Even small waves can be a source of trouble, especially when crossed at high speed. The protagonist of the last video we found on the net has experienced it on his skin.
At the helm of his bass boat, a small boat with a flat hull that allows access to shallow waters, the fisherman was sailing at full speed on calm waters. Although the boat is not very large, the engine, judging by its speed, is very powerful.
The accident was caused by a bad idea of the protagonist of the video: crossing the wave train raised by a motorboat sailing nearby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZibrkMU0fWk
The first wave train is cut by the bass boat at a non-optimal angle and at crazy speed. The helmsman loses control and is therefore unable to reduce speed and regain control of his boat before crossing the following waves.
The result of the encounter between the out-of-trim hull and the second wave train is a spectacular nose-up, followed by a flight of the boat completely out of the water.
Unfortunately for the fisherman, the friction of the air generated by the speed in contact with the hull also causes the boat to rotate in flight. The impact with water is therefore even more violent.
The helmsman is first literally centrifuged inside the small motorboat, to then be thrown, unconscious, into the water. It is the life vest that keeps the fisherman afloat during the moments that separate him from the arrival of rescuers and thus save him from a very probable drowning. Fortunately he had worn it!
At the end of the video, we can see the victim rescued and recovered on board the boat from which other people were filming the scene.
Terribly upset by the accident, he has saved his life but consequences have been very serious: many broken bones, various bruises in most of his body and almost broken neck. Judging by pictures, however, we can say it ended well. Surely, he won’t think to perform this type of maneuver ever again. We, instead, we can only stress the importance of wearing a life vest.
