Owner stated he had done some mechanical work on the boat days prior to the accident.  He stated he used V1 two days prior and it ran fine.  He said when he launched V1, he turned to leave the dock and heard a loud explosion and felt his leg burning and turned to see a big fire and the cover to the motor fly several feet into the air.  He reported his exhaust gauge showed that he exhaust was working.  He attempted to extinguish the fire but was not successful and jumped into the water.

After a few minutes V1 was fully engulfed and flipped over, it was totaled. Investigator inspected the vessel once it was recovered to make sure all parts were marine grade or to locate any cracked hoses, etc. but extent of damage was too severe and parts were missing/unrecovered so he couldn't make an absolute determination of the failure.;
NEW BLAINE                    