Boat Propeller Strike Injuries

Our Background

The opinions presented in this report are formulated based on my review and analysis of the various materials provided. These opinions are based on my background, knowledge, and more than 30 years’ experience specific to the subject matter.

For more than 50 years I have been directly involved in product development, testing, and manufacturing. Prior to entering the ‘Marine Industry’, I was employed by Professional Technologies located in Redding, California for 12 years (1979-1991). During the last six of those years, I was the manager of the Research and Development Department. My responsibilities included all aspects of product concept/design, testing, evaluation, and finally, product introduction into manufacturing and sales.

The company was multi-dimensional and had expanded into the aeronautics industry with the development and the manufacture of “experimental” aircraft, that is, any aircraft under 250 pounds. As part of this expansion, the company designed all components of the aircraft which included the cockpit structure, wings, bulk heads, and other sub-assemblies of the plane. Again, my department was responsible for the full spectrum of design, testing from static to destruction, and accountable for all documentation and reporting of the results.

Soon after Professional Technologies was acquired by an outside company and relocated. I chose to stay local and eventually founded Propeller Guard Technologies, Inc. with a focus on preventing boat propeller related injuries and fatalities. In 1996, the “SwimGuard” propeller guard (AKA “cage-type” guard) was introduced, and the company’s journey began. We now ship nationwide and internationally, which includes US state and federal law enforcement agencies and United States Coast Guard boat forces.

Over the next twenty five years, my involvement with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Office of Boating Safety intensified. Their mission to reduce propeller strike injuries and fatalities combined with my interest in that resolve was mutual. Soon thereafter, my company began to develop and introduce other propeller safety alternatives along with the SwimGuard.

I have been an avid boater most of my life, starting at the age of 16 driving our family’s boats. Our family had owned multiple types of boats from runabouts, pontoon boats, and a 56 foot houseboat. Most of my boating was done on beautiful Shasta Lake, California and many other far northern California inland waterways.

As a family, we were always concerned about the inherent hazards associated with a boat’s design. We all recognized that almost every pleasure craft is designed with the boat’s boarding ladder, swim deck, or other water entry/exit platforms, being placed within inches of the boat’s propeller! This is inherently dangerous and exposes everyone to the devastation to a person’s body caused by a boat’s unguarded, spinning propeller blades. The fundamental reason we designed the SwimGuard was to prevent this from occurring because once it is installed it needs no other action – that is, it is passively doing what it is designed to do – protect people from the propeller.

Once the SwimGuard design passed all testing criteria set forth by our R&D team, we immediately installed it on our personal houseboat. Soon thereafter, our boating friends and families equipped their boats as well, with no complaints.

Even though we were all ‘experienced’ boaters, once we installed the SwimGuard cage-type propeller guard, it immediately gave us some peace of mind that we had an extra layer of protection in case an unforeseen accident was to unfold.