Another Lawsuit Stemming from 2011 Races

[Bobcat]

Deadly 2011 race season spurs suit
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Another wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Broward County by the family of one of three racers to die during the 2011 Key West World Championship powerboat races.

Throttleman and owner Robert "Bob" Morgan, 74, of Sunrise Beach, Mo., and driver Jeffrey "J.T." Tillman, 47, of Kaiser, Mo., were killed when their four-engine, 46-foot catamaran called Big Thunder caught air and flipped over on its third lap in Key West Harbor.

William Tillman, a relative of Tillman, filed suit on Monday against Key West resident John Carbonell, president of Super Boat International Productions Inc. (SBI), and race medical directors Donald DiPetrillo and Brian Haff, as well as Louis Pizano, of disregarding safety standards, according to court records.

The lawsuit also names race inspector William Livingston and the company Super Boat International Productions Inc. as defendants.

Fort Lauderdale attorney William Scherer is representing Tillman. He did not return phone messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

The 2013 Key West World Championship concluded on Sunday, two years after Tillman and Morgan died.

Page Motorsports boat throttle man Joey Gratton, 59, also drowned that year during a particularly deadly week of racing. The twin-engine, 38-foot Douglas Marine Skater catamaran overturned on the first turn in the final lap of the second race on the 6.1-mile course, trapping Gratton in a rescue harness that was secured to the boat.

Both lawsuits accuse race organizers of using rescue personnel unfamiliar with the cockpits and emergency hatches on the boats.

The Gratton case remains pending. The plaintiff attorney in that case, Michael Allweiss, did not return phone messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Online Broward County court records did not indicate a trial date had been scheduled.

No criminal charges have been filed in either incident. All three men's deaths were ruled accidental by medical examiners.

alinhardt@keynews.com

 

[rschap1]

 

[Serious News]

Information from Raceboats International

WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST SBI
2 years after the tragic SBI event that cost the lives of 3 racers, the lawsuits gather momentum

It's little wonder the Super Boat International management were taking no risks at this year's 33rd Annual Key West World Championship by running very short storm courses. SBI President John Carbonell was aware of 2 lawsuits claiming wrongful death had been served on him.

2 years after 3 powerboat racers were killed in the Key West World Championship, the family of one of the victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court.

William Tillman, uncle and personal representative of the estate of Big Thunder driver Jeffrey “JT” Tillman of Missouri, sued Super Boat International Productions president John Carbonell and five members of his medical, safety and inspection team, alleging that their “gross negligence” was responsible for the death. The filing was made on November 7th during the 2013 Key West World Championship.

Jeffrey Tillman, 46, drowned along with owner/ throttleman Bob Morgan, 74, in November 2011 after their four-engine catamaran flipped backward and landed upside down in Key West Harbour during the first race of the series.

The lawsuit, filed by Fort Lauderdale lawyer William Scherer, accuses Carbonell and his medical and safety staff of a slow and poorly coordinated rescue effort that left Tillman trapped underwater in the wreckage for nine minutes before he was recovered.

The suit alleges that rescuers wrongly assumed Tillman had been killed by blunt trauma in the crash and didn’t hustle to extricate him. The suit also faults chief race inspector William Livingston for allowing Big Thunder to compete even though the boat lacked safety features such as a reinforced cockpit and through-hull escape hatch that might have prevented the deaths. It is also claimed Bob Morgan had not taken a dunk test.

3 days after Morgan and Tillman died, racer Joey Gratton of University Park, Florida., drowned after his boat flipped over in a turn, trapping him inside. His crewmate Steve Page escaped with minor injuries.

Gratton’s widow, Priscilla, sued race organizers in 2012, also in Broward Circuit Court. Her lawyer, Michael Allweiss, said he expects the case to go to trial in February 2014.


http://raceboatinternational.com/index.php?id=994

 

[raceboat rus]

under martime law , dose this not carry a time limitation of only 2 years ?, I beleive the statute of limitation is 2 years under maritime law . this is mentioned under [death on the high seas act] .lets hope that they got it filed before the 2 years had passed

 

[Ratickle]

I do not know if this falls under maritime law but under Florida's wrongful death laws there is a two year statute of limitations. Bob's death would have been on November 9th, 2011. This lawsuit was filed on November 7th 2013.

The suit was filed November 7, just as this past weekend's races in Key West started.. More than 40 boats competed against one another to run the 6.2 mile course.

Miami is a powerboating mecca. Its role in the trade was highlighted in 1987, with the gangland style killing of Don Aronow, the greatest powerboat racer of all time. During that era, the boats were often used to transport cocaine to the United States from the Caribbean.

Tillman and Morgan were killed in November 2011 when their boat flipped over. It took rescue workers nine minutes to reach them, charges the lawsuit filed by attorney William Scherer, because race sponsors incorrectly assumed they were killed by blunt trauma,.

The race was later cancelled because a second boat turned over, and rescue workers were stretched too thin to continue.

Three days later, a second driver, Joey Gratton, was killed when his boat flipped over. His widow has also sued race organizers Superboat International Productions and President John Carbonell. That suit is presently scheduled to go to trial early next year.

Autopsies after the accident showed Tillman and Morgan died from drowning. Saltwater was discovered in their lungs.

The suit faults race sponsors for allowing Tillman's boat to continue even though it didn't have a reinforced cockpit or a through-hull escape hatch, which might have saved the men, According to the Associated Press, boat teams now have to share safety plans with race sponsors, which was not required in the past.