Its one of those things you think will never happen to you. He was doing about 40 MPH trimmed down in a creek channel and hit a cypress stump. The engine broke free of the boat in the middle of the jackplate, flew up and landed on the back deck. When it did, the steering cables tightened up and spun the engine toward him.

 

"I felt water splashing me in the face, looked to my right and saw my prop about a foot from my head spinning. I’m very fortunate to be here, if any number of circumstances were different, my lower unit might have gotten me. I’m not partnered with Precision Sonar but I can tell you I will have a leash on my next boat. Y’all stay safe out there! "

Frightening! Glad he's okay. 

I’ve seen this product debated a lot.  There’s no doubt it can save your life but at the time I researched it, the cost was pretty high and most argued that your lower unit should detach before making that trip to the back deck it “should” be a very rare occurrence.  Some will say you can’t put a price on safety but there were some way smarter than me who said you could buy and attach the same materials for a lot less.  

Flat out scary. Glad no injuries. 

can a 50 horse do that? I hope not 

20 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I’ve seen this product debated a lot.  There’s no doubt it can save your life but at the time I researched it, the cost was pretty high and most argued that your lower unit should detach before making that trip to the back deck it “should” be a very rare occurrence.  Some will say you can’t put a price on safety but there were some way smarter than me who said you could buy and attach the same materials for a lot less.  

All you would need to do is route the kill switch wire from the transom to the engine with a little slack, and voila...

The lower unit looks in tact. Something marginal with the jack plate design imo.

Tom

41 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

All you would need to do is route the kill switch wire from the transom to the engine with a little slack, and voila...

Wouldn’t the prop still spin from momentum after the kill switch is pulled and the engine lands on the deck?

I never thought about this happening. Sounds crazy! Glad I am a river runner with a jet.

36 minutes ago, NYBasser said:

Wouldn’t the prop still spin from momentum after the kill switch is pulled and the engine lands on the deck?

No.

Don't know what brand jack plate was on it, bet I bet I know of one brand that won't be on it when it goes back in the water again.

Pardon my skepticism, but you’re telling me that motor’s lower unit hit a stump hard enough to rip it and the Jack plate it was attached to and flip it up on the back the the boat while still running and there’s nary a scratch on that lower unit? And that contact and flip perfectly split those two Raptors without taking either out…at 40 mph???  
The physics alone of having the motor hit a stump and flip forwards into a still-moving boat is questionable - Am I missing something? 

18 minutes ago, VolFan said:

Pardon my skepticism, but you’re telling me that motor’s lower unit hit a stump hard enough to rip it and the Jack plate it was attached to and flip it up on the back the the boat while still running and there’s nary a scratch on that lower unit? And that contact and flip perfectly split those two Raptors without taking either out…at 40 mph???  
The physics alone of having the motor hit a stump and flip forwards into a still-moving boat is questionable - Am I missing something? 

It was like a FG, straight through the uprights.

Glad to hear no injuries.

16 minutes ago, VolFan said:

Pardon my skepticism, but you’re telling me that motor’s lower unit hit a stump hard enough to rip it and the Jack plate it was attached to and flip it up on the back the the boat while still running and there’s nary a scratch on that lower unit? And that contact and flip perfectly split those two Raptors without taking either out…at 40 mph???  
The physics alone of having the motor hit a stump and flip forwards into a still-moving boat is questionable - Am I missing something? 

Agree that it is very convenient that it becomes a product endorsement, but the physics thing actually works, don't forget that right until the moment the motor separates from the boat they are decelerating at nearly the same rate, and they are further decelerating (and probably changing trajectory somewhat) due to the loss of power.

I find the odds of all of these things coming together with the pictured outcome…unlikely. It would actually make more sense if he hit the stump with the hull and full stopped. 

 First, if this was an actual event, not saying ya or na, just glad no one was injured.

Interestingly, before jack plates were a thing, hitting a solid deal on plane with the lower unit,

usually torn of a chunk of the transom off and the motor sunk to the bottom.

Drivers and passengers alike were hurt from being slammed into the boats dash

when the boat came to an expected and almost complete stop. 

Or even thrown overboard during the collision. 

Depending on hull floatation, the vessel usually filled to the gunwales but might not sink completely. 

   Finally, I watched the 'leash installation' video on the company website.

The "Leash" mounting brackets are designed to be secured to the bolts that mount the motor to the jackplate.  Aren't these the bolts that fail under impact, and allow the motor to get up in the boat in the first place.  What am I missing ?

A-Jay

 

I’m skeptical about this one too. I’ve seen an older torque master that hit a log at 50 and it was ripped off clean and shattered the case. A floating log will give more than a rooted stump.

The other complaint I have heard is that the company has done no actual testing to prove their product works.  

I fished a tournament on Guntersville maybe 12 or 13 years ago and a guy got killed. Hit part of a bridge under water and the motor landed in his lap

Scary situation but since no one was injured, and if the jack plate was all the got destroyed, that was probably about the cheapest of the other possible scenarios.

13 minutes ago, Way2slow said:

Scary situation but since no one was injured, but if the jack plate was all the got destroyed, that was probably about the cheapest of the other possible scenarios.

If what is reported is what actually happened and they’re just out the Jack plate, they got miraculously lucky - could’ve EASILY been a total loss

I just recently bought a new Bass Boat and suddenly....... second guessing it. ?

7 minutes ago, Bird said:

I just recently bought a new Bass Boat and suddenly....... second guessing it. ?

Consider not slaloming through the stump field at high speed.

You should be good.

Congrats again on the new rig btw.

A-Jay

18 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Consider not slaloming through the stump field at high speed.

You should be good.

Congrats again on the new rig btw.

A-Jay

That..^

 

Trees and rocks are hard. 

 

The pics on the sonar company’s FB give a little better view - I would guess he was trimmed down but with the Jack plate as high as it would go. It came right out of the rails of the Jack plate. You can see where the cowling hit just forward of the transom where the steering cables exit the body.  Still hard to believe this happened this way in a 40 mph collision and he was still in the boat and uninjured. But glad no one was hurt either way.