Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post

XCR-700 · 05-22-2010, 10:16 PM

Hummm,,, ok I’ll bite,,,

I’ll agree that all too often the bass boat guys are in a rush, most of the time I see them buzzing around is when there is a tournament, and that’s the nature of that sport. Guess you could ban tournaments on Winnipesaukee and that would end some portion of bass boats buzzing around.

From my perspective the whole 150’ rule thing is a bit extreme for most of the lake and most boaters. I guess if your on the Broads and doing well over 50 MPH you should be adding as much buffer as possible (when you could run well over 50 MPH) but its my observation that most folks are cruising somewhere between 35 MPH and 50 MPH when the chop is a foot or less, and under those conditions I feel more than comfortable with anything over say 75’ of buffer so long as everybody is doing what they are supposed to be doing and are in FULL control. And I feel inclined to add that I have on MANY occasions I have been much closer (30’ – 40’) at cruising speeds and NEVER had a problem when both operators were aware of each other and operating safely. Just try to run on most rivers with 150’ buffer, they would all be no wake zones. If you really NEED 150’ buffer, maybe you need to practice you piloting skills a before boating on any popular waterway,,,

In my mind the 150’ buffer on a lake like Winnipesaukee makes operation difficult in a lot of spots, if you come around an island and your trying to keep proper distance from shore/docks/etc and then you run up on another boat with insufficient space to maintain the 150’ you end up doing “unnatural” things.

My experience has been that rapid deceleration or rapid maneuvers are far more dangerous than safe operation with only 75’ – 100’ between you and anyone else. So I would say “following the rules & laws comes first and foremost” is not such a good rule of thumb or even a good general practice. I suggest that “safe operation” comes first and “rules & laws” come second!

But thats just my opinion and doesn’t really address your questions about “or then why do we have them” Well I guess that’s a case by case issue,,

In some cases we have such rules because one group was more motivated to write another rule/law than those who would oppose it. i.e. (Not because there is any universal truth that says under all conditions this is a must follow/safer procedure) In other cases there may well be scientific evidence (and sufficient common sense to get universal buy-in) i.e. no smoking while refueling. But then your question was probably rhetorical,,,

As for condemning all bass boaters as being unsafe operators, I think not. That’s just too broad a brush to use for my tastes.

But again, that’s just my opinion, or was it you who said “Were we in danger no” and isn’t that what is REALLY important?

05-22-2010, 10:16 PM	#2
XCR-700 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: MA Posts: 1,333 Thanks: 744 Thanked 533 Times in 310 Posts	Hummm,,, ok I’ll bite,,, I’ll agree that all too often the bass boat guys are in a rush, most of the time I see them buzzing around is when there is a tournament, and that’s the nature of that sport. Guess you could ban tournaments on Winnipesaukee and that would end some portion of bass boats buzzing around. From my perspective the whole 150’ rule thing is a bit extreme for most of the lake and most boaters. I guess if your on the Broads and doing well over 50 MPH you should be adding as much buffer as possible (when you could run well over 50 MPH) but its my observation that most folks are cruising somewhere between 35 MPH and 50 MPH when the chop is a foot or less, and under those conditions I feel more than comfortable with anything over say 75’ of buffer so long as everybody is doing what they are supposed to be doing and are in FULL control. And I feel inclined to add that I have on MANY occasions I have been much closer (30’ – 40’) at cruising speeds and NEVER had a problem when both operators were aware of each other and operating safely. Just try to run on most rivers with 150’ buffer, they would all be no wake zones. If you really NEED 150’ buffer, maybe you need to practice you piloting skills a before boating on any popular waterway,,, In my mind the 150’ buffer on a lake like Winnipesaukee makes operation difficult in a lot of spots, if you come around an island and your trying to keep proper distance from shore/docks/etc and then you run up on another boat with insufficient space to maintain the 150’ you end up doing “unnatural” things. My experience has been that rapid deceleration or rapid maneuvers are far more dangerous than safe operation with only 75’ – 100’ between you and anyone else. So I would say “following the rules & laws comes first and foremost” is not such a good rule of thumb or even a good general practice. I suggest that “safe operation” comes first and “*rules & laws” come second! But thats just my opinion and doesn’t really address your questions about “or then why do we have them” Well I guess that’s a case by case issue,, In some cases we have such rules because one group was more motivated to write another rule/law than those who would oppose it. i.e. (Not because there is any universal truth that says under all conditions this is a must follow/safer procedure) In other cases there may well be scientific evidence (and sufficient common sense to get universal buy-in) i.e. no smoking while refueling. But then your question was probably rhetorical,,, As for condemning all bass boaters as being unsafe operators, I think not. That’s just too broad a brush to use for my tastes. But again, that’s just my opinion, or was it you who said “Were we in danger no” and isn’t that what is REALLY* important? Last edited by XCR-700; 05-23-2010 at 09:02 AM.