Mobility scooter boat-towing prank goes viral

The viral video shows a man identified only as Mangrove Merv – believed to be a character made up by online fishing-based prankster Willem Ungermann, also known as Willem Powerfish – towing a near-new centre console Quintrex Top Ender on a trailer along the Gold Coast beachfront.

Powerfish is known for producing viral videos based largely on pranking unsuspecting people with audacious behaviour. He campaigns strongly for mental health, something he says his unique brand of comedy helps with.

Media reports initially said the boat was being towed by an elderly man. Separate videos showed it driving along the Coolangatta beachfront, while others showed long queues of cars caught behind the rig as it drove through traffic.

The video is similar in its theme to that of a Newcastle man captured on camera in 2018 towing his newly renovated 5.2-metre boat to the local ramp along the Princes Highway at Belmont using a mobility scooter.

Police eventually caught up with the man, who was later charged with driving while disqualified, using an unregistered vehicle on the road, using an uninsured vehicle on the road and using an unregistered trailer on the road.

Ungermann has faced court before after he backed a boat and a vehicle into the water at Fingal Head as part of another viral video.

He was fined $15,000 over that incident. Reports stated police were investigating the latest prank video.

Ungermann says he donates all the money raised via his social media posts to charity.