List of fatal accidents in motorboat racing

As motorboat racing is a dangerous sport, many individuals (including drivers, crew members, officials and spectators) have been killed in crashes related to the sport, either in a race, in qualifying, in practice or a private testing session. For example, in offshore powerboat racing, one racer dies each year from accidents.[1]

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Accidents during Water speed record
Name Date Place Boat Spec. Comment
Henry Segrave[2] 13 June 1930 Windermere Miss England II Driver
Vic Halliwell Riding engineer
John Cobb[3] 29 September 1952 Loch Ness Crusader
Mario Verga[4] 9 October 1954 Lago d'Iseo Laura 3
Donald Campbell[5] 4 January 1967 Coniston Water Bluebird K7
Lee Taylor[6] 13 November 1980 Lake Tahoe Discovery II Test run
Craig Arfons[7] 9 July 1989 Lake Jackson Rain X Challenger

Accidents during an Unlimited Hydroplane race
Name Date Race Place Boat Spec. Comment
Bill Freitag[8] 1931/09/19 President's Cup Potomac River Miss Philadelphia
Joe Schaeffer[9] 1939/08/28 Test run Detroit River Delphine IX
Orth Mathiot[10][11] 1951/08/04 Gold Cup Lake Washington Quicksilver Driver
Thompson "Thom" Whitaker[10] Co-pilot/mechanic
Lloyd Maddock [12][13] 1955/06/25 Detroit Memorial Regatta Detroit River Holiday
Ezio Selva [14][15][16][17][18] 1957/12/29 Orange Bowl Regatta Grand Prix Biscayne Bay Moschettiere
Bob Hayward [19][20][21] 1961/09/10 Silver Cup Detroit River Miss Supertest
Ron Musson [22][23] 1966/06/19 President's Cup Potomac River Miss Bardahl Explosion during race
Rex Manchester [22][23] Notre Dame Collision during final heat
Don Wilson [22][23] Miss Budweiser
Chuck Thompson [24][25] 1966/07/03 Gold Cup Detroit River Smirnoff
Bill Brow [26][27] 1967/11/06 Tampa Suncoast Cup Tampa Bay Miss Budweiser
Warner Gardner [28][29][30] 1968/09/08 Gold Cup Detroit River Miss Eagle Electric
Tommy Fults [31][32][33] 1970/09/16 Gold Cup Mission Bay Pay 'n Pak's 'lil Buzzard Qualifying run
Skipp Walther [34][35][36] 1974/06/02 Champion Spark Plug Trophy Miami Marine Stadium Red Man Test run prior to race
Jerry Bangs [37][38][39] 1977/08/07 Seafair Trophy Lake Washington The Squire
Bill Muncey [40][41] 1981/10/18 UIM World Championship race Acapulco Atlas Van Lines
Dean Chenoweth [42][43] 1982/07/31 Columbia Cup Columbia River Miss Budweiser
George Stratton [44][45] 2000/09/17 Bayfair testing Mission Bay Appian Jeronimo

Accidents during offshore powerboat racing
Name Role Date Series Race Place Boat Spec Comment
Val Carr 1972/03/26 Schwepps 80 Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia [46][47][48]
Paul Carr
Alf Bontoft Driver 1976/08/29 Cowes-Torquay Enfield Marine "Blitz" [49]
Joel Halpern Driver 1981/03/29 APBA Halter 200 Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans Michelob Light [50][51]
Robert Weir Driver 1984/01/29 Australian Power Boat Association Port Phillip 100 Sandringham, Victoria, Australia "Weirwolf" a 23 ft Whitehorse powered by 2 x 175 hp Mercury outboards. Boat nose dived into a wave and broke in half. Co-driver Michael Meeng escaped uninjured.[51]
Dick Fullam driver 1985 APBA Key West Still Crazy Fullam had a previous career as a CFL player[52]
Mike Poppa Throttleman
Mark Lavin Throttleman 1986 APBA Marathon Fl., Seven Mile Bridge Jesse James [51]
Didier Pironi Driver 1987/08/23 Offshore World Championship Needles Trophy Isle of Wight, United Kingdom ACX "Colibri" - Lamborghini [53] Pironi was previously a Formula One racing driver for Ferrari. He retired from racing cars due to injuries sustained in an accident at the 1982 German Grand Prix.
Jean-Claude Guénard Throttleman
Bernard Giroux Navigator
Thomas Brandt pilot 1988 APBA Sheffield Oil Unocal 76 Offshore Classic Panama City, Florida Spirit of Miss Liberty [54][55]
Don Wright throttleman
Kevin Brown Owner/Driver 1989/10/23 APBA/UIM Worlds Championship Atlantic City, New Jersey 32 ft Skater Team Skater UIM II (Modified Class)Jim Dyke throttle-Man Kevin Brown Owner/Driver
Stefano Casiraghi Throttleman 1990/10/03 Class 1 WOC Monaco French Riviera Pinot di Pinot
Shannon Pearce Driver 1990 Cock of the Mersey - Devonport Apex Regatta Mersey River, Latrobe, Tasmania, Australia [56]
Brass Wilcockson Navigator 1991 Class 3D National Championship Allhallows, River Thames, United Kingdom Puma Catamaran
Hamed Buhaleeba Throttleman 1995/08/25 Class Two World Offshore Championship Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom Victory M-1-Sterling Chevrolet V6 [57][58][59]
Khalid Al-Sabah 1997/03/30 Class Two Middle-East Offshore Championship Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates [60]
Jack Carmody Driver 2001 APBA Offshore Pro Series Corpus Christi, Texas Xtreme Carlos N'Charlie's [1][61]
Sergio Carpentieri Throttleman June 30, 2007 Powerboat P1 World Championship Travemünde, Germany Carpenter [62]
Kevin Graff Driver August 24, 2008 OPA Battle on the Bay Patchogue, New York "Aero Express" MTI [63]
Phil DeJana Throttleman
Joey Gratton Throttleman 2011/11/11 Superboat International 31st Annual World Championships Key West, Florida Page Motor Sports [64]
Mohammad Al Mehairi Driver 2009/12/11 Class One World Offshore Championship Dubai Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), Mina Seyahi Victory 1 [65][66]
Jean-Marc Sanchez Throttleman
William Nocker Driver 2012/07/13 UIM Class-1 Gabon Grand Prix Libreville, Gabon Welmax [67]

Accidents during outboard powerboat racing
Name Date Series Race Place Machine
Cesare Scotti[68] 1974/10/06 ON (2000 cc) Six Hours of Paris Seine River Scotti - Evinrude
Peter Inward[69] 1983/07/03 British F2 Powerboat Championship Fairford Hodges / Mercury
Ken Stevenson[70] 1983/12/11 Formula 2 Powerboat World Championship Nassau-Paradise Island Strait Bahamas
Luigi Valdano[71] 1984/05/27 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Grote Prijs van Nederland Ertveld Plas, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Gérard Barthelemy[72] 1984/06/02 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Paris Grand Prix Seine River, Paris, France Hodges - Evinrude
Roberto Saviero[73] 1984/08/03 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Private test Po River, near Piacenza, Italy "Esercito Italiano" Molinari - Evinrude
Tom Percival[74] 1984/08/19 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Grand Prix de Belgique Benson & Hedges Meuse River, Liège, Belgium Hodges - Evinrude
Philippe Rebulet[75] 1988/11/06 Six Hours of Paris Seine River ?
François Salabert[76] June 10, 1990 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Embassy Grand Prix Bristol, United Kingdom Jeanneau / Mercury
Bolesław Niklewski 1991/07/03 Malta Circuit, Poznań Poland
John Hill[77][78] 1993/04/16 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Burgess / Mercury
Roger Demares[79] 1995/05/02 24 heures Motonautiques de Rouen Seine River Deboos / Mercury
Andy Chesman[80] 1998/07/19 European Formula 500 Championship Hamburg, Germany Fort Boat / König
Francis Maré[81] 1999/05/01 24 heures Motonautiques de Rouen Seine River Heart attack
Mirosław Kędziora[82] 2001/09/23 S-550 World Championship Trzcianka Poland
Victor Kunitch[83] 2001/10/28 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
Vincenzo Polli[84] 2002/12/21 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
 Mike Lovell (GBR) [85][86] 2012/09/16 P1 Superstock Series Weymouth United Kingdom Peters & May - P1 Panther 250 UK[87]

Accidents during hydroplane and displacement racing
Name Date Competition Race Place Boat Spec. Comment
Jack Cooper[88][89] 1948/08/23 Canadian Gold Cup Picton, Ontario Ventnor "Tops III"
Dennis Hall 1989/01/15 Unlimited Unrestricted race Deepwater Motor Boat Club, Milperra 6 Litre Displacement "CAINAM" As 2 boats were approaching a turn buoy, Mr Hall's boat went into the path of the other boat causing the other boat to run over the top of Mr Hall's boat & Mr Hall was fatally injured.
Doug Jancura 2004/04/17 American Power Boat Association Testing American Lake, Lakewood, Washington, USA Strutin PS 1 - Pro Stock Flatbottom Sprint Boat
Larry Martin[90][91] 2004/11/06 Australian Power Boat Association Wide Bay Bundy Thunder Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia Trojan - 6 litre Displacement
Geoff Tomkins 2007/03/04 Devonport Apex Regatta Cock of the Mersey Mersey River, Latrobe, Tasmania, Australia "Iron Nuts" - Unlimited Displacement
János Feil[92] 2008/05/11 UIM European Championship F350 Po River, Boretto, Italy
Brian McCosker 2010/04/03 Taree Aquatic Power Boat Club Easter Classic Stuart Doyle Cup - NSW Unlimited Displacement Championship Taree, New South Wales, Australia Liberty - Unlimited Displacement
David Bryant 2010/04/04 Taree Aquatic Power Boat Club Easter Classic Eastway Shield - NSW Unlimited Open Inboard Championship Taree, New South Wales, Australia She's the Culprit - Unlimited Displacement
John Cross 2010/09/28 Australian Power Boat Association Lake Mulwala Power, Victorian Council APBA Yarrawonga, Victoria, Australia Rival - Unlimited Displacement Mr Cross had just passed the finish line in a final race when a propeller ear broke causing the boat to flip
Ryan Butler 2011/07/09 American Power Boat Association UIM World Flatbottom Championships Black Lake, Olympia, Washington, USA Scooty-Puff. Sr. PS 44 - Super Stock Flatbottom Sprint Boat
Greg Duff 2018/08/15 SCSC Long Beach Sprint Nationals Long Beach Marine Stadium, Dark Horse Racing Ps640

Accidents during drag boat racing
Name Date Competition Race Place Boat Spec. Comment
Mike Fry 08/09/2015 Marble Falls Lakefest Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series Lake Marble Falls (Texas) Top Alcohol Hydro "Meanstreak II" First round of eliminations in TA/H
Hugh Jones 1986/06/21 ADBA Molson Drag Boat Challenge London, Ontario BFH Stage fright Comment
Mac Bale[93][94] 1970/02/01 Lake Ming, Bakersfield, California, United States
Jan Barrett[94][95] 1973/10/07 Lake Ming, Bakersfield, California, United States Water speed record attempt
David Skalicky[93] 2005/07/10 Southern Drag Boat Association Ozarka Bricktown Nationals Bricktown Drag Boat Circuit, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States "Bad Boy's Dixie Toy"
Dale Anderson[96] 2002/09/08 National Jet Boat Association Bakersfield, California, United States Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States "Bad Boy's Dixie Toy"

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