A dramatic powerboat crash in Tampa Bay yesterday afternoon injured two and heavily damaged a beach front bar
Diners at Tampa Bay bar Sunset Grille were given an almighty shock yesterday afternoon, when their meal was interrupted by a powerboat crash.
Amazingly no-one was hurt when a 1,200hp SeaVee 390 Z smashed through the wall of the restaurant.
Local investigators believe that thick sea fog played a key role in the powerboat crash, which happened at 17:00 local time.
Nacole Revette, spokesperson for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, told the Tampa Bay Times that the fishing boat was travelling at more than 40 knots when it rode up the beach and into the building.
“They weren’t familiar with the territory that they were in and due to the fog just became disoriented,” she added.
And although seven people were on board, only two were hospitalised and neither were believed to have life-threatening injuries.
Baryl Martin from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission summed up the mood perfectly, saying: “At this point, we’re very lucky that it wasn’t worse.”
As for the building itself, structural engineers remain on the scene to ensure it does not collapse completely.
The SeaVee 390Z involved in this powerboat crash is a 37ft fishing boat, which is designed to take up to four outboard engines on the transom.
We can only imagine how much worse the consequences would have been had the owner opted for the most powerful 1,600hp set-up.
