Quote Originally Posted by dex71 View Post
Yep.....Fastest career change in history. From raceboat driver to boat mechanic in about 3 feet.

He was getting a new boat ready for the Euro season, and was breaking in a new engine. He didn't have the kill switch set-up yet, and the throttle got stuck wide open. He tried to turn it sideways to roll it (since he was protected in the canopy), but couldn't turn sharp enough at that speed (~140mph). So he picked what he thought was a decent spot on shore, but didn't see the retaining wall just off the beach. He found it when he hit it head on. His neck and back were so streched-out, he was a couple/few inches taller for a few weeks (mostly spent laying in a hospital bed). He also never raced again.....he just builds and fixes them now.
Damn. I made that same mistake on a race car i built. I took it out for a test drive and thumped the throttle in a parking lot about 20 ft from the road. The throttle got locked open and it pushed the car thru the rest of the parking lot, across a 4 lane street all right in front of a cop. Then i remembered to yank the wires from the msd box. I think it took about 4 seconds total. Next thing i knew the cop was standing there saying he knew i was trying to stop it because the front tires were locked up for the entire thing. I got lucky on that one. Since then the kill switch goes in before the push button starter.