Taking off in a floatplane is similar to taking off on land in a taildragger in terms of forward visibility which is why it’s necessary to zig zag and look out the side when taxiing. On the takeoff run, once the speed is sufficient to create lift and raise the tail, forward visibility improves. A similar situation occurs on floats when there is enough lift to raise the tail and reduce drag which is called getting on the step.
In this incident, it appears as if the pilot reaches that stage 3 or 4 hundred feet or so from the boat but the pilot is committed and doesn’t have the option of changing course. Pulling the power back would still have him crash into the boat. At the collision point it looks like he is trying to will the plane to fly but doesn’t have quite enough lift to clear the boat.
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