Pontoon's flipping?

[JCF350]

Heard a rumor the other day that some folks were having their pontoon boats flipping on them while pulling skiers. I think they were zig zagging around or something. Anybody hear or seen such a thing?

 

[45Auto]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

Should be possible to flip about any small boat, pontoon or regular hull, if you get the weight distribution screwy enough, turn hard enough, and catch a wave wrong. Or any combination of the above!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

Pontoons are being fitted with three tubes and bigger engines and even I/O's so they are no longer the "slugs" of the marine industry as they once were. Add power to any boat and in the wrong or inexperienced hands anything is possible. A pontoon will also play submarine if everyone runs to the front while underway. Get a wave over the front and down she goes. Fortunately, chopping the throttle pops it back up like a cork. People get very wet and they can get swept overboard so pontoons can be dangerous. The really stupid move is to have kids (or dumb adults) sitting on the floor with feet dangling over the front. Fall overboard while underway and you are instant "chum" for whatever fish inhabit the area as there is no way you can avoid going through the blender we call an outboard.

 

[JCF350]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

Kinda figured it was peoples doing stupid stuff, it was presented to me as a problem that was inherit with the design.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

Been tooning for over 20 years and never came close to flipping one, even in very rough water. I have dunked the front many times though... But I've never heard of one flipping on any of the lakes I'm on...

 

[45Auto]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

A pontoon flipping being "inherent" to the design is analagous to SUV's flipping versus normal sedans. A pontoon has a higher CG (center of gravity) than a conventional hull. Thus it will be relatively easier to flip. If you try a tight turn in your SUV at the same speed as your neighbor in his Corvette, don't be surprised if your SUV flips. If you try a tight turn across the waves in your pontoon at the same speed as your neighbor in his V-hull Cigarette boat, don't be surprised if your pontoon flips.

That being said, I have also never heard of a pontoon flipping, although I've seen some videos at the dealership of some that look like they could move fast enough to do it!

 

[JB]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

I have pulled a few freshly educated former neophytes from the water after they flipped boats of various types while pulling skiers, but never a 'toon.

Tall tow masts seem to be the most common factor in the flipped boats.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

I know of at least one pontoon that has flipped. This was years ago when the logs/tubes were quite a bit smaller than they are now. The boat was probably overloaded to begin with. Add that to all of the passengers going to one side of the boat to look at an exceptionally large turtle and you get a lot of wet people and an upsidedown boat. As far as I recall the boat was either stationary or just barely moving and there were no serious injuries.

As noted above by others, given the "right" conditions any boat can flip over. Pontoons are no more prone to flipping in my experience.

 

[starcraft67]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

If it happened, it surely was a combination of excessive speed, bad loading, operator misjudgment, and waves or wakes. I have a lot of experience with a pontoon on the Ohio River, where it gets windy and wavy, and I can't begin to envision how to destabilize my 'toon until it would go over.

 

[DJ]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

Kinda figured it was peoples doing stupid stuff, it was presented to me as a problem that was inherit with the design.

By whom, A trial attorney?

I have seen two that have flipped but both were exposed to 60-70 MPH straight line winds. That wind flipped a couple docks too, including the one my boat was tied to.

Toons are very stable. They are almost all 8' wide. Yes, you can "stuff" the bow but you have plenty of warning.
You can stuff the bow of many regular boats too.

Inexperience and carelessness causes the great majority of boating accidents.

 

[JCF350]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

By whom, A trial attorney?

Naw, got a friend that's been looking at some party barges and where he got it from I haven't a clue. I knew about stuffing the bow but that was about it.

 

[oops!]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

just hearing about it makes me think.....

smells like an oppertuinity for someone with the know how...and the equipment........someone like mabe a yachtbuilder !!!!


......hmmmm

oops

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

I have pulled a few freshly educated former neophytes from the water after they flipped boats of various types while pulling skiers, but never a 'toon.

Tall tow masts seem to be the most common factor in the flipped boats.

I'm probably a" freshly educated former neophytes" whatever that is. I hope to take a safety course in boating next spring. When I bought my boat I had no plans to pull a skier but, now I have a friend that says he wants to try to ski behind it. My question is, why is pulling a skier anymore likely to make the boat flip that any other time your moving at high speed?

 

[njlarry]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

IMHO wind, not waves nor wakes are going to flip a pontoon. There was a tragic accident a few years ago when a SLOW moving pontoon water taxi was flipped by sudden high wind gust on a cold day in Baltimore inner harbour. The craft was certainly not going fast, nor was it overloaded.
With no hard chines a pontoon would be more likely to skid than roll. I'm sure you could make one flip if you really worked at it.

 

[DJ]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

I'm probably a" freshly educated former neophytes" whatever that is. I hope to take a safety course in boating next spring. When I bought my boat I had no plans to pull a skier but, now I have a friend that says he wants to try to ski behind it. My question is, why is pulling a skier anymore likely to make the boat flip that any other time your moving at high speed?

The skier can pull the boat around. They have a very dynamic force on a boat, amplified by the rope.​

 

[JB]

Re: Pontoon's flipping?

With a tall pylon the skier puts tremendous force above and to the side of the hull when the boat is turning and the skier is off on the side that the boat is turning toward. That is how every skiboat upset I have seen happened.