On a recent trip to New York I had a chance to experience the newer Vekoma vest restraints on both an SLC and a Boomerang. I rode the SLC Mind Eraser at Darien Lake and the Boomerang Flashback at Darien Lake. For me they offered a sincerely improved ride on both attractions. The difference was especially noticeable for my 10 year old son on Mind Eraser as he is much more prone to head-banging with his barely 54” height. These restraints were comfortable and also look great on the new trains. I had ridden Boomerang at Darien Lake as well (which has the classic over the shoulder restraints) and the difference between it and Flashback at Great Escape were quite noticeable. Boomerang wasn’t bad, but the new trains and restraints on Flashback made for a better experience.

The Vekoma SLC is a bit notorious in the roller coaster community, often nicknamed a “Vekoma Headbanger”. This is partly due to the restraint design, but this was compounded by play in the wheel assemblies and early computer-aided design (CAD) use that led to more abrupt transitions. New trains can take care of of the lateral shuffling due to wheel play and remove the potential of head to restraint impact, but the track design and transitions are what they are (unless the park opts to retrack and reprofile parts of the coaster). There are bunches of rough coasters out there though, so by removing the “headbanging” potential, just changing restraints should be enough for most people. The Boomerang isn’t known as much for having a rough ride, but the better restraints still add to overall comfort. Anytime a restraint is describes as a “hard horse-collar” it’s usually not a good thing.

Vekoma sold a bunch of both the SLC and the Boomerang. There are 42 SLC’s and 55 Boomerangs out there. That’s a big potential retrofit market. A park can get entirely new trains or opt to just swap restraints without getting new trains. On the SLC side the coasters running the new vest restraints are:

Vekoma SLC‘s with Upgraded Vest Restraint

• The Great Nor’easter – Morey’s Piers
• Riddler Revenge – Six Flags New England
• Firewhip – Beto Carrero World (Brazil)
• Condor – Walibi Holland (Netherlands)
• Jaguar – Isla Mágica (Spain)
• Nopuko Air Coaster – Lost Island Theme Park
• Mind Eraser – Six Flags Darien Lake
• Professor Screamore’s SkyWinder – Six Flags America (Trains moved to Flight Deck – Canada’s Wonderland)
• Roller Coaster Mayan – Energylandia (Poland)

For the Boomerangs there are a number of coasters running the new MK1212 train with vest restraints. This train can also be used on classic sit-down coasters and is in use on Blue Hawk at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Vekoma Boomerangs with Upgraded Vest Restraint

• Flying Cobras –Carowinds 
• Jolly Rancher Remix – Hersheypark
• Boomerang – Six Flags Fiesta Texas
• Boomerang – La Ronde
• Batgirl Batarang – Six Flags Mexico
• Speed of Sound – Walibi Holland (Netherlands)

Vekoma is a hot coaster company right now. It has the new Werewolf Gorge coming to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and lots of other new US coasters built over the last few years or upcoming. These rides have been well received and it’s great to see they working to make some of their legacy stuff even better too.