New Water Sport!

[RMK7SledHead]

A friend's invention...very, very fun to ride. Would be AWESOME in a warm lake.

What do you guys think?

Abyss Boards

 

[Nate]

ha! love it, thats sweeeeet

 

[khaddon2110]

In how many ways is that unsafe?

1.towable with no lifejacket
2.get hungup on the bottom
3.not visable by the towboat or other boats
4.end up 30 ft down or more and some idiot panics and lets go and runs out a air

just a couple I could think of quickly, i'm sure there are more...... but hey, probably a market out there for it. good luck with it

 

[Blu Du]

In how many ways is that unsafe?

1.towable with no lifejacket
2.get hungup on the bottom
3.not visable by the towboat or other boats
4.end up 30 ft down or more and some idiot panics and lets go and runs out a air

just a couple I could think of quickly, i'm sure there are more...... but hey, probably a market out there for it. good luck with it

exactly what i was thinking too

 

[RMK7SledHead]

In how many ways is that unsafe?

1.towable with no lifejacket
2.get hungup on the bottom
3.not visable by the towboat or other boats
4.end up 30 ft down or more and some idiot panics and lets go and runs out a air

just a couple I could think of quickly, i'm sure there are more...... but hey, probably a market out there for it. good luck with it

No questions about it. Not to sound defensive, as I'm not trying to be, but look at wakeboarding in the same light and ask the same question.

Answers to a couple of your questions:

1. You could wear a life jacket, and it would be recommended on children. We chose not to. It's still in the testing/design phase...gotta figure out how the board works first.
2. Let go, swim to the top. Board will break, or the line will break. Board is buoyant.
3. Good point...we freaked the first time someone new took it past about 10'. She was down FOREVER. You CAN watch the rope though, and there is a system in the works for OK/NOT OK signal back to the boat. Other boats: well, currently it's pulled within about 100' of the shore, in coves where there are no other boats active. Also pulled slow (put the boat in gear, that's it right now) with the flag always up.
4. Can't help stupid. I haven't taken it over about 15' down, but haven't come close to running out of air either. Talk of scuba emergency air canisters on the rider.

Thanks for the constructive comments.

 

[dragon12]

1. Add alcohol to the situation and what do you come up with?
2. What happens if rider somehow becomes tangled in the tow rope?
3. Do you think the water cops would approve of it?

Neat invention but I wouldn't buy or use one yet with what I saw in video.

 

[khaddon2110]

No questions about it. Not to sound defensive, as I'm not trying to be, but look at wakeboarding in the same light and ask the same question. [that's where I'm coming from with those questions.. years of wakeboarding, both driving the boat and riding behind]

Answers to a couple of your questions:

1. You could wear a life jacket, and it would be recommended on children. We chose not to. It's still in the testing/design phase...gotta figure out how the board works first.
2. Let go, swim to the top. Board will break, or the line will break. Board is buoyant.
3. Good point...we freaked the first time someone new took it past about 10'. She was down FOREVER. You CAN watch the rope though, and there is a system in the works for OK/NOT OK signal back to the boat. Other boats: well, currently it's pulled within about 100' of the shore, in coves where there are no other boats active. Also pulled slow (put the boat in gear, that's it right now) with the flag always up.
4. Can't help stupid. I haven't taken it over about 15' down, but haven't come close to running out of air either. Talk of scuba emergency air canisters on the rider.

Thanks for the constructive comments.

that's all I was doing..... these things have to start somewhere and looking to potential problems that other watersports have had to overcome is how they get refined.

 

[RMK7SledHead]

1. Add alcohol to the situation and what do you come up with?
2. What happens if rider somehow becomes tangled in the tow rope?
3. Do you think the water cops would approve of it?

Neat invention but I wouldn't buy or use one yet with what I saw in video.

1. Same thing with any water sport. We've all had a few brews on a boat and got on a wakeboard...you just don't feel the pain till the next day.
2. I don't know...don't get tangled in the rope!
3. No idea.

If you were on the boat when it was in use, you'd get on it...I promise.

 

[RMK7SledHead]

that's all I was doing..... these things have to start somewhere and looking to potential problems that other watersports have had to overcome is how they get refined.

And it's appreciated.

 

[dragon12]

1. Same thing with any water sport. We've all had a few brews on a boat and got on a wakeboard...you just don't feel the pain till the next day.
2. I don't know...don't get tangled in the rope!
3. No idea.

If you were on the boat when it was in use, you'd get on it...I promise.

1. With a wakeboard you are on TOP of the water, and hopefully wearing a lifejacket. If you fall you float. Take off the life jacket and go under water with a few drinks in you and you could die. Consult with a lawyer and see if there would be any liability on the manufacturers part if someone dies using this product?
2. Not a good answer, think it through.
3. If it won't be allowed on public lakes, you just lost most of your market.

Don't take it personally, just some constructive criticism. Navigate the obstacles before you try to market it or be like Ski Doo and use your customers as a test market (see XP clutches). I think you have that start of a great idea.

 

[dragon12]

No questions about it. Not to sound defensive, as I'm not trying to be, but look at wakeboarding in the same light and ask the same question.

Answers to a couple of your questions:

1. You could wear a life jacket, and it would be recommended on children. We chose not to. It's still in the testing/design phase...gotta figure out how the board works first.
2. Let go, swim to the top. Board will break, or the line will break. Board is buoyant.
3. Good point...we freaked the first time someone new took it past about 10'. She was down FOREVER. You CAN watch the rope though, and there is a system in the works for OK/NOT OK signal back to the boat. Other boats: well, currently it's pulled within about 100' of the shore, in coves where there are no other boats active. Also pulled slow (put the boat in gear, that's it right now) with the flag always up.4. Can't help stupid. I haven't taken it over about 15' down, but haven't come close to running out of air either. Talk of scuba emergency air canisters on the rider.

Thanks for the constructive comments.

Could you tie something to the board that would float on the water above it. I was thinking of those blaze orange planing boards that fisherman use like this http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0024560016829a.shtml. Maybe something bigger, but this way it wouod be visible to other boats.

 

[RMK7SledHead]

1. With a wakeboard you are on TOP of the water, and hopefully wearing a lifejacket. If you fall you float. Take off the life jacket and go under water with a few drinks in you and you could die. Consult with a lawyer and see if there would be any liability on the manufacturers part if someone dies using this product?
2. Not a good answer, think it through.
3. If it won't be allowed on public lakes, you just lost most of your market.

Don't take it personally, just some constructive criticism. Navigate the obstacles before you try to market it or be like Ski Doo and use your customers as a test market (see XP clutches). I think you have that start of a great idea.

1. Same liability as wakeboard manufacturers currently have, which incidentally is who he is trying to market it to. He doesn't want to manufacture them, he wants to sell the idea. Needs a sticker on it I guess: "May cause injury or death."
2. Your question answered itself. There are inherent risks in all that we choose to do. You ride a sled, right? What happens if you hit a tree. At some point, you have to stop protecting people from themselves.
3. I answered your question with "no idea" as it hasn't been investigated. Like I said, he doesn't want to deal with that side of things. If the idea is a good one, someone else will be willing to deal with it (as they have already with their previous designs).

I'm not taking it personally at all...I felt as though the answers to your questions were self evident for the most part.

 

[RMK7SledHead]

Could you tie something to the board that would float on the water above it. I was thinking of those blaze orange planing boards that fisherman use like this http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0024560016829a.shtml. Maybe something bigger, but this way it wouod be visible to other boats.

Definitely could...would look kinda goofy, and would possibly be in the way when surfacing, but it could solve part of the problem.

One could also pull an empty tube (or put someone in it) closer in behind the boat to act as a "buoy" over the Abyss-er.

 

[justadude]

Really bad business idea!!

 

[Anti-Hero]

it looks like we got a bunch of safety professionals here

 

[justadude]

[hahahaha, all I can say is no disclaimer will keep you from being sued. Completely the opposite in fact.!!!

Put up a beware of dog sign on your property!! I dare you!!!! The dog bites someone? you have already told the world you have dangerous dog!!!! Same thing.

PS: It does look fun!!


QUOTE=Anti-Hero;770625]it looks like we got a bunch of safety professionals here[/QUOTE]

 

[Scott]

Hmmm, I think I'll stay on top.

 

[Mafesto]

Gayer than a poop packed pecker port.










But seriously though, I can't envision it functioning adequately while wearing a life jacket.

And no insurance company would touch any towable where a life vest weren't reccommmended.

Sooner or later someone will get hurt or killed (as in ANY sport) & your azz will be in court & the media will drag you through he11 &...........

That's what we get for living in such a sue-happy country.

Whatever you decide, CYA & good luck!

 

[EricW]

I would have to think ear pressure pain would keep the rider above 10'. When I scuba dive I have to equalize in the first 4-6 feet or so. I have to plug my nose with one hand to do it. I bet your ears would hate you after a day of 15' dives, barrel rolls, then back to the surface. Looks like fun if you can get past that horrrible ear squeek in your head. EW

 

[yammadog]

Dive down into the water and can't see nothin.....but you feel that stump you just plowed into....

figure out a way to limit the depth, maybe a leader that won't go under, something that would be forced to plane and stay on top, make it adjustable so you can vary the depth for smarter/stupid people.