Jet Boat runs down windsurfer

Sailing With Gold coast crew yesterday and a jet boat (jet boat extreme goldcoast,yellow boat red writing) lined up George from about 70 meters aways ,tried to turn at last minute and missed judge the stupid act and near ran the man over. George has bruises and damage his kit.
The driver stopped to check on George and collect details and the incident is being reported.
Accidents happen but I personally have seen this same operator speed closer then the required 60mtrs spraying windsurfers and kiters and coming back for a laugh. usually while dredging.
If you or anyone has seen or experienced this behaviour let us know.
Its just dangerous and something might be able to be done about it.
All the other commercial jet boats don't seem to be a problem.

Hope you are ok George. If anyone would like to read George's account he wrote about it here:

gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2015-04-11&team=108

Cheers
Marty

Yep, he lines me up every time and turns at the last second. Its the GC nobody cares.

Had the same thing done to me as well,only that day I was sailing at the train.
The jet boat driver was flat out bearing down at me, swerved at last minute to spray me, he went around me but ran aground on the northern bank .
I thought great, he got what he deserved and maybe learnt some thing but obviously not.
He was lucky he never injured any of his passengers as it came to an abrubt halt.
They are a substantle size vessel and must weigh ship loads with all the passengers on board.
The companies other jet boat eventually towed it off the bank.
George! You were very lucky you were not seriously injured or could have even been killed .

If possible try and get some video with the time and date and inform Maritime Safety Queensland. Try and recall the dates and approximate times where it has happened in the past. Since Sydney Harbour is now pretty much covered by video cameras irresponsible boat owners have been prosecuted successfully which never has happened in the past.

How ridiculous is that operator. Can I suggest to those that have experienced/ witnessed that behaviour to support George with a written account to support an official complaint/legal challenge to shut that operator down on the basis of public safety and negligence. Let the media know and the body that issued the operators licence and insurance. With so many witnesses on board (the boats) what business person would risk so much? Regards to George.

Yes, as we understand the Broadwater is less than ideal for the Jet Boaters business model as it is too busier of a waterway with a multitude of all types of water users and water vessels or craft as opposed to the relatively under used fiord type river systems in New Zealand where this thrill seeker business model was born. If they the Jet Boat Tour Operators were allowed to go on with this type of behaviour on our roadways comparatively speaking, they would be considered as HOONS! and have there vehicles impounded by the Authorities or destroyed on repeat offending and in additions to this penalties and/or cancellation of their licences. Maybe the Authorities need to wake up and start taking some action about these guys before one of us are killed or badly maimed by them

I witnessed the collision and it was deliberate. The jetboat in question completed a spin in front of the bank and then set a collision course with George who was more than 500 meters away. The boat continued to accelerate and made no course adjustment. It appeared that the driver was attempting to intimidate/scare George out of the way, then the boat made a last minute course adjustment and struck George. Seeing that happen left me quite shaken as my initial though was that George had been killed. The boat circled back to check on him and luckily Shannon was there quickly. I cant imagine a situation where the driver didn't see George

This operator continues to display aggressive behavior so we can presume the company has allowed this irresponsible culture to become a form of amusement for employees. What happened was criminal and not an isolated act of poor judgement, consider the law of averages; if you continually choose to do risky things then sooner or later it will go wrong; that isn't behavior fit for a commercial operator. In a nutshell the drivers choices could result in serious physical injury or death to a bystander who has become involved simply because the operator force-ably decided to include them for the purposes of entertainment (e.g. spraying a swimmer, windsurfer or someone in a tinny etc...)

I'd say snags has it on the head, but i needed to vent

Hi guys,

first of all I would like to thank you all for your support and concerns.

It took me a little bit longer to write about this accident but I have to make sure that what I write here is absolutely correct. I'm sure that the boat driver is reading it and also anything I put here might be used during the police investigation and perhaps the court hearing as well.

Health wise I'm not too bad considering being hit and run over by the boat going 40-50km/h; some scratches, bruisers, headache but I'm alive and that's the most important. There was also some gear damage which is no surprise. Luckily my torn seat harness and thick Prolimit weight west took most of the impact. Looking at the strange tear on my harness makes me think that I got hooked on some sharp rail or something on the side which prevented me to slide further under the boat as it went sideway.

The coming boat was no sudden surprise in this case. I recall every moment as I was watching it for at least 15 sec, since it arrived in front of the Grand and started to do the donuts. (Marked on the Google Map). I watched the boat thinking what an idiot, what is he doing, trying to figure out where he plans to exit his usual donut show. I decided to bear away to clear the area as he started to erratically swing his tail left and right and there was no clear indication which way he intends to continue. All of the sudden I saw the front of the boat pointing straight at me when it was about 70 meters away. I was constantly watching the boat over my shoulder and just thought, here we go, now he is coming to turn in front of me to make a huge wave and spray just to have some comic situation for his thrill-seeking passengers. However the boat didn't seam to slow down, it just kept going faster and faster and as I was going at about 18 knots it's nose was constantly pointing at me. It was clear that I was actually targeted and followed. It didn't take long before the boat was 15 meters from me and I knew there's no way the collision can be avoided at that speed. Not kidding, I thought I'm dead! I can still see that aluminum silver nose rail heading to my head. I've just managed to bend down and expose my side to the impact and cover my head. After that I just remember hitting the side and being dragged under the right site of the boat but not totally in the middle. From the GPS data it appears that I was doing 18-20 knots just before the impact and thrown sideway at speed of 55.59 knots! I'm not so sure about the accuracy of that data but I suppose that could be the force of the side generated wave and spray that spit me out from under the boat. The boat went for another 20 or so meters before turning back. The driver was circling around me as I tried to climb my board and falling back into water as I was still disorientated and in shock. Once I managed to climb on the board he ask me if I'm ok. It had to take some time as trimmer managed to sail to me to help. The driver just asked me for my name and phone number and said he will file the accident report. He also asked me if I don't mind he takes the photo, ...surely for insurance. Then he asked me if I mange to get back which I reply yes, looking at trimmer whom I could trust to somehow get me back to shore if I needed.

I've talked to a water police and am filling the Marine Accident Report. My understanding is that the investigation should follow once the report is lodged. After talking to number of people and reading this forum at appears that this was no random accident but deliberate endangering life which is a serious offence per quote:

CRIMES ACT 1958 - SECT 22 Conduct endangering life A person who, without lawful excuse, recklessly engages in conduct that places or may place another person in danger of death is guilty of an indictable offence. Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum). S. 23 substituted by No. 10233 s. 8(2), amended by Nos 49/1991 s. 119(1) (Sch. 2 item 14), 48/1997 s. 60(1)(Sch. 1 item 16).

I contacted Gold Coast Jet X today and they appear to have no knowledge about the accident. They took my phone number but never called back so I assume engaging a specialized legal firm will be the most efficient way to deal with this matter in order to put a stop on this reckless operators.
Just watching their promotional video at

#t=11 shows how reckless they are; at 1:19 they are blasting between the guy standing in the water and bank, at 1:19 passing people and jetski on the beach and around 1:00 they turn so fast around the sand bank that they could easily run over an adult or child.

It appears that this type of behavior is not new and there is some history to it. They might got away with that for some time but finally they run out of luck and actually run somebody over.

Hope they lock the guy up , deliberately aiming for some one then hitting them is a serious crime isn't it i would think even more so when he is doing it to try and amuse him self and customers essentially almost running over people to try and increase his profits.What a obsolete piece of **** this person is

Linda still chats with neil and kathy.She has never sailed again.the jet ski company wasn't insured and went bankrupt.
Linda never got a cent as far as I was told.

Glad you're ok George, that's an horrific story.

I can't help but be enraged by the recklessness of that idiot. I hope he ends up locked up for a while and loses any licences to drive those useless lumps of tin. Good luck with any up-coming court proceedings. I hope he's sits behind bars for a while to contemplate the idiocy of his actions.

Posted the link to this thread on their Facebook page. Was deleted in 15 minutes, nice one guys.

Also just left a review and a post, will see how long it stays.....

Hope you are feeling better George.

May I suggest you contact Ash Bygate from Newcastle (look him up on facebook). He was on the jet boat I believe and is a witness to the incident. He may also know of others on the craft that ran you down and someone could have footage. I also wouldn't post up anything more about the driver or company as this could be used against you. I'm assuming this is all going to end up in court so we as a windsurfing community need to put down our pitchforks and let George deal with it in an appropriate manner. I wish you luck as this business has the support of Gold Coast Council and Tom Tate behind it. Just scroll down on their page to the news feed where they are pictured as one of the Gold Coast's 6th main attractions with Tate.

Best of luck and keep us all informed on this thread. You have the support of the windsurfing community behind you and I'm sure some of the other Gold Coast windsurfers can help with previous aggressive behaviour by this company.

On another topic - If you are a member of a windsurfing club sanctioned by Windsurfing Australia I think you are covered 24-7 on the water. This might be helpful in this situation as the windsurfing insurance company can fight it out with the operator at fault????? Someone might be able to help with this info and if this is the case I suggest everyone join a club.

Cheers
Marty