Cedar Point's Shoot The Rapids rolls back off lift, one rider transported to hospital

I am posting this picture that I made for a visual representation of the area.

I just look at rides made 110 years ago like LTD with its pieces of wood that move out of the way and fall back into place behind the car as Anti Roll Backs and say. "This is 2013" this kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen anymore".

Charles Nungester said:

I just look at rides made 110 years ago like LTD with its pieces of wood that move out of the way and fall back into place behind the car as Anti Roll Backs and say. "This is 2013" this kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen anymore".

That's Intamin for you...

I'm curious how far it made it up the lift before rolling back. That plays a big part in what happened at the bottom.

I have been wondering that too. It was at least far enough to cause the boat to flip at the bottom. I'd like to know so I can imagine it realistically.

Don't worry. I'm sure somebody will come up with the No Limits simulation...

NoLimits can't make water coasters. Hopefully NoLimits 2 will be able to.

I don't even really get how the chain lift out of the water track works....don't chains need to be oiled? Doesn't water make chains rust? That's how my bike is at least lol.

I'm curious how far did the boat turn over? When I first listened to the 911 call and heard "capsized", I instantly thought it flipped 180 degrees. Obviously that didn't happen or things would have turned out much worse.

In regards to the chain- I'm pretty sure they use a special lubricant that is water resistant and formulated to prevent rust/corrosion.

...and to enhance the pleasure of the ride.

Thanks for the image LostKause. That's what I figured, it's a bad design. They should have never put a curve at the bottom of the hill. Obviously, they didn't think the boat would ever go backwards down it, but having that curve there was a bad idea. They are lucky the boat didn't fly right off the course.

If they had a long straight section of track before the lift, as they do at the bottom of the drop, the boat would have just hit the water and slowed down. What they did with the curve is create a bobsled effect, where the boat would either lean outward going outward around the curve, or inward, when it hit that curve at high speed coming down the lift.

My guess is, that the wheels under the boat, hit the wall under the water, and tried to ride up the wall, as if it where a coaster entering a turn. Which would have caused the boat to flip on it's side. If it had flipped the other way, it would have been a lot worse. As people would have been thrown against that wall. head first. Or, the boat could have jumped the wall all together.

Modification is needed. They need to put a straight area of trough before the lift, for a good distance. And, they should have skid brakes in the water, that raise up, should the boat start running backwards down the hill. Like those belts that stop the rafts from going forward on the turbo blaster slides.

But, I don't think modification is possible.

Bear in mind, Log Passenger, that many coasters (including Gatekeeper) have similar designs--curves leading into the lift hill.

Those coasters, like STR, are dependent on the anti-roll backs, not the layout, being the fall-back safety measure.

This picture reminded me how great a GCI would fit here.

That post reminded me how great an on-topic, meaningful and genuinely appropriate post would have fit there.

Detroit channel 4 had a video recreation for the news last night, but I haven't found it on their website. Who knows how accurate it was, but it suggests the train/car/log just tipped on its side once back in the trough.

Timber-Rider said:

If they had a long straight section of track before the lift, as they do at the bottom of the drop, the boat would have just hit the water and slowed down.

Keep in mind, that on the end of the drop side, there is a gentle roll out from the drop to the pool of water. If it rolled back from the top of the hill, its going to be a rough landing regardless if there is a curve or a straightaway at the bottom.

The curve serves a useful function besides allowing the ride to fit into the space available. Remember this is a boat ride with free floating boats. Since apparently nobody who isn't Karl Bacon seems to understand how to use water flow to propel and steer boats, Intamin has to rely on the channel itself to do that. By putting a tight curve at the base of the lift, they can force the boats to the outside of the channel with a minimum of ping-ponging back and forth, then simply crowd in the inboard edge of the curve to keep the boat from slipping back out, and give themselves a fairly easy engagement with the guide rail and the lift assembly. A tire-drive conveyor then lifts the boat onto the lift and propels it into the chain lift. The guide rail keeps the boat centered, and that should be enough to keep the chain and safety clutches engaged. That it didn't, is, of course, the subject of the present investigation.

Intamin's engineers are NOT complete idiots.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The problem isn't that there is a curve at the entrance of the ride, the problem is that the ride rolled back in the first place. I think that the design flaw is that there are no upstops to lock the boat onto the tracked lift hill, which may have caused the boat to not be engaged with the lift like it was supposed to be.

Actually I don't know whether there are upstops or not, as I have not seen the underside of the boat. But yes, the real problem is the double failure, whatever caused it. I have a theory for the anti-rollback part of it, which for the moment I am keeping to myself, but I still haven't figured out why the chain clutch would have let go. If the lift itself failed, then there was no obvious evidence remaining by Sunday afternoon.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.