Most days in a boat on the water are the best days. But sometimes, a hiccup can turn those fun, sunny moments into a really bad day. And that’s what we have here. The craft in question is a 2,700-hp Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) ZR48 Corvette boat. There’s been nothing else like them since they began appearing in the 2000s, and there’s nothing like them crashing into the woods, either.

Where did this MTI boat crash happen?

Running two Mercury Marine twin-turbo engines, these boats cost about $1.7 million. Speed estimates range between 80 mph and over 100 mph. We don’t know how fast this open version of the ZR48 was going, but it must have been an extremely high exit velocity.

The incident happened last week on the Tickfaw River in southeast Louisiana. According to WBRZ-TV, five people were on board the MTI boat, with two taken to a local hospital. Spectators said the power catamaran was cruising upriver when it took a sudden right turn and crashed into the shore, charging into the tree line. 

How badly was the crashed craft damaged?

As a tree mower, this thing does the business. We dare say it whacked off at least a half-dozen trees at their bases. That takes a major thrust. The hull has serious damage, though it looks fairly benign in the images. But it appears to be floating in a video shot after the accident as the boat was pulled out of the trees. 

That’s what one would expect of a carbon fiber boat having just clipped off tree trunks. And that’s the other problem. With the hull being carbon fiber, this isn’t like patching fiberglass. We’re not experts, but there might be a fine line between repair and replacement. If replacement is the answer, this is one serious boat crash.

Production of these muscle boats varies from one to the other. MTI, based in Wentzville, Missouri, builds no two alike. Models that hew to the Corvette theme feature many genuine Corvette components, like the steering wheel, instrument cluster, and other bits in the cockpit. Some have enclosed racing canopies, while others, as is the case with this one, have open cockpits.

Is the crashed MTI like the black Corvette boat?

Those boats with the racing canopies have gullwing flaps at the top for cockpit entry. On the Darth Vader-like black Corvette boat, the rear window slides back electrically. It’s the most infamous of these creations and notoriously ran from the Coast Guard. It’s a Corvette boat in every sense.

So the high-exit velocity of the crashed green MTI could be its downfall. It’s hard to imagine the pilot of a boat like that not having a better handle on the navigation chores. Or maybe it was a component malfunction. Unfortunately, this is all we know. If we learn more, we’ll update this post.