In mine, there is a hoop over the driver's head, a hoop at the trailing edge of the window (you can see it in the pic from behind) and one up at the dash ( right about at your knees. It is 1'" stuff, not the 2" or so that drag guys use. But these things are stout. Several years ago, George Stratton took a K boat up and over (T- bone style) his cockpit and came out with no injuries. Testimony to the strength and impact resistance of these cockpits. Again, I think that a guy should no be forced to use one if he chooses not to. But, if you are looking to use a cockpit in a circle boat, these are a good choice, IMO.
I have seen the enclosures on the outboards and they make sense because the whole boat is enclosed and when the flip they stay afloat. SS PS or Ks go down so fast when the flip having that 700lbs V-8 in the back. I would not want to be inside something like that unless the boat could stay afloat upside down or on its side. I wonder are they going to put extra flotation in the boat? Or if the driver is going to have a air supply?
exactly.............
It's pretty obvious that there's been a lot of thougt and $$$ gone into this idea. What more can this community of racers ask for? Anyone can dis an idea. It's easy to say what's wrong with it. What's right with it is that the area of safety is being adressed. I'm sure there's a world of compromizes here. Vrom a driver's standpoint, I can see that visibility is one of the first. Weight, cost, looks, practicality, all of those things have to be compromised, but at least the willingness to make the sacrafice is there, and the effort is being made. I don't imagine this is inexpensive, to say the least. Will this be the definitive answer for circle boat safety? Probably not. Is it a good starting point? You bet. It seems to me anywhere, with this much thought and planning is a good starting point, and you will never know how good the "mouse trap" is, untill you put the bait in and catch the mouse. Unfortunately, that means wrecking the shit out of it, so hopefully, we'll never know where the "weak link" is in this design. One place I can see that could be improved on is the back, aerodynamically. I can understand the flat back, if the engine sits directly behind the enclosure, but being offset like that, I bet you could help the air flow around that port side a little. Just an obvservation from an outsider. Heck, you've probably already thought of that with a fairing of some kind. I think you guys should get big kudo's though for making the effort, with what sounds like a whole lot of thought and experience behind it. Naysayers, STFU untill you have a better idea.
Has anyone seen the capsule boat built by Mike Patterson? He had a (stupid) Toyota or Nissan turbo motor in it. He built it about 15 years ago, and used my "Bies" molds to build it. It had one large bubble (helicopter window) over the cockpit. If you do see it, please let me know. That no good #%*ck owes me over $2K. since he rolled over a borrowed K boat of Don's and never paid anyone back. I don't like boats with windows, I feel that you should be REQUIRED to stick your body in the wind to go boating/ racing. I have 'been wet' at speed and I still would never drive a capsule boat. I guess that's why I don't work on race boats any more. I'll stop ridin' Harleys when they get capsules, and stop skateboarding when it's required on them! Just yesterday I saw a 'wana-be' capsule boat, it was a 28' Daytona with the "capsule windows", and it also had an OPENBOW seating area. How did a serious attempt at safety become such a joke?
Has anyone seen the capsule boat built by Mike Patterson? He had a (stupid) Toyota or Nissan turbo motor in it. He built it about 15 years ago, and used my "Bies" molds to build it. It had one large bubble (helicopter window) over the cockpit. If you do see it, please let me know.
He had it at Red Rock in 98 or 99. Its in one of my videos.
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