Boat Sinking?????

[Nadia]

Originally Posted by VtSteve

While I'm certain it was terrifying Nadia, I haven't seen anything to indicate that this particular thread involves and boat problem

I don't completely understand what you mean VtSteve but I will try to respond as best I can. One thing I concluded when I read this thread was that two different owners of a similar model or style Cobalt brand boat had experienced serious problems when a similar part or area of both of these boats malfunctioned. I drew my conclusions based on the information provided by boatguy_64 & mpeterson in this thread.

Originally Posted by VtSteve

It looks like they hit a wave or two, took on water, and sunk.

This type of speculation was not all that important to the point I was trying to make BUT I noticed you are only making reference to one incident. In this thread, two different members describe the specific details of each of their incidents. Although some of the details leading up to the failure they describe are different (i.e. their speeds) , they have both come to the conclusion that their accidents were caused by a design or structural flaw. How they came to this conclusion is described in their posts. For instance boatguy_64 says the dealer mentioned the hull being the problem. mpeterson's post is very, very detailed. However it happened...they both describe a problem which I theorize is very possibly a major structural problem that:

A) Cobalt is most likely aware of
B) Has caused others similar harm by malfunctioning in the same way

Originally Posted by VtSteve

I've not read anything that indicates this is a Cobalt problem, or any particular boat design problem.

Neither have I. However, this is not enough evidence to keep me from believing that it is not a Cobalt problem that Cobalt is not aware of. Furthermore if my theory and it's data and correct, it is highly unlikely you would read anything that said: "This indeed is a flaw in the design of this model Cobalt boat that given the right conditions said flaw will cause a mechanical failure in a specified area of the boat. In turn leading to the possiblity of serious injury or even death to any passengers". Reasons why you will probably never read anything like this are mentioned in my post above yours, but I would be happy to list them again:

A) Any lawsuits regarding this flaw causing harm or death to people are more than 75% of the time willingly settled outside of Court. Manufacturers will pay up if they (their lawyers) feel they may be brought to Court.

B) Litigants & Attorney's in lawsuits settled outside of Court are not obliged to disclose the amount or details of settlement. In fact, just like APS mentioned they are usually under strict order not to do so, ever. Major consequences can follow any breach of this order.

C) Settled lawsuits do not become case law or precedent. There could be 20 Attorney's & Plaintiff's bringing suit against Cobalt at the same time for the same exact reason, yet there is no case law for their Attorney's to refer to.

D) Settling a lawsuit is not an admission of guilt on behalf of the manufacturer. More or less an admission of responsibility for that specific incident only. So even if you were to read about one that made it to Court, it would not put up a red flag. Only when it happened frequently would you or I pick up on it. But by the time one or two seperate incidents make it all the way to Court and start to blow their cover, the company will usually recall the product and fix it, what they should have done in the first place before things get way too out of hand and end up like the company did in the movie Erin Brocovich. However, it was cheaper for them to gamble with people's lives instead. AND:

D) Not all their flawed products will malfunction, cause injury or cause death.

Originally Posted by VtSteve

I would think the comments about such things should either be qualified, or in a different thread altogether. I read the comments re:design and failure. It's like linking an auto accident where a Ford Explorer hits a tree to the old Firestone tire problems.

Feel free to add anything that may enlighten me here.

You are entitled to your opinion and I respect it 100% on the same token I think you are misunderstanding me. Before I explain that, I wonder what you mean by qualified? Interpretations could be different. Maybe you mean proven or substantiated. If that's the case, in my theorizing I have explained several reasons why this usually does not happen. Definitive links between similar cases or manufacturers admissions of flawed products are hard to come by because of the reasons I listed in A-D.

I am not implying Cobalt is at fault. The only thing I am implying is that it's possible they know very well about a flaw in one of their boats design that they are marketing. They possibly know this flaw can cause serious injury as well as death. They are possibly concealing this info for many reasons that almost always come to down to money. It's cheaper for them to settle the lawsuits outside of Court then to recall all the boats and fix them. It has been done before and it will continue. That's pretty much all I'm saying. I hope I answered your question

[VtSteve]

I just think people are implying way too much, and attribute their remarks to this thread. I doubt you could find a single boatmaker that doesn't have several customers that have had some issue, and some serious issues.

"I drew my conclusions based on the information provided by boatguy_64 & mpeterson in this thread.
"

I drew no conclusions to mpeterson's comments, since it was a hit and run that related to another issue. I've not read anything, anywhere in this thread, by Boatguy_64 nor anyone else that indicates the boat fell apart and led to this accident. I think the facts of the case, as well as those revealed by others were fairly clear, and some ambiguous.

There's a pretty clear term in the boating world for what most of us think happened in this sinking case. I just think it's pretty misleading to bring in other cases and discuss it in the same thread. But I'm sure you, and probably mpeterson know this.

I have no axe to grind, no company or people to defend. But this thread took a turn for the worse and has developed into a diatribe that has no facts.

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by Nadia

D) Settling a lawsuit is not an admission of guilt on behalf of the manufacturer. More or less an admission of responsibility for that specific incident only. [

OK so I have a question in regards to this since I'm no lawyer and is something that I mentioned in my post. I'm taking this completely out of context.

If a company were to settle out of court how can that not be an admission of guilt of some sort? I submit that there is probably some legal mumbo jumbo that can be thrown together that may imply otherwise however that
I was always of the opinion that if a settlement did occur then there was a darn good reason for it, usually a way out of a lawsuit at a bargain basement price. For example, if Cobalt was guilty of a design flaw (let me re-iterate that I'm suggesting this only as a hypothetical) I could see where it would be cost effective for them to settle out of court versus taking the chances on what the court may award the plaintiff. If there was no or not enough evidence to convict the accused then there would be absolutely no benefit to settling the case right? Additionally the manufacturer, in this case Cobalt would be vindicated of any wrong doing thus not tarnishing their reputation.

[Airwaves]

Actually it is quite common for a corporation to settle out of court even when they feel confident that they would win a civil suit.

Why would they do that? Fighting a lawsuit of this nature is a lose-lose for the corporation. They will spend money on lawyers fees for a trial that will likely last for years and their corporate name will be dragged through the mud of an open trial.

If they win the court case their reputation is still damaged and in all likelihood they will not be able to recoup their legal costs from the plantiff.

It's in the best interest financially of the corporation to let their insurance company pay a bargained settlement then slap a gag order to prevent anyone from talking about it, thus reducing the likelihood of copycat lawsuits.

Just my $.02

[Paugus Bay Resident]

I would think if there we're truly an issue (defect) with the boats construction, settlement or not, the manufacturer would have to do a recall to correct the defect. Unless, of course it was a one off type issue The USCG maintains a database of all recalls http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/recalls_database.htm

[sa meredith]

It was stated earlier in this thread that the official MP report about the recovered boat is available to the public, but I believe there is a cost of $1 per page (at least I think that is what was written). I guess if someone paid and got a copy, and then posted it's content here, it would answer all questions.
Also, as I have stated several times before, I was told from two different sources that the boat was found to be in fine shape. No issues.
But I have no way to know if this is true..other than buying a copy of the report, I guess.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by sa meredith

It was stated earlier in this thread that the official MP report about the recovered boat is available to the public, but I believe there is a cost of $1 per page (at least I think that is what was written). I guess if someone paid and got a copy, and then posted it's content here, it would answer all questions.
Also, as I have stated several times before, I was told from two different sources that the boat was found to be in fine shape. No issues.
But I have no way to know if this is true..other than buying a copy of the report, I guess.

You only have to buy a copy if you intend to remove the report from the building. Anyone is free to read any released report during regular business hours at NHMP HQ, just call ahead so they know to have it available.

If I ever get a chance to be up that way this summer I might take the time to read it myself, purely out of curiosity. If I do I will be sure to post my opinion of what the report contains within this thread...

[VtSteve]

On the outcome of this event?