RedactedNarrative: On april 15, 2017 at approximately 2:30am, a boating incident occurred at the mouth of stumpy creek on lake norman near mooresville, nc.  Operator1 was operating a 1996 ranger bass boat (v1) with one passenger traveling southwest on the main channel of lake norman coming from the skipper's cove area.  Operator2 was operating a 1992 stratos bass boat with one passenger traveling west northwest at the mouth of stumpy creek.  (v1) struck (v2) on the port side ejecting both persons out of (v1).  (v2) was able to rescue (v1) occupants out of the water and return all persons and vessels to the dock safely.
  
  Both operators were in a night bass fishing tournament on lake norman.  They both were in the process of changing fishing locations when the incident occurred.  V1 was traveling in a southwest direction from the skipper's cove area heading to a fishing spot in stumpy creek.  V1 was traveling at an estimated speed of 20-30 mph.  According to v2 occupants, v1's navigation lights were on at the time of impact.  
  
  V2 was traveling in a west northwest direction coming from the red #18 marker which is located on the southern point of the mouth of stumpy creek on the main channel.  V2 was traveling at an estimated speed of 40-50 mph.  According to v1's occupants, no lights were observed from v2.  V2 occupants claim that their running lights were on and in working order.  V2 occupants didn't notice v1 approaching from their left until moments before impact.  The passenger of v2 told the operator to "move" which caused the operator to pull the wheel to the starboard side.  This caused the port side of v2 to rise which kept v1 from cutting across v2.  
  
  V1 made impact on v2's port side right in front of the passenger seat which is near the midway point of v2.  V1 occupants were both ejected, traveled over v2, and landed in the water.  Neither occupant were wearing a pfd or a kill switch lanyard.  V1 then traveled down along the port side towards the stern.  V1's motor came out of the water and struck the stern on the port side of v2.  V1's motor was still in gear and had enough throttle to stay on plane.  It continued to make large circles around the persons in the water.  V2 occupants were able to stay in their vessel upon impact.  However, v2's operator was wearing the kill switch lanyard which disabled the motor after impact. While attempting to restart the motor on v2, both occupants heard screams for help.  They also noticed that their vessel was taking on water due to the damage it sustained from the impact.
  
  V2 operator was able to restart the motor and headed towards the distress calls for help.  They were able to locate the female occupant of v1 first.  When they reached the female occupant of v1, they had to reach under the water and pull the operator of v1 up above the water.  They managed to get both persons on board fairly quickly.  V2 then made an attempt to stop v1 which was still traveling on plane and in a circle around the area of the rescue.  V2's first attempt was unsuccessful due to the speed in which v1 was traveling.  V1 struck v2 in the bow on the port side damaging v2's trolling motor.  The next attempt was successful in securing v1.  The passenger of v2 jumped onto v1 while pulled alongside of it and was able to get v1 under control.  Both v1 and v2 went to pinnacle access area.
  
  After reaching pinnacle access area, they checked for injuries.  All parties involved appeared to be ok at this time.  V2 had taken on a substantial amount of water at this time.  They tied v2 to the dock to try and secure it.   v1 operator, agreed to take v2 operator to mccrary creek access area to retrieve their truck and trailer.  V1's truck and trailer were located at mccrary creek access area as well.
  
  The analysis of the damage on the vessels indicated that v1 had struck v2 on the port side right in front of the passenger seat.  The bow of v1 was fractured approximately 18" down across both gunnels, the bow light pole was bent backwards and broken off as well.  V1 also sustained damage down the port side of the vessel.  The hull of v2 separated along the bumper strip from the port side at the passenger area around the transom and about halfway to the operator's seat on the starboard side.  The prop of v1 struck v2 on the rear port side causing sever fiberglass damage as well.
  Based upon the statements of the parties involved, there were some areas that were conflicting and unclear in my opinion.  Both v1 occupants stated that they never saw any navigation lights coming from v2.  Both v2 occupants state that their navigation lights were displayed.  After investigating the bulbs used in v2's navigation lights, and based on my training, it is in my opinion that v2's lights were not on at the time of the incident.  I came to this conclusion due to the condition of the filament in the bulbs on v2.  The filament in the stern light was in normal condition indicating that the filament was not heated due to it being on which would result in hot shock at the time of impact.  Hot shock means filament is ductile and will stretch out, uncoil or tangle and it may or may not break.  However i cannot say 100% that v2's lights were not on.  
  
  If v2's light were on there is a possibility that the navigation lights could be obstructed by the trolling motor and the passenger.  I came to this conclusion due to the alignment of the poi, the passenger of v2, and the stern light.  This was observed while the boat was on the trailer in the parking lot and being at eye level with v2 passenger seated in the vessel.  I still could not say 100% that this was the cause of this incident due to the unknown angle the boats were sitting in the water.  If v2's lights were on and not obstructed, then v1 would be the give-way vessel.  In this situation v2 should maintain its course of travel and v1 should either slow down, change course, or come to a stop to avoid collision.  The morning of the incident v1 occupants didn't seek medical treatment.  They later decided to go to the hospital to be checked out.  The operator sustained a sprained left shoulder and the passenger had heavy contusions to her face and the left side of her body.
  
  The known contributing factors of this incident were excessive speed and improper lookout.  Based upon the statements from the parties involved and the findings of my investigation, no charges were filed in this matter.  V2 operator had successfully completed a boating safety course which given his date of birth was required by law.  V1 operator had not completed a boating safety course which his date of birth would exempt him of such.  Alcohol and drugs were not a contributing factor in this incident.
  
  