Video: Crash During Powerboat Racing

October 1, 2012

The Bermuda Powerboat Association held its Memorial Marathon race day on Sunday [Sept 30] at Ferry Reach in St. George’s. Boats from various classes headed out on a circuit out of Ferry Reach through the pylons, up North Shore before circling two marker buoys and returning to the Ferry Reach start point.

David Selley and Ryan Rebello hit a wave in the choppy waters just outside the pylons and their ‘D’ class boat was sent nose up in the air. Pilot David Selley was thrown from the boat, and ended up in the water after being dragged through the water.

The boat then appeared to scale a rock face and slide back into the water. The driver eventually made his way back onto the boat and the two made their way back to shore.

In another incident sometime later, Tonka Simpson and his crew went airborne in the North Shore waters before a hard landing left them both stunned. They guided their boat back into Ferry Reach slowly under their own power. Drivers and crew from both boats were checked over by St. Johns Ambulance members and appear not to have received any major injuries.

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Comments (11)

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  1. Christina says:

    Very thankful no one was hurt!

  2. Truth is killin' me... says:

    Same driving on the water as on the land. At least there’s no walls to knock down on the water.

  3. sharkbite says:

    Truth is killing me, I guess you have never driven a boat. There is no comparison driving on the road to driving on the water. The water moves, the land doesn’t. It takes a great bit of skill and cocentration to race a boat, as well as a lot of nerve. It always amazes me how people can make judgements and comments on things they have seen,but never done themselves, but all of a sudden are experts on it. Hmmm!!!!

    • A1 says:

      you can’t just hold the steering wheel and expect the boat to stay straight……..current, waves, and wind direction will put you on your head if you ain’t got a clue……..lol

  4. smh says:

    “OH SHXT!” “I got it on cameraaaa!!!” LOL true Bermudians!

  5. bir says:

    not skilful before they take these boats racing they need to know the water and rules

  6. sharkbite says:

    Bir, very true with your statement. I would also like to clarify to the people that don’t know, that most powerboat drivers are in more control of their boats then the average weekend boater, who buys a boat and doesn’t have a clue on how to dock the thing,who has right away on the water, or what side you pass an approaching boat. They also travel without the appropriate safety equiptment.I can say that at any given time,you can look in a powerboater’s boat and find 100 to 200ft of roap with anchore and chain,flares,rockets,whistle,horn,dye,and a marine radio. On top of that most boats have $1500.00 plus of safety gear that is worn between pilot and co-pilot.these boats are also equipted with safety switches to shut the motor down should one or both persons be ejected from the boat. So with that being said, I hope it shows that powerboaters are not as reckless as most people think they are.

  7. joanne correia says:

    glad to see no one was hurt badly.

  8. TWISTER says:

    as a former racer some people should keep quiet particulary if youve not raced powerboats before

  9. sharkbite says:

    Thank you twister

  10. A FRIEND. says:

    glad no one got hurt. i think bernews has some of the facts confused but as usual people are more concerned about getting their videos and pictures, instead of seeing if they’re okay. i love how people are so quick to judge, if they didn’t have experience then they wouldn’t be racing a damn boat in the first place, they know what they are doing, every has accidents and makes mistakes. its quite simple. just my personal opinion though.