GILFORD, N.H. (WHDH) – New Hampshire boaters wrangled a runaway boat in tense moments that were caught on camera on Lake Winnipesaukee Wednesday.
Video of the incident showed the boat speeding in tight circles in the area of Gilford, New Hampshire while people on other boats and jet skis circled nearby.
Jeremy Procon and his 17-year-old son Brady watched as the boat spun out of control.
“I heard a loud engine noise and we looked over and we saw a boat just doing circle after circle after circle,” Procon said.
Procon said it happened in the Smith’s Cove area after a sailing instructor had taken about 20 children out on the waiter for a lesson and was thrown from his boat.
“He was leaning over to grab a tennis ball and one of the sailboats actually tipped over, which they do all the time — they’re small, they tip over. The mast hit the throttle and when that happened, it threw him out of the boat,” Procon said.
Procon and his son Brady jumped into action, first making sure all the kids were out of the way, and then trying to figure out how to stop the boat.
“Tried throwing a line at the engine but it just wouldn’t pick it up, I was trying to get my line around the prop to try and kill the boat,” Procon said.
Brady then teamed up with their neighbor Justin King.
“I called Justin over, the guy with the jet ski, I jumped on the back of his, and he got close to it and I jumped off from there,” Brady said.
Brady hopped on and turned the boat off. People around the cove cheered as the boat was brought under control.
“It didn’t go through my mind what could happen if I missed the boat. It seemed like an easy task that I could have done in that second,” Brady said.
Procon said he would’ve stopped his son from jumping if he was close enough to him.
“One misstep and he would have been taken out by the prop of that boat. He had one chance to get it right,” Procon said.
A spokesperson for the New Hampshire state police confirmed the state police department’s Marine Patrol unit responded to the incident but said the situation was resolved by the time crews arrived.
“Let’s be safe and careful out there!” said Rich Bono in a post on Facebook attached to his video of the runaway boat. “…Luckily the situation had a happy ending!
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