A growing problem back in the 80's were recoiling ski lines/handles flying back into the towboats cockpit. There were several accidents one of which I saw where the line came forward, wrapped around the drivers right hand & jerked the hand & throttle back from 36mph forward to hard reverse! The boat came to an abrupt stop & one of the judges heads hit the windshield. This was just one of many accidents that prompted the use of "safety nets" Just ask my brother Dan about recoiling lines, when I was in the slalom course & thought I could hang onto the handle when in trouble but couldn't was a scary time in the boat, timers found themselves using seat cushions as shields to protect themselves. Mastercarft I believe was the first to address the problem, they had a full width "roll bar" with net introduced in the pro tour. The problem however was the inconvenience caused for the judges/timers to crawl under or climb over to get to the back of the boat, but it really looked cool. I knew there had to be a better way to do this so I developed my version, originally made from pvc pipe, and netting sewn together by my brother-in law Charlie around 1983 or 4?? Ours did not impead the crew, nor did it protect them. My therory was they could at least see it coming & duck from incoming handles. It was the driver that was at the greater risk & his head was what needed protection. Our net was removable for standard boat cover use, and protected the driver. Soon the ski-line "shock-tube" was invented and was more practical, replacing the need for safety nets. Now we rely on high tech ski line materials that have less stretch. My favorite explanation for the safety nets came from the Chicago Boat Show at the McCormik Place. An older guy & his wife were studying our boat & the wife asked her husband why there was a roll-bar, his quick response was "these dam ski boats have a tendency to roll over and that bar is full of flotation to turn the boat upright! (I didn't have the heart to correct the husband & deflate his therory)
