bank 50m inland, tearing the tubes, smashing the hull and wrecking the engine bottom end and prop.

[batfalcon]

I can't see how can a boat steer using only the trim, with the steering cable broken/unistalled. I am pretty sure that with NO steering force applied on it, the engine will turn towards the torque of the prop pushes it.

[Paul Glatzel]

Michael

Sorry slight confusion here - didn't mean to suggest this was a solution to cable problem. Observation re trim was more of an aside. Try it though, go on the plane, weight the boat to give a (if I remember correctly) port tilt and therefore a port turn, use trim and you can straighten the boat then you will get a starboard turn. Thus you can then use trim to steer in both directions. Suspect that there are a few caveats here:

- Suspect only works with single engine installations (might be wrong here as never tried)
- Works best on a well set up boat (tried it on a couple of 5.6-6m RIBs)
- Is more for fun than anything as steering via trim only works on plane on in calmish conditions
- The turn is generally fairly gradual

Paul

[Powerboat]

Hi Paul ,

You wrote above :

"- Kill-cords: I dont really see how a kill cord attached to a lifejacket can come loose if it is secured around a strap. "


True ........but how secure is your life jacket strap or buckle .

Your theory is fine if the kill cord is attached to a stainless steel buckle on a commercial / mil spec life jacket ( which I suspect that you and I would routinely wear ) however many of the lifejackets out there have ( unfortunately ) very dodgy and poor quality buckles and straps .

We always say here in LRPBS that it is ok to attach your kill cord to a strap or buckle if you would also be happy to hang out of a third story window from the same fitting !

I don't know where you get your kill cords ......but I have never in 31 years of driving ( Since age 7 ! )seen a kill cord that would reach my ankles !

There is no way that any one wearing a normal killcord around their thigh or knee can come out of a boat without bringing the cord with them .

I quite agree with testing kill cord switches regularly .

Another dangerous practice which I have seen is people securing their kill cords to the ignition key while driving , which then prevents the kill cord from coming away until the ignition switch breaks or the key gets knocked off allowing the key to be pulled out . I have rescued two such people in my career who ended up " waterskiing " from their killcord half in half out of their boat waiting for the key to pull out of the switch !

Best wishes ,

Stuart
www.powerboat.org

[John Kennett]

I'm with you on that one -- I reckon leg is the best place. The problem I have seen with people clipping Kill cords to life jackets is that they then get their arms tangled in it!

john

[David Perry]

Interesting point about a test. I have been in a real live outing from a boat driven by another and thankfully the cord worked. I have also seen the results of not wearing one, not a petty sight.
As to where to wear, this is probably more of personal choice and comfort. I wear mine around the ankle and as it is a springy lead it grips properly and is unlikely to come off aroung footwear. I have seen instances of wrist worn cords getting wrapped around the helm which is not good.
The bottom line to all this is WEAR THE THING. I have seen far too many so called experienced boaters NOT wearing the cords, and even made a comment about an advert in a national magazine about such. It should also be said that a Kill Cord is a bit of personal kit, and apart from a spare in the bucket/locker, each member of the crew should ideally have one. I also brief passengers/students how to operate in the event of a total loss of cord....not easy when some buttons are held out by the ring.