Shuttle Craft Stars in Grand Forks Rescue



		Press Shuttle Craft Stars in Grand Forks Rescue Borrowed to Rescue People, Animals in Flooded North Dakota City by "Person of the Week," Featured on ABC World News Tonight SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - A resourceful rescue volunteer borrowed a Shuttle Craft and Polaris Jet Ski from a Grand Forks dealer to search for stranded people and animals since it was found to be ideally suited to safely navigate the flooded streets of the North Dakota city. Beau Bateman, a volunteer member of Grand Forks Water Rescue approached the dealer after finding small boats with outboard motors to be unsuitable to the task because propellers caught on cars, signs and pavement. "The thing about the Shuttle Craft is at any speed it needs very little water to operate," he told a reporter for the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. "The highest point in downtown Grand Forks is the train tracks. Other boats were getting stuck on the tracks, and when they speed up, the back end of the boat sinks. I'd just speed up, plane on top of the water, and slip across." Bateman was featured on ABC World News Tonight as the "Person of the Week," in a segment that aired Friday, April 25. Working fifteen hours a day alongside other volunteers, Bateman rescued four people, 14 cats and a dog using the Shuttle Craft during rescue operations during the last week of April. He also ferried guns and rescue equipment from flooded police and fire department buildings. Bateman helped one elderly woman and her son stranded on a rooftop, and pulled an 80-year-old man and young grandson from a rubber dingy that was headed dangerously close to power lines. Emergency animal rescue workers were shown on the news broadcast gently placing stranded cats in orange sacks, which Bateman then took onto the Shuttle Craft. " "I had twelve cats in that Shuttle Craft in the bags," he said. "I never knew what they meant by saying let the cat out of the bag until you go out on a rescue with the animal shelter people and you got thirteen orange bags all screaming at you." The crisis was caused by flooding of the Red River which turned most of Grand Forks, a city of 50,000, into a virtual lake. Shuttle Craft president Dan Beaulac said he was happy to see his product used in such an innovative way. "We never thought of it as a lifesaving device," he said to the Star Phoenix. The Shuttle Craft is an accessory product, a semi-V-hull boat that turns a personal watercraft (PWC) into a jet boat, capable of transporting five passengers More Press... Shuttle Craft Part of Team Canada Pacific Rim Trade Mission SABEX gives Shuttle Craft top honours Prime Minister Jean Chretien enjoys a test ride of the Shuttle Craft NEW Click to view the Shuttle Craft video For more information contact sales@fibreglasscanada.com or call toll free 1-866-722-6246 Home \| Sport Deck \| Jet Sport \| FAQ \| Sales \| Testimonials \| Press Fibreglass Canada All pricing on the web site is subject to change without notice