Sean McKean

[blueskyracer]

I would like to add that maybe radios or a light system should be used in all classes.. We had a elim heat of 20 SSH at Nationals go on racing for a lap and a half with red and black flags waving and still did not stop till a red flare was fired right in front of them..

[Bob Rusnak]

I can't agree more with you after seeing what happened in the 1100 Hydro class. The initial start of the wreck was a boat racing incident which could happen at any time. The rest of it could have been avoided if the other drivers could be stopped. Being blind by the setting sun across the water, no drivers could see the clock or much less a red flag/flair's. A black flag is totally useless. There is no way it can be seen, it blends in with surrounding colors or green trees. The US Title Series did away with the black flag years ago. It is so important for the drivers to know what is going on. I know the they will be looking carefully at what needs to be done before the next race. I know something will be done, unfortunately Sean was the one that opened up everyone's eyes. It could have been a lot worse, so close to a fatality. What we do is dangerous, sometimes taken to lightly as far as safety. I get so mad when I hear, "it racing" as an excuse. When you are one the other end, that is not the answer you want to here.

[narrowminded]

I agree with Bob . there is no excuse for a lack of a safety mindset by the officials or drivers theres always another race to try to win if everyone goes home ok. 1.I do not think a light would be effective. 2 I think radios would probably be the easiest Quickest fix. 3 the best would be remote ignition interrupt (like the monster trucks in indoor stadiums) one switch kills all boats , this would cause the greatest problem for the restart. 4 Probably a combination of 3&4 better still. What I do not understand is why the 125cch race in constantine was not stopped with a driver in the water , in what I thought was a bad place in the turn with the boats going around her on the inside and outside,I would like to see the officals answer to this. ( I consider this a near miss situation on their part)

[Team B&H]

They always give a shot with the flare gun at the 3 minute and 1 minute mark. At least give that a shot concurrent with the red flag. Maybe drivers will feel and hear it even if it is not in their direct sight.

[Matt Dagostino]

For the last 2 years APBA was soooooo worried about rounding off pickleforks that it became an obsession. I imagine that after this accident they will direct their attention to a real safety matter like what caused this unnecessary injury and come up with a better way to stop a race quickly when a incident on the course warrants stoppage of the heat

[Bob Rusnak]

Thanks Matt for the input, Over the years safety is taken for granted until something like this happens. The initial wreck was a racing incident, the after effect was the problem. First being visibility due to the position of the sun in late afternoon. There was NO visibility from the second turn to the first turn. On a normal race schedule the races would have been over for the day at this time of the day. The second and the most critical was not being able to stop the race. With Sean out of the canopy and on the surface, the boats continued to race at racing speeds for one additional lap. The rescue boats could not even get to him. His recovery is very pain full for him right now and still don't know what the outcome will be. This accident should have never happened but it did. Some good will come of it I hope. Both the McKean and Rusnak family are so great full for all that helped and support at this difficult time.

[Bob Rusnak]

Sean is now talking about the wreck, some things we did not know and the mystery is now just coming out. He was walking on crutches and actually got up and got into the wheel chair by himself. I was surprised when he showed up in my shop. Kind of watched me work for a while and he looked at his 700 VRP in pieces. He was feeling better and gave his interpretation of what he experienced.

What Sean said is he was up side down and was trying to get out but the mud held the canopy closed. He heard a impact and realized someone hit him. Then came the big one. He was still in the boat and the lower unit cut through the bottom of Sean's boat severing his foot while he was trying to get out. We finally got the piece of metal that was removed and it appears to be aluminum, not a stainless steel prop as was first thought. We all watched the video over many times to see if we could determine what really did happen. This really does not change the fact that visibility was the problem compounded with not being able to stop the race. Maybe stuck in the boat saved his life. If he was out and holding on when the second impact hit he might not be alive now. I posted this so as we get more information we can learn more on how to prevent something like this in the future. Maybe more protection that drivers need to wear, maybe a plate on the bottom where the driver sits, I don't know. More to come on this as Sean is starting to talk about what happened.

[racnbns]

Bob:
Sunday evening at Depue Dan Wright showed us the gearcse he took off Jim's motor. The leading edge of the skeg was missing chunks of aluminum, really jagged looking and we assumed it was broken running over Sean's boat.

Bruce

[raceright]

As I listen to the comments and thankful Ideas as to improve conditions and equipment Drivers will have to accept what added safety programs come to be. We are now racing at speeds never before attained within a mile course or smaller. Progressive thinking by leadership is more important than ever. While a Pro Commissioner for 8 years when new Ideas came up the commission always would debate whether drivers would like the new safety rules or not. The comment WELL ITS RACING SO IF YOU WANT TO BE SAFE STAY ON THE COUCH. This type of thinking will no longer be tolerated, I guarantee. If you will not comply or wish to make issue of any added safety by the BOD then you stay on the couch because you will not be listened to.
My son can not use his right arm and is in pain constantly add a scar to his nose and all avoidable, Jim visited Sean and he has first hand knowledge of the pain and harm that Sean is in. They rehashed the accident and only they really know how horrible it was. Sunset,dashboard lights,shallow water,flares,radios,auto engine stops,racing with a driver in the water,all these things need to be addressed. They will be i assure you,and the BOD will demand compliance with drivers and pit crews.
I have the Lower unit that went thru Seans boat it is broken and jagged as Bruce described. Our boat as well as Seans is the least of the concern the damage to Sean and Jim is all that matters. That said these two fine Drivers hopefully and with the grace of god might be able to Drive again, The boats will not see another race. We must force drivers to accept all safety and if this means disqualifications and added safety feature so be it.

[nnoethe]

What about adding handheld smoke flares to the list? Have them ready at the judge's stand and in each one of the turn boats. They are simple to use and will fire off instantly, and it will smoke for about sixty seconds. Yes wind direction will be a factor, but somewhere on the coarse the brightly colored plume will cross into the driver's line of sight.

[AndersonV21]

First off I want to say that we wish Sean a quick recovery. I consider the people involved to be part of my racing family, I truly care for all of you. However, there are a bunch of wrong things being said and fingers pointed. None of this is personal.

The cause of this incident had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with conditions or negligence on the USTS officiating. The fact that that is who this group of people are blaming sickens me. I hate to say it, but it was however negligence on the drivers part, all of them.

Read the first few sections of the Safety Rules and Regulations, and the section on Personal Safety Equipment in the USTS Rulebook. Everyone in USTS should. It explicitly states you are responsible for your safety and equipment as well as the safety of others. Also, "The USTS strongly recommends radio communication."

1. Flags were ignored. The same rules that have applied forever! It isn't hard to look at a turn boat once a straight. I think you should be beached for half a season for something like this. And don't give me some BS about speed. It hasn't changed, I do the records, I know what is fast.

2. If you are uncomfortable about the conditions don't race!! USTS does everything they can at the race, but they aren't on the course. If conditions are bad, SAY SOMETHING, other drivers did and the race was cut short. I sat my butt on the beach Sunday because I wasn't comfortable in a newer boat in rough water and didn't want to put competitors in danger. I also tested a week ago at 6pm (after incident time) in DePue, the sun was not a real issue.

3. Take safety seriously. For all the nonsense you portray about capsule safety, and being proactive about it, it sure is reactive. Every capsule rule change has been a struggle in APBA, and USTS has done a heck of a lot to cater to what was a dying class. All this is followed by nearly half of the drivers doing the absolute minimum for safety, including 3 of the 4 involved drivers. You should have had radios, crash boxes, full time air, full face helmets, cut socks/gloves, min abrasion kart racing suit, etc if you were truly concerned about safety. Don't get in a boat till YOU assess your own equipment.

4. Take this crap offline. It was a horrible incident. I hope all involved recover fully. But the cause was stupidity and negligence from drivers. Instead of swallowing this hard truth, you point the finger at the organization that has worked with your classes to give them a place to race. Sponsors, new racers, current racers, insurance, look at boat racing websites and these threads constantly compromise the series and boat racing in general. For putting the whole club in danger I would drop the classes right away!!

Oh and the peanut gallery, you weren't there and you really don't know what went on. No one needs the PC racing advice adding to the nonsense.

Absolutely disgusted right now after all the work we (my brother and I) have done for the series let alone how some of the other officials/BOD must feel after people repeatedly destroy hard work with stupidity.

Jay

[raceright]

Jay about the only thing I agree with you is that online is not the place to do our laundry. All including me and you have good intentions. Every talking point presented on this Blog has different points of view and as I see many of your points differently it does not change things. There is much room for improvement and to not think so is very immature. Before the insults start i will end further comments and leave future decisions for the round table.

[Danny Pigott]

Well we have found the perfect boat racer.

[Bob Rusnak]

Jay, I appreciate comments but this needs to be brought out in the open. It was posted on the US Title Series face book page and Hydroracer only. Many that were not there to witness the wreck need to know the facts of what happened. In all my post I never blamed any one. There were many mistakes made that day and yes it could have been avoided. You might have tested by yourself and the sun was not a problem. It was that day with all the other boats out there. Talking to several of the drivers, they could not see from the second turn to the first turn. My son Don raced the heat before in 350 runabout. He also said he could not see anything. He just stayed in the back and away from everyone, that was not racing. As it was there were only 2 legal boats in that heat so the sun was the problem. The back stretch was fine. Sean mentioned you could see the judges stand but not the clock or the flags. Barely see the turn buoy much less a flag in a boat. It was mentioned before the race there is a problem with the sun, most knew of it. The second factor and yes, this also needs be out in the open is the stopping of the race when an accident occurs. If you read what happened at the Stock Nationals, it took one complete lap of racing before the heat could be stopped for a driver in the water. How do you control this in an open boat, put radio's in an ASH? What we do is dangerous Jay, you know this. We know the risk involved when we get into one of these things. Blame is not what this post was for. It is to provide information so something like this will never happen. Most of the reply's were wishing for Sean's recovery. For that we all appreciate the comments. Your remarks were not constructive in this post and if you feel disgusted after all the work you have done, just ask Sean how he feels. The peanut gallery as you mentioned have put in some very good input. There were many racers that were not there and good friends of Sean. They needed to know what happened. From this incident, much will be learned from it and if you have some good ideas, please step forward. Calling people stupid is not the solution to this.

[blueskyracer]

I think part of the problem comes from the fact that racing is allowed to continue if the driver is in the water but signals he is ok.. I have always thought this was the most unsafe practice that is tolerated in outboard racing.. Once a drive is in the water the race should be stopped always.. Yes you have time constraints but is that more important than safety?? Second at the Stock/Mod nationals a flare fired very near the leaders finally got the race stopped after a lap and a half.. Maybe the finish line and corner boats should all have these.. I will say if you are in a tight race it is really had to take time to see the flags and black is a terrible color to see against any background..

[nickster]

I agree with Mike on the stoppage of a race when a driver enters the water. That is a valid safety issue that should be addressed or discussed at the next safety meeting

[Mark 72@E]

I also agree with Mike on the stoppage of a race when a driver enters the water. I know his death is still very painful for some, but we only have to go back a decade to the death of a CSH driver in Pennsylvania. I wasn't there, but the description was that a CSH driver was thrown from his boat near the exit of the turn. He signalled OK, he was visible, he was next to his boat, and the race contined. As the lead boat came around, he saw the driver in the water and the boat and went around him. But the second CSH driver, following close behind and to the outside of the lead boat did not see the driver in the water or the boat through the roostertail of the lead boat. So when the lead CSH went wide to avoid hitting both, the second CSH driver did what any good, competitive, race driver would do -- he cut to the inside -- and then crashed into the CSH which was standing still. The CSH driver in the water survived. The second CSH driver died of injuries sustained in the crash. I apologize for making some of you relive the pain but I think it's a perfect example to support Mike's point.

[runabout333]

This was a tragic accident, no doubt.
1. I think adrenalin plays a big part in drivers watching the judges stand and the turn boats. We experienced the same situation at the NRBA Nationals,
where the race went on for an additional lap after the red flag was thrown.. NBRA uses the red flag to stop a race.
2. What would you do on the judges stand as an official if you were confronted with a situation where the first place boat was about the get
the checkered flag,, 9 boats in the heat,,, and the 8th place boat stalled in the first turn and the 9th place boat was even farther back?
Every situation dictates a different call. I just hope that Sean recovers to race again.
I am the official flag man for the OBRA//NBRA and I do the best I can, always taking my directions for the Referee.
On another note,, I have received information that the tank that I donated for the APBA Nationals was given away to a driver that ran DSH. COOL!!!
For all of you that are attending next year's Nationals in Wakefield,, I am donating 2 tanks.

[paul jillings]

Over here in Europe we run the "wet driver" rule. Any driver in the water or boat upside down the race is automatically stopped. No need to wait for red flags / flares / lights - the drivers know the rules. This also presents its' own issues if one driver see the incident ahead of others but it does generally help.

[Smitty]

From "the peanut gallery": Anyone who flies or has taken flying lessons knows about the colored "light-guns" that control towers retain as a backup means of communication with aircraft in and entering the pattern. I once had the tower signal me with their light-gun just so I could see what it looked like from 1000' up, in a long pattern at a fair-sized airport. I have long thought that having a light-gun in each turn-boat and one on the beach by the judges stand might be more attention-getting than flags in an emergency. A turn judge pointing a very bright flashing yellow or flashing red light directly at each approaching driver until he gets off the throttle is something that could be tried out at a few races, and if it appears to help, the equipment should not be too expensive for local clubs to obtain. The other ideas presented here, the referee's radio receiver or red light in the cockpit, also are worth testing.

I don't know Jay, but he has some good points, especially about personal safety equipment. In the Sixties the new Gen-Tex jackets and Snell approved helmets were a huge improvement over the flimsy life jackets and salad-bowl helmets of the Fifties. The safety gear that's available now is amazing, but you have to buy and wear it, as Jay says.

Also, it seems to me that we should not be too quick to point fingers (not accusing anyone here of this) at unpaid officials who are doing their best for the love of the sport. Every human enterprise includes human error, from which we hope to learn, sometimes at an awful price. In this case, the poor visibility on the course might not have been obvious from the officials' vantage point. Drivers or a drivers' rep have to let the officials know what they see. I remember a run for the first turn in BSH late in the afternoon at Lake Lawrence in 1966, a record course where you run your biggest prop and the boat is real loose. The sun was so blinding you could hardly see other boats or turn bouys. But I was young and dumb and assumed without giving it any thought that that was just part of the deal, like wind or rough water or whatever, so it never occurred to me to tell the referee (who in this case would have had his back to the sun) about the situation. When drivers come in from a heat, they tend to be absorbed in their own immediate tasks. So maybe at the morning drivers' meeting, the referee should make a point of saying, "If you see something we should know about, COMMUNICATE!!!"

[Bob Rusnak]

Sean has an appointment tomorrow morning to look at his foot and make some comments . We are all hoping for some good news. The past two weeks were not promising but we are keeping a positive attitude on this. Please keep Sean in your thoughts and prayers.

[Bob Rusnak]

OK, this post is about Sean McKean, so here we go. As we know from past post, Sean's foot was almost severed off. The surgeon did a great job in attaching it and we all pray the healing will be successful. Infection of the wound was very critical. Two days ago we were at a "wound clinic" where is injuries were reviewed. There appears to be no infection so he was given the OK to return to Texas. We tried to rent a van to transport him from NY to Texas but there are NONE available. As it turns out, boat racers, Denny Henderson and Al Davis have booked a flight to Depue, Ill. to drive Sean's equipment back to Texas. Since we can't get a van, we are leaving tomorrow, Sean, Lorraine, Chase, the dog and two VRP engines to meet up with them on Friday afternoon. They will then drive back to Texas in Sean's toter home where he will be comfortable. I can't thank everyone enough for the support for Sean of this tragic accident. Time will tell what the outcome of the surgery will be. I am confident that everything will be positive from this. God Bless all of Sean's supporters......

[benf27]

Denny Henderson and Al Davis......You cant find better people!! A pair of great guys. Always there to help out.

[narrowminded]

OPEN WOUND IN DEPUY WATER NO INFECTION SOUNDS LIKE A MIRACLE TO ME PRAISE GOD ! Now lets pray for journey mercies for the two drivers and all travelers and peace and comfort for Sean.