Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Evenstar
Dave:
\It is impossible to tell exactly how fast someone is going on the water, but I spend so much time on Squam, where the 40mph speed limit gives me a pretty good idea of what that speed looks like, that it’s pretty easy to tell if a boat is going way faster than that.
(at full throttle).
|
I respectfully agree with your first part of the paragraph and disagree with the last part.
I was in my ski boat in MA in a small lake. We like to go there because we are usually the only boat on the lake and it makes for perfect water skiing. There is a speed limit on all inland lakes in MA (45mph). I never went over 40mph all day as I knew that there were police watching us all day. When I went to pull my boat out of the water the police came and paid me a visit. They said that I was traveling in excess of 60 mph. They said that they knew that based on the rooster tail that my boat was putting up. The problem with their observation is that when this boat goes slower it puts out a larger rooster tail. Something that they did not understand. They after a nice discussion with them asked me to prove it. So I made a pass at 45 and another at 80. They thanked me after the demonstration and said that they were truly deceived. Now these are trained officers that do this for a living not just the summer. As has been said most boats are not capable of the speeds that you think that they are. Most on GPS will top out at about 40mph. Keck my Formula speed boat tops out at 55
. I am sure that it looks like it is going a lot faster but it is not.
My other issue is that my windsurfers travel well in excess of 45 mph. I have been clocked on one at 64mph. So I risk getting a ticket on one.
Kind of takes the fun out of it if ya know what I mean....
I wish that I could agree with your assertion that you will be safer with people traveling a little slower but I can't. The accident rate has dropped faster in NH that any other state and that includes states that have implemented speed limits. The facts just do not seem to point towards your point except for the noise issue. As for that the manufacturers have made a HUGE effort to quite their boats. I think that you would be surprised at how well you can see in front of you at speed.
Hang in there everyone it is going to be a LONG winter
