BOAT BACKLASH? TEST DRIVER DEFENDS PERFORMANCE CRAFTS.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

CASTAIC - Three months after the high-speed crash that killed four men on Castaic Lake, boating industry insiders are noticing a backlash against performance boating.

Bob Teague, 54, owner of Valencia-based engine and parts manufacturing company Teague Custom Marine, said the conditions leading up to the Jan. 11 accident were anything but standard.

``The HTM event, while it was very tragic, is so untypical of the performance boater,'' Teague said. ``I don't think what happened up there on the lake should negatively reflect on anyone else in the boating or performance boating business.''

Steve Coulombe, owner of the boat manufacturing company High Torque Marine, was testing a 30-foot catamaran prototype with three other men on Jan. 11 when the craft flipped and sank more than 250 feet to the lake's bottom.

Investigators said the boat was traveling between 90 and 120 mph that windy Friday afternoon. The speed limit at Castaic Lake is 35 mph.

Coulombe and his team were regulars at the lake, as the HTM boats were constructed just north of the Santa Clarita Valley. But unlike certain bodies of water - Lake Havasu, Lake Mead, Lake Elsinore, for example - Castaic Lake does not allow boat makers to test their creations at high speeds.

Teague, a columnist for Powerboat magazine and its lead test driver for the last 10 years, said most performance boats are tested in a controlled environment - permits are pulled, emergency response crews are on scene and the area is closed to the general public.

``Testing is a totally regimented thing,'' said Teague, a retired Los Angeles Fire Department captain. ``I'm certain that Castaic Lake - the lifeguards, the supervisors, everyone associated with the facility - I'm certain they would not condone them going up there and making those high-speed runs.

``They had one patrol boat on the water,'' the day of the accident, he said, referring to the Castaic lifeguards. Hoping to help prevent another tragedy, Teague is working to get radar guns for the lifeguards.

Responding to previous media reports, Teague said it is unfair to blame the lifeguards or lake officials simply because they did not see the boat traveling at high speeds on a weekday, when few boats were on the water.

After the accident, Los Angeles County Sup. Michael D. Antonovich ordered a team of Los Angeles County parks police officers to augment lifeguard patrols, which will begin Saturday.

``Having the park police on the lake, if it results in a safer recreational boating environment for the average user on the lake, I think that's a positive thing,'' Teague said.

Castaic Lake officials have, over the years, asked Teague and other lake regulars, like bass fishing organizations and summer camps, to use the west launch ramp for their daily operations.

Teague said that request has been construed by some since the HTM crash as a license to speed.

``I don't feel I get special treatment up there,'' he said. ``I was asked to utilize the west ramp for my business activities to help alleviate congestion.''

Mika Yamamoto, regional park superintendent at Castaic Lake, said the lake asked Teague to comply with the request, but only to make launching easier for the general public at the main ramp.

Teague said he will weather the negative backlash stemming from the HTM crash, but he also noted some positive changes since the deadly accident, such as a greater demand for life jackets and a heightened sense of caution among boaters.

``I've never had a pleasure boat accident,'' Teague said. ``Those of us in the business have the responsibility to set the positive example for the less experienced boaters.''

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Photo:

(color) Bob Teague, a performance boat test driver, powers a cruiser out of the west ramp at Castaic Lake for a test.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer