The Long Beach City Council forwarded the appeal to a hearing officer on Tuesday
The Southern California Speedboat Club has filed an appeal against the City’s denial of a special event permit for the 2022 Long Beach Sprint Nationals event at Marine Stadium.
During the 2018 and 2021 events, two drivers died in boating accidents.
The Office of the City Manager denied the special event application on April 5 due to a determination that “the proposed event would present an unreasonable danger to the health, safety, and general welfare of racing participants and/or spectators in its current configuration and specified safety requirements.”
On April 14, speedboat club president and race director Ross Wallach appealed the denial.
On Tuesday, May 24, the Long Beach City Council referred the appeal to a randomly-selected hearing officer who will evaluate the case.
The initial special event permit was denied after an investigation team—composed of staff from fire, police, marine safety and risk management departments—found that the event “poses a danger to both racing participants and spectators.”
During the 2021 event, one race boat driver was killed. Video and other evidence from the investigation confirmed that the speed of the vessels and the size of the venue contributed to the cause of the accident, according to the investigation.
The racing vessels involved in the 2021 accident were traveling at over 110 miles per hour, according to the investigation.
Long Beach Fire Marshall Robbie Greggo said that a combination of “speed, proximity to the vessels, the unstable water environment, and limited steerage ability made the accident difficult to avoid in that particular moment in time.”
The Southern California Speedboat Club denies this claim.
“The two [boat] drivers were the best and most experienced racers and had full control over their respective vessels,” their appeal states.
Video of the event shows that the wake created by the vessels—which hit against the rocks and then pushed back into the vessels’ path of travel—paired with the speed of the vessels caused a boat driver to lose control of their vessel, which collided with another boat and overturned, the investigation states.
The appeal continues: “The cause of the accident was simply driver error,” adding that the incident was “simply the result of a common risk inherent in the sport.”
The driver of the overturned vessel was ejected and died from his injuries. According to the investigation, the unmanned vessel continued moving forward at “a high rate of speed” and only overturned after hitting a wake.
“Had the vessel not overturned, it may have continued towards the spectating public with no physical barrier preventing impact,” the investigation states.
The appeal also denies this claim, stating that drone footage shows that “the boat came to a dead stop within a short distance nowhere near the shore.”
At the same event in 2018, also held at Marine Stadium, a boat racer also died in similar circumstances.
“At the time of the accident, the driver was immediately killed, however, the accelerator remained depressed,” the investigation states. “Had rescue teams not successfully boarded and stopped the vessel, it would have continued toward the swimming area of Mother’s Beach, posing a danger to the public.”
The appeal states that the driver was not immediately killed, but rather “remained hospitalized and remained alive for over 10 days after the accident.”
The appeal also denies any similarity between the events.
Nonetheless, the club’s appeal outlines a willingness to “rectify all issues.” The appellant states that it has added a barrier system as defense to prevent a boat from breaching the safety zone or beach area; banned encapsulated boats from racing with open cockpit boats (the kind in which two drivers died); and limiting certain races to four boats per race.
A hearing date will be set for 20 to 60 days from Tuesday. Both sides will present their testimonies, which could take hours or days.
