In regards to the Jam "accident".

First...my prayers and hope go to those involved. It pains me to see or hear of another's mis-fortune.

Second...I did not see the crash; I place no blame on anyone.

Lets talk Time/Speed/Distance for a second.

I ride a fairly narrow river, Hiawassee River in Charleston Tennessee.

Lake Cumberland is a large lake with many narrow tributaries, plenty of "blind curves" and "hidden slews".

Saturday I followed Zippy up a "slew" for about 4 miles, I would say we had an average width of 500-600 feet, in some places it narrowed to as little as 250-300 feet or as wide as 1/4 mile.

If I'm riding in the middle of the tributary I am as close as 125-150 feet from the bank.

Lets use 50 mph as my speed; a lot of skis can do 50 no problem. (GPR 62-64)
50mph = 264,300 feet per hour divided by 3600(second in hour)= 73.41 feet per second

50mph = 73.41 feet per second

Reaction Time…. my aviation training taught me that it takes 1.5 second (yes seconds, 1/60 of a minute) for your brain to realize/recognize that something is wrong.

1.5 seconds….. 110 feet traveled

If you are a highly trained/experienced rider you brain will instantly formulate the plan to avoid the collision…. less experienced will take a minimum of .5 or 1/2 a second.

1.5 + .5 = 2 seconds…. you are now 147 feet or 2 seconds into a crash.

Watercraft reaction time…. 1.5 to 2 seconds…after you realize that something is wrong AND taken the time to formulate a plan, it takes another 1.5 seconds for your craft to react to rider input.

Your now 3.5 seconds or 259 feet into your collision.


BOTTOM LINE …. At 50mph it takes 3.5 second or 259 feet for you to realize and then react to a potential collision.

259 feet is just for one boat…now throw in one more ski for a total of 518 feet covered in 3.5 seconds and you can see how easy it is for two skis to collide and completely change your life.

Be very cautious when riding these narrow waters.