Upon interviewing the operator stated he was operating V1 at "full throttle" when he noticed he was too close to the bank and he attempted a sharp turn to the left but said the steering wheel was hard to turn causing the boat to skip across the water striking a tree.  Passenger 3 stated the operator was going too fast while attempting to turn the boat left.  The operator's wife (Passenger 2) said she couldn't remember much about the accident other than her husband was operating V1 and the "steering was working right".  Passenger 4 stated the operator was going to fast toward the bank and tried to warn him.  He also stated prior to striking the tree he pushed his wife (Passenger 5) out of the boat.  Passenger 5 stated the same thing.

V1 struck a tree that was protruding from the water's edge on the starboard side.  Damage to V1 extended from the bow to the steering console on the starboard side, hull was completely crushed.
MALVERN                       