Driver injured @ Moses Lake

[HRTV]

Blowing the Lid Off:

Read this:

Helmet Safety

[TLSM301]

Thanks Al, for the helmet info. I have inserted some high density foam in the top and sides underneath the OEM liner. It did firm up the fit pretty good. Now I just need a test ride to see how well it works! I may have to wait for that till next spring though.
Tracey 301m

[Andrew 4CE]

I missed the first parts of this thread, but came in during the helmet safety portion. One guy said to leave the helmet open a crack to prevent fogging. This is fine much of the time, but not all the time. And sometimes the visor will close when getting hosed down in a corner and then you're screwed. I use a "FogCity ProShield" visor in my helmets. I close my helmet completely before the run to the clock even and it NEVER fogs no matter how much I get hosed. I won't race without one anymore. These things are life savers. They install in any helmet and it's like a decal that sticks to the inside of your existing visor so you can still use tinted or mirrored visors if you want. I've converted many people up in this area. You can order them at pretty much any motorcycle shop (or from fralickboats.com if you can't find one). I've also tried a version made by "ProGrip" too, but it doesn't seem to last as long and it's adhesive is not as good. The FogCity ones we've been using for a couple years now. It's a low buck HIGHLY worthwhile purchase.

http://www.modernworld.com/ then click "proshield"

[TLSM301]

Oh wow Thanks for the tip! Been looking for anti-fog product and its relatively inexpensize.
Tracey 301m

[Al Peffley]

Good Thread!

I also wear my racing helmets (I have two) one size smaller than my motorcycle helmet. I have flack panels from SRP in my racing jacket; the jacket has leg straps like the limited inboard drivers use for added stabilization if I get ejected. The SRP jacket I bought already had the flack panel pockets in it on the outside of the jacket. The panels are light weight and will reduce (but not eliminate) blunt force trauma. One of my boats has a reinforcement kevlar/Gr-Ep panel on the right side of the cockpit (this will not help to protect against a crash from the left side of the receiving boat's cockpit, but it helps reduce "corner-squeeze" accident penetrations.) These are all good comments.

Al Peffley

[sponsonhead]

What???

I also wear my racing helmets (I have two) one size smaller than my motorcycle helmet. I have flack panels from SRP in my racing jacket; the jacket has leg straps like the limited inboard drivers use for added stabilization if I get ejected. The SRP jacket I bought already had the flack panel pockets in it on the outside of the jacket. The panels are light weight and will reduce (but not eliminate) blunt force trauma.

Al, I'm not sure where you got your jacket from, but if you are saying that the flack panels are in pockets on the outside of the jacket, this is NOT the way SRP makes the jacket; it sounds like it may be some sort of aftermarket modification...and certainly not the safest way to add impact if I am reading your description correctly.

I've been selling for SRP since 1992 and I have never seen a jacket with the impact material in pockets on the outside of the jacket. We put the impact material INSIDE the jacket, outside of the flotation material (meaning that the flotation material is inside the jacket closest to your body; then the impact material; then the orange cordura outer material). A number of drivers opt for the leg bands over crotch straps as you have...it's all a matter of personal preference.

Crotch strap jackets can be converted to leg bands if the driver perfers, and vice versa. And, impact material can be added to the inside of any jacket that doesn't have it at present.

R-19

[Al Peffley]

Jacket mods by SRP

Pat - SRP installed the approved APBA flack panels in my SRP jacket, not me. It is an older style INBOARD SRP model with built-in pockets for the panels, and the panels are outside of the floatation slabs but inside (I probably should have said inside the front layer... ) the center of the jacket's chest cavities. The panels do not do any good if they do not have good impact (floatation) foam as a backing (yes, they also put updated foam pieces in my jacket.) Security did all of the work for me many years ago, and I had it re-certified by them again last year for pro category racing.

Al Peffley
15-R/R-25

[sponsonhead]

Got it.

Pat - SRP installed the approved APBA flack panels in my SRP jacket, not me. It is an older style INBOARD SRP model with built-in pockets for the panels, and the panels are outside of the floatation slabs but inside (I probably should have said inside the front layer... ) the center of the jacket's chest cavities. The panels do not do any good if they do not have good impact (floatation) foam as a backing (yes, they also put updated foam pieces in my jacket.) Security did all of the work for me many years ago, and I had it re-certified by them again last year for pro category racing.

Al Peffley
15-R/R-25

Ok, that makes sense now. Thanks for the clarification.

R-19

[seanp3]

I missed the first parts of this thread, but came in during the helmet safety portion. One guy said to leave the helmet open a crack to prevent fogging. This is fine much of the time, but not all the time. And sometimes the visor will close when getting hosed down in a corner and then you're screwed. I use a "FogCity ProShield" visor in my helmets. I close my helmet completely before the run to the clock even and it NEVER fogs no matter how much I get hosed. I won't race without one anymore. These things are life savers. They install in any helmet and it's like a decal that sticks to the inside of your existing visor so you can still use tinted or mirrored visors if you want. I've converted many people up in this area. You can order them at pretty much any motorcycle shop (or from fralickboats.com if you can't find one). I've also tried a version made by "ProGrip" too, but it doesn't seem to last as long and it's adhesive is not as good. The FogCity ones we've been using for a couple years now. It's a low buck HIGHLY worthwhile purchase.

I've got a fog city shield on my visor and still tends to fog at the start of a race before you actually get out on the course and start moving. I've got to leave the shield cracked a bit for ventilation, then once underway I can close it completely once I get a breeze in the face to keep it clear. That's all I've used so far in the cooler weather - so it may be a lot worse without the fog city shield.

[forshey99]

Something to consider.

A point often missed in discussion of helmet safety in boat racing is that most helmets being worn by SO,MO, and PRO drivers were NOT designed or tested for watersports. That said, we have a very unique situation that occurs in a large majority of boat racing accidents...
The water scooping effect that occurs in the chin opening or through the eyeport after the shield has been torn away creates a substantial amount of torsional stresses on the head,neck, and helmet retention systems(chin straps, rivots, d-rings,etc.)
This is simply not something the helmets were designed to withstand or protect against.

To my knowledge, no helmet manufacturer nor APBA has conducted any research into better understanding this issue and how to address it. It would be in our best interest to develop a relationship with a helmet manufacturer, the Snell Foundation or both to generate some interest in this matter. Only with their resources will we be able to increase helmet saftey for outboard racing.

Anyone have contacts at Shoei, Snell, Arai, Bell, Simpson, HJC, Suomy, etc?

Thats said, alot of guys are skimping on helmets due to cost.
Dan had a great ad several years back that read something like "If you're head is worth $100, buy a $100 helmet..."
Not that money equals quality, but you should certainly do some research about your helmet before you go and pick one up at garage sale.

Nate

[sponsonhead]

It's all in the volume

Nate, you are absolutely correct about the issue that we are using helmets that are designed with motorsports other than powerboat racing in mind, and as such are limited to what's out there and available.

The problem is the same as motors and their availability: We are such a small blip on the radar that no company is going to tool up and do the research, design and production run for maybe 100-300 helmets and make them available at a price that is economically feasible. One only needs to look as far as the COLOR situation on helmets. Ever notice how easy it is to find a helmet by a major manufacturer in Orange? Not very. Now, take the concept of designing and manufacturing a boat race-specific helmet in orange and make it available at your local watersports store? Ain't gonna happen.

(As an aside-- SRP has been waiting since late June for their distributor to get in a new shipment of Shoei TZ-R orange helmets, and we still don't have them...if our disti can't get them from Shoei, and if Shoei doesn't have a big enough production requirement to set up a run, it takes longer to get them....and this doesn't even allow for the time it takes for a ship container of orange lids to get across the Pacific).

SRP has done some unique things to resolve the bucketing risk on a full face helmet with their air helmets; specifically a neoprene skirt that goes around the base of the helmet and fits like a turtleneck; however this hasn't yet shown up on a non-air-equipped helmet. I wish it would.

Bottom line: UIM's safety committee has done much research on helmets and helmet safety. Bob Wartinger is a great resource for this info. Neck collars and helmet restraints are helpful in many situations, and are always going to help more than hurt. But every accident is different, our sport's requirements are unique, and finding the Magic Bullet helmet that will work perfectly in all boat racing situations that is readily and cost effective, while desirable, is probably not going to exist. Stick with a high quality, light weight helmet, couple them with the appropriate peripherals (collars, helmet restraints), and race safe.

R-19

[Steve Warnock]

Wart and Helmets

Ditto O'Great Karaoke Master!!!

Yes there has been a great deal information and studies done on this ubject by both APBA and the UIM. Wartinger is the most knowagable person to get information from if you desire.

Warbs

[Al Peffley]

The Five Why's and Risk Reduction Action Ideas

The hydraulicing or "bucketing" effects of water dislodging the helmet and causing serious driver injuries, as Nate has described, are part of a bigger picture of a boat racing accident's phases and conditions that the driver goes through in a single boat or multiple boat crash. If we formed a APBA/USTS/AOF formal investigation team to ask the question of why the driver suffers serious injuries in these accident phases and conditions (I am told the Japanese call this process of finding the root causes "The Five Why's"), then we will get down to the real roots of these driver safety concerns (including human errors.) Your team will keep asking "why" until there are no more root causes to discuss (including better driver training solutions for human-induced causes.)

Encapsulating all outboard drivers is definitely NOT my first choice, but I realize it has some life-saving virtues (as well as some visibility limitation issues -- many encapsulated pro boat windscreens are too small in my opinion) and potential entrapment(sp?) issues (just ask J Michael Kelly about his unlimited hydro capsule equipment failure experience within this last year.) BTW - I "stuffed it" (left picklefork) at Silver Lake in Everett in my OSY at around 60 mph last season (2005) due to a big box wave "hole" in turn 2. It was a violent toss-out, and the boat did a 180 degree flip. Even at that speed my helmet bucketed a little through the chin hole, but stayed on because I had my chin strap REALLY tight and I was thrown out in a twisted mass on my side, not face first (the face shield stayed in place.) My insides and were sore for two weeks! Roy Blackwell also crashed at the same race and had more serious injuries than me in the same hydro size.

If we can reduce the reason the face shields are being torn off (i.e. - reducing excessive forward body/head speed at water impact) and re-designing the chin area exposure zone, then maybe we can help reduce the number of conditions contributing to the water's hydraulicing action on helmets.

I would like to continue to pursue the potential use of new air-bag systems in pro laydown hydros and reinforced cockpit sides in outboard class open cockpits, if there is a racing community interest in embracing these add-on technologies. I have been looking at this air-bag technology for many years now (such as a tethered system restraint system with g-force limit sensor activation for the cockpit air bag units.) The air-bag system may also reduce the number of rib and head injuries from going into the dash/steering wheel assembly and through the windscreen when you stuff a sponson or hit another solid object while running. LOL - I have a decal on my dash that says "Its not the speed, it's the sudden stops".

I would be willing to work with others on a team to help contact several helmet manufacturers in regards to looking at stronger locking mechanisms for the face shields and better chin deflector designs to redirect the water flow (without sacrificing head movement or ventilation features.) I don't believe a new helmet design would be economically feasible to drivers (extremely high unit cost) or manufacturers (very low demand for the suppliers' R&D and production tool-up investments.) It would be different if we had big pocket sponsors, large spectator crowds who pay to watch, and purse money like the GP car or motorcycle sports.

Al Peffley
15-R/R-25

[forshey99]

neoprene skirt

Pat,

I applaud the efforts of SRP, Lifeline and their partners for any and all efforts to increase the effectivenss of our safety equipment.
I agree that we will have a tough time getting any manufacturer resources redirected for such a small user-group, so the solution may have to come from the independent sector. In my last post I said "only" with their(helmet manufacts.) resources will we increase helmet safety. That's not exactly true, but I still feel as though getting the attention of the helmet manufacts. has value in that we are exposing a problem to the source of development. Maybe this has already been done, I'm just not privy to the information. I also understand Bob W. has done a considerable amount of research on the matter of equipment safety and is a great resource. He lurks here occassionally, maybe he can elaborate on the history of this topic.

The neoprene skirt is certainly a step in the right direction, and a farily elegant solution to a complex problem. There may be other solutions out there that are cost effective and easy to implement, they are just undiscovered as of yet.
I'm not huge proponent of the "hutchins" style device that some are using right now. Not for lack of visiblity, but due to the fact that it requires the shell be drilled. As some are aware of, the shells are impact tested in the same configuration they are sold in. Any changes to this configuration could compromise the shell's integrity and ultimately cause critical failure in the field.

Back to a point I made earlier, probably the most dangerous thing to boat racers is themselves. Shoe string budgets are understandable, its a grass roots sport. But please don't compromise on your safety equipment. Take the time to learn about the construction processes and materials involved in helmets(and kevlar). Understand the factors that degrade performance and decrease the useful life-span. Take care of the safety equipment the same as or better than you do your best prop or motor. It's the last line of defense that lets you go home to your family after a race weekend. In light of changes to the helmet industry, it is up to the racing community to acquire and employ the available equipment in the most effective way possible.


NOTE: I am NOT implying the Moses Lake injuries were a result of old or worn safety equipment.