Designed to Break, Built to Protect : The Safety Engineering Behind Powerboats

A question that we inevitably run into when speaking to hosts and racers alike is: "What about safety features in the boat?" or in Malaysian-speak "Eh safe ah?"

My response is always this: "It all comes down to the design of your floatation, impact absorption zones and rapid rescue response"

Let me break it down.

Floatation

Like a life jacket, closed-cell foam positioned correctly in front of your chest and behind your neck like a collar keeps you buoyant in a vertical, face-up position even if you are unconscious. Placement is critical: foam across the back would tip you forward, face-down causing you to drown. Inflatable CO₂ jackets are another option, but they require strict maintenance to ensure the cartridges remain functional and the vest itself is intact with no tears or holes.

The heavier stern will sink, while the cockpit remains above water

Our powerboats apply this very same principle but on a larger scale. Each hull is fitted with sealed flotation chambers: a 50-litre void behind the driver, additional chambers beside the cockpit and further voids in the sponsons. Combined, these provide about 150 litres of trapped air, giving sufficient displacement to counter the weight of the boat, driver and equipment. Closed-cell foam is also installed in these compartments to add redundancy, ensuring the hull remains upright if swamped.

In addition, vents strategically placed in the stern of the hull allow controlled flooding if the boat capsizes, shifting the centre of gravity so the stern and heavier engine settles lower, (much like a hydrometer) thereby keeping the cockpit raised above the surface. The result: the boat stays afloat in a stable, upright position, with the driver accessible for rescue. In short, the hull itself acts like a giant life jacket that keeps both the boat and its driver buoyant until recovery.

Crashes

What happens when two boats collide? Aren’t those sharp points dangerous?”

Quick exit, safe design: the driver leaves the cockpit as the boat stays buoyant. Notice how the fork cap has detached, exactly as engineered.

Those pointed ends are called pickle forks, and their ends are deliberately designed as crumple zones. These are hollow caps with thinner layers of fibre-glass, which means that in a collision, they absorb impact energy and break away instead of spearing the other boat. By contrast, the cockpit area is reinforced with thicker layers of fibre-glass to provide a more rigid protective shell for the driver, while the rest of the hull is designed to be strong yet light.

All of this serves to ensure that the boat is strong enough to withstand racing conditions but not so heavy that it causes too much drag.

Rescue Divers

Finally, while boat design is critical, the last line of defence is our rescue readiness. On standby throughout every race is our Lavey Craft rescue boat, fully equipped and manned by divers who are trained to respond quickly in an emergency and perform underwater recovery. Their main role is to reach the scene within minutes and recover the driver.

Trained and experienced divers are tasked with recovering drivers from the water

Together, the flotation chambers, controlled flooding design, crash energy management and professional rescue operations ensure that even in extreme conditions, the boat stays buoyant, stable and provides maximum protection for the driver.