I'm so torn on this one. I do love the idea of kids that turn 12 having to take the boating certificate test though. I think it would give the kids a sense of accomplishment and it would start them off understanding that boating is something to be taken seriously. As a father of twin 7 year old boys I would look forward to the day when they would take and pass that test to be able to graduate to a larger hp boat (25HP).
To allow a 8 year old to captain a boat with a 25hp in some instances would be downright crazy!
Why couldn't a different classification be created? Like under 10hp could be completely removed from this discussion. Meaning 10.5HP-25HP you need to be certified. Under 10HP could be unregulated. I only say this because I had a 14 foot aluminum skiff with a 25hp that I was nervous to let some adults drive, never mind a 10 year old. I never in a million years would have let an uneducated child or adult pilot that boat. It was so fast for its relative size.
So why not an under 10hp exemption written into the language?
FYI - I am throwing out random HP numbers. My thought would be anything that couldn't get on plane could be unregulated. Not sure how the language of the bill would look but I'm just bringing up food for thought.
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