Case of The Mondays: Illegal PWC Drag Race Puts $14K Up For Grabs


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Listen, we’re going to make this loud and clear: illegal drag racing is stupid. In this video alone you’re going to see crowds gathering on a dock, the shoreline and launch with skis running at excess of 90-plus-mph; racers wearing zero safety gear (besides a lifevest), despite the aforementioned speeds (no helmet, neck or back brace, gloves, etc.); no flagmen or buoys to warn other boaters; no safety skis to attend to crashed or sunken skis or injured riders; no ambulance on duty; visible drinking of alcohol; etc. What you’re seeing is truly illegal and a detriment to our industry.

Rules exist for a reason, and its not to pad the pockets of sanctioning bodies (although that happens) or grease a promoter’s palm (although that happens too). It’s also not to limit the fun that these racers can have. Rather, it’s to keep persons like these from 1. injuring or killing themselves, 2. injuring or killing a spectator, or 3. injuring or killing another boater. Not only is the injury or potential death (as illustrated by 14-year-old Chantouch Chanthasuntitham’s accidental death this weekend) tragic for the person, but all those who surround them; but it’s also detrimental to our industry.

Why do you think Yamaha Motor Corp. USA has a team of lawyers at the ready? Did you read about the $14 million dollars that BRP was ordered to pay? We live in a litigative society that constantly results in us regular, law-abiding folks being screwed over by the actions of a handful of morons. We’re sharing this video not to promote but to condemn these sort of illegal races. And although the winner of this heads-up race went home with a cool $14,000 in cash, both racers were fined for shattering the dockside No Wake Zone as soon as they pulled up to the launch.

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Kevin Shaw

Editor-in-Chief – kevin.shaw@shawgroupmedia.com Kevin Shaw is a decade-long powersports and automotive journalist whose love for things that go too fast has led him to launching The Watercraft Journal. Almost always found with stained hands and dirt under his fingernails, Kevin has an eye for the technical while keeping a eye out for beautiful photography and a great story.

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    • Kevin Shaw 8 June, 2016 at 09:32 Reply

      To be fair, nowhere in this article do I or WCJ support or condone this type of racing. Besides the quotes from Manuel Valdes, nowhere does our stance change from then to now.

      Again, I’m not hating on drag racing. And I’m not asking to have all drag racing shut down. But I am saying that head’s up “street races” like these have a very high potential of resulting in serious injury, and quite possibly heavy legislation outlawing access to canals like these or other awesome locations around Miami (or further).

      If you read the current article again, you’ll see that I state that “its not to limit the fun that these racers can have,” but to keep the consequences of an untimely (and preventable) accident from happening.

      But I’d like to readdress a central point: racing in a freshwater canal in Miami is outside of USCG jurisdiction. Rather, it becomes County law enforcement’s problem. If/when somebody gets really hurt, sheriffs have to report it to local municipalities and, eventually courts.

      When that happens, and if/when lawyers get involved, then you get heavily restrictive legislation. Think that can’t happen in Miami? Ask anyone living in Southern California about riding in the canals/LA river. I grew up riding the canals between the ocean and the Long Beach powerplants until somebody in the mid-1990s got hurt. Now nobody can. Now it’s a huge ticket and they impound your ski.

      How many people did you see on the two docks? I estimated close to 60. Along the shoreline? Close to that. Sure, it wasn’t World Finals, but a snapped steering cable, a ride plate stripping the bolts out, or a tweaked prop losing a blade could send one of those skis careening into that launch ramp like a cannonball.

      I get it, what I wrote was inflammatory and it’s got a bunch of people all hellbent on burning me down. But as I wrote this, I kept remembering what Jerry Gaddis said to me about why he had to change the Mudbug from an annual head’s up drag race to a free-for-all weekend of fun:

      He said (paraphrasing) that one year an attendee came up to him and said, “You can’t do this anymore, Jerry. You could lose everything.” The attendee was a litigator (attorney) and explained that one serious injury, or worse yet, a death, could hold him liable for all medical expenses, damages, everything. He could even be sued by the county and/or the state. And like that, he shut it down.

      Things like this go away, and typically because somebody gets hurt, does something unnecessarily dumb and ruins it for the rest of us. It’s Murphy’s Law. I just don’t want to see it happen because somebody (or a lot of people) got hurt. That’s all.

  1. Youdaddy 8 June, 2016 at 10:35 Reply

    I’m pretty sure you not this 100% law abiding citizen so relax. I’m sure you have 1 alcoholic beverage and drive I’m sure you speed and endanger other on the street, I’m sure you have rushed to pass a yellow light, I’m sure you don’t always completely stop at a stop sign so people that drag race are doing the same thing 75% of the people in cars do when they don’t follow traffic laws and that’s endanger others. But to blast the people drag racing and only endangering themselves is a hypocrite on everyone’s part that took part in the article. Everyone has an opinion and most of the time is a hypocrite

    • Kevin Shaw 8 June, 2016 at 10:41 Reply

      Actually, I don’t drink at all. And you’ve completely missed the point of this article and my other reply written here, so I will reiterate: I’m not hating on drag racing, betting on drag racing, or saying that all drag racing should be shut down. But I am saying that head’s up “street races” like these have a very high risk of somebody getting hurt or killed, and will very likely result in laws outlawing PWC access to canals like these. Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt (or killed), and we all want to enjoy these waterways, and races like these are the fastest way for both of those things to happen.

      And, I get it. People participating or even attending these races are willingly putting their own lives at risk. But even if everyone signed a waiver signing their lives away, such releases have been regularly dismissed by courts. It’s total BS, but it’s true. Personal injury waivers are (pardon the pun) pretty paper-thin in a court of law. If you read the article again, you’ll see that I state that “its not to limit the fun that these racers can have,” but to keep the consequences of an untimely (and preventable) accident from happening.

  2. SJBurdick 10 June, 2016 at 05:58 Reply

    Kevin, I totally get what your saying and agree. It’s that mentality of people who think its OK to participate in this type of illegal competition, yes it may be all fun and games until someone gets hurt. It’s the people who are participating in this type illegal activities who are the first ones getting Layered up to collect on a lawsuit or even worse their family members suing someone because of an death. Case in point; just take a look at the tragic accidents from illegal street racing. Peace out………….

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