Boat Propeller Strike Injuries

Our Background

After more than 40 years of having been directly involved in product development, testing, and manufacturing, with the last 27 years specifically in propeller guarding technology. I would now consider myself to be a “Hands-On Practical Engineer.” 

Prior to entering the ‘marine industry’, I was employed by Professional Technologies, Inc. (PTI) located in Redding, California, for 12 years (1979-1991). PTI specialized in medical equipment that diagnosed diseases of the eye, specializing in ophthalmologic testing devices including tonometers, central field analyzers, and played a part in the development of the first surgical Yttrium Aluminum Garnet laser, or the YAG laser. During the last six of those years, I was the manager of the Research and Development Department. My responsibilities included all aspects of product concept/design, testing, evaluation, and finally, product introduction into manufacturing and sales.

PTI was multi-dimensional and had expanded into the aeronautics industry with the development and the manufacture of “experimental” aircraft, in this case, a fixed-wing ‘ultralight’. As part of this expansion, the company designed all components of the aircraft which included the cockpit structure, wings, bulk heads, and other sub-assemblies of the plane. Again, my department was responsible for the full spectrum of design, testing from static to destruction, and accountable for all documentation and reporting of the results.

Soon after the launch of the “SunSeeker” ultralight aircraft, PTI was acquired by an outside company and relocated to another city. I chose to stay local and eventually founded Propeller Guard Technologies, Inc. with a focus on preventing boat propeller related injuries and fatalities following two boating accidents on Shasta Lake, California, involving rental houseboats – one being a fatality in 1995. 

In 1996, the “SwimGuard” propeller guard (AKA “cage-type” guard) was introduced and the company’s journey began. We now ship nationwide and internationally, which includes United States state and federal law enforcement agencies and United States Coast Guard (USCG) boat forces, to name a few.

Over the next 25 years my involvement with the USCG and the Office of Boating Safety intensified. The USCG’s mission to reduce propeller strike injuries and fatalities combined with my interest in that resolve was mutual. Soon thereafter, my company dedicated ourselves to becoming more involved with the marine industry. I attended as many meetings and trade shows as possible in order to achieve a higher level of understanding of the industry itself. I attended many of the same seminars and presentations that the Boating Law Enforcement officers, investigators, and other interested agencies and parties attended. As a result, I was afforded the opportunity to obtain the same knowledge and education regarding boat accident inspections and reporting, how to conduct boat inspections, and how to conduct/simulate accident reconstructions. My company utilized the information obtained in these meetings to develop alternative safety devices designed to mitigate or eliminate other injuries or fatalities that were being discussed.

I have been an avid boater most of my life, starting at the age of 16 driving our family’s boats.  Our family owned multiple types of boats from runabouts, pontoon boats, and a 56 foot houseboat. Most of my boating was done on beautiful Shasta Lake and many other far northern California inland waterways.

As a family, we were always concerned about the inherent hazards associated with a boat’s design. We all recognized that almost every pleasure craft is designed with the boat’s boarding ladder, swim deck, or other water entry/exit platforms, being placed within inches of the boat’s propeller! This is inherently dangerous and exposes everyone to the devastation that a boat’s unguarded, spinning propeller blades can cause to a person’s body. The fundamental reason we designed the SwimGuard was to prevent this from occurring because once it is installed it needs no other action – that is, it is passively doing what it is designed to do – protect people from the spinning propeller blades.

Once the SwimGuard design passed all testing criteria set forth by our R&D team, we immediately installed it on our personal houseboat for long-term evaluations. Soon thereafter, our boating friends and families equipped their boats as well with the SwimGuard, with no complaints.

Even though we were all ‘experienced’ boaters, once we installed the SwimGuard cage-type propeller guard, it immediately gave us some peace of mind knowing that we had an extra layer of protection in case an unforeseen accident was to unfold. It was at this time that we began our journey to find solutions to help mitigate and eliminate propeller strikes.

Prior to marketplace release, each of the safety devices were thoroughly tested and evaluated. Each product underwent extensive in-house and in-the-field testing for the desired effectiveness of design and functionality. Each product was individually designed to interrupt the “sequence of events” that occur during most boating accident scenarios, or to prevent the accident scenario from even taking place. 

Once functionality and durability were confirmed, accident reconstruction evaluations began - not with centrifuge equipment or battering rams or other mechanical devices - but with real-world, human testing, especially with the SwimGuard “cage-type” propeller guard and the Virtual Lifeline “wireless lanyard.”

As the company’s president, it was my directive that the company would not release a safety product designed to protect people from a “propeller strike” or a “falls overboard event” without putting ourselves in harm’s way first.

As a younger person, I was blessed with physicality, athleticism and martial arts training, which ironically prepared me to be the person (victim) in the water. Most importantly, I had faith in the products.

Using information contained in numerous boating accident reports that were provided to me by local Law Enforcement, we reconstructed and executed the various scenarios that led to an injury or fatality.

In the execution of propeller strike simulations (with the propeller guard installed), I was backed over and run over by houseboats, pontoon boats, and family ski boats, with the focus of coming into contact with the propeller guard on each attempt. Speeds ranged from accidental start-ups to approximately 5 mph. We stayed within this range due to most propeller strikes occurring while people were entering or exiting the water via the various boarding platforms. In all of our accident reconstructions, the guard proved reliable and effective in preventing myself from coming into contact with a spinning propeller. 

My company utilized the same methodology to simulate ‘falls overboard’ events. Again, I was the ‘victim’ falling overboard into the water.  Speed ranged from accidental start-ups to 21 mph. In all of our accident reconstructions, our product, the “Virtual Lifeline System” proved reliable and effective in shutting off the boat’s motor immediately upon my submersion into the water. 

An unexpected finding from the start-up to idle speed evaluations was that I was able to physically experience what a person must also feel while being drawn into a spinning propeller. As soon as the motor is put into gear and the propeller starts to spin, the water environment completely changes with no way to protect yourself. It is truly a helpless sensation!