Lake Winni...IMPORTANT

[ChromeGorilla]

Found this on another site....this may damper the fun on Winni..... :mad:

From Winnilakers.com :

Winnilakers,
I just got this information today in reference to the new speed law and the hearing date. I have attached the bill below. If you can, please see if you can make it to the hearing next week, Wednesday, January 19, 2004 at 11:00 am in Room 305 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord. You don't need to speak, but we need numbers there.

The bill is proposing a day time speed of 45 and a night speed limit of 25.







HB 162 – AS INTRODUCED

2005 SESSION

05-0103

03/01

HOUSE BILL 162

AN ACT establishing boating speed limits for Lake Winnipesaukee.

SPONSORS: Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes boating speed limits for Lake Winnipesaukee.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

2005 SESSION

05-0103

03/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT establishing boating speed limits for Lake Winnipesaukee.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Restrictions on Boating; Lake Winnipesaukee. Amend RSA 270 by inserting after section 130 the following new section:

270:131 Lake Winnipesaukee. No person shall use or operate any powerboat, motorboat, or boat equipped with any type of power motor at a rate of speed exceeding 45 miles per hour during daylight hours and 25 miles per hour during night hours on the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. As used in this section, "daylight hours" means the hours between 1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset and "night hours" means the hours 1/2 hour after sunset and 1/2 hour before sunrise. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006

[Dr. Dan]

:wavey: I think Lake George already has a 45 mph Speed Limit...wonder how thats working out for them? Better ask GEO!

I have been on Winnie a few times, and I can tell ya 45 mph on Winnie is actually very fast...Cuz the Lake is directionally prone to Cross Winds......

My guess is all of the Lunatics that choose to drink and Drive...and some of the recent Tragedies have left them no choice....

I think they will make alot of money writing Tickets..... wonder what Culotta thinks?

Last year if ya went over 55 it felt like you were gonna sink anyway....Rough, Rough Rough....great for creating those nice Gel Cracks. Course Digger and Jefe' were leading the Pack in their Wave Crushers......

Definitely Gotta know what you are doing on Winnie!

Doc of Unknown :smash:

[Air 22]

Lake George does have a speed limit of 45mph. They have had that for 5+ years. Radar guns are the way they crack down on the fast guys. Even so there are only 5-7 patrol boats on 32 miles of lake depending on season. 4th of July/weekends look out....most of the time if you don't blast close to shore, stay away from populated area's you can run. If they do catch ya..look for a sound check as well. To loud...they tack on another fine :splat:

I'm w/ Doc 45 is isn't to slow....Man some guys can't drive and will kill those who can when they loose control. The # 1 Boating accident/killer is SPEED followed by alchohol(Stat from Boat U.S.). Jimmy DeNooyer runs his King Sting Scater 160+ on LG..you just have to play it kool and know when to run :beer: :biggrin:

[mattyboy]

Many lakes in NY have the 45 day 25 nite speed limit the key as Air said is be cool and if they have the equipment to enforce it, My lake has 45 mph day and a 15 mph nite time speed limit and they always enforce it day and nite, on weekends they run 2 or 3 boats and a jetski in the NY end and the passaic county sheriff runs a 30 foot baywatch scarab with big ole OB's on it in the NJ end the key is knowing when they are on duty ;)
it is had to run when you're the olnly red donzi on the lake and with my registration numbers i try to keep my nose clean ;) :)

[harbormaster]

Hate to hear that happen to a good bunch of folks I know up there.

Kinda odd from a state that has "Live Free or Die" on their license plates.

They will probably lose that motto also because it offends someone.

[mphatc]

We'll be fighting this all the way . . .

Yes, I understand precisely what Dr. Dan is saying . . but note that for most of you the experiences on Winni are weekends . . when the lake is very busy. An if you add a windy day to the boat traffic you have a problem.

As a Winnipesaukee boater since 1956 I can assure you that speed is not the issue here. It is all about SAFE boating! The NH Marine Patrol is under funded, has NO funding to enforce this and least of all has very few ( if any) qualified officers to operate radar guns of any kind. It's a laugh to watch them train Marine Patrol Officers in Glendale in early summer . .most these guys don't even know how to dock a boat, never mind making fair judgements about safe boating!

What we do need is enforcement and education of close passage (NH law is < 6 mph or no wake at any distance < 150'). Possibly some areas that are presently wide open and unlimited need to be restricted. For those familiar, right outside Weirs Beach is one such zone.
The recent change in Meredith with an expansion of the No Wake Zone has been very effective.

Even these areas could have speed limits ONLY on weekends or holidays.

I own an island in Wolfeboro, 25 + miles from Weirs Beach with the largest open section of water known as The Broads just northwest of us. An area 5 miles wide 7+ miles long . .often without a single boat in sight! I cross this to get to the island from the ramp where I launch my Donzi every time I go out to the island. Weekdays this often an empty lake . . and that is when the locals come out to play.

What we don't need are more rules for the local folks familiar with the lake and NH's unique rules and navigation system.
I could go on and on . . .but I'll save my energies for the hearing this week in Concord!

Mario
raised on the shores of Winni :)

[mike o]

Wish us luck with over turning the 45mph speed limit...........:crossfing:http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110223/GJNEWS02/702239893/-1/citnews1401

[Sweet little 16]

good luck up there

[Just Say N20]

Quoted from the article:

"For people who have big boats and who want to go really fast, "the ocean's not that far away," said Hutchins. He said the Coast Guard in 2009 identified excessive speed as the third leading cause of boating accidents. Taking speed limits off The Broads, he summed up, "is very much like taking the speed limits off Union Avenue and South Main Street" — two of Laconia's busiest thoroughfares. "

People who think like this are idiots. Total, complete morons. Trying to make the comparison between boating on an area of a lake, and the traffic on streets makes as much sense as saying someone who owns a pen has no need to own a chainsaw. They are completely different situations that have nothing to do with each other.

The speed limit crowd also seems concerned about local tourism, saying that, "Hutchins and other members of the Winnipesaukee Family Alliance for Boating Safety (WinnFABS), worry that the bill would make the Big Lake a less safe and less inviting place. for swimmers, sailing enthusiasts, kayakers, canoeists and power boaters. Not having speed limits, the group said, would hurt residents and the area's tourism industry. "

Really? As a group, who do you think spends more money when vacationing at a lake? Swimmers? Sailors? Kayakers? Canoeists? Or maybe people who have the ability to own/operate fast powerboats?

And then they say "the ocean's not that far away." Wait, I thought we were concerned about tourism $$$$. Sending people to another destination helps your local economy how, exactly?

They say they are concerned about safety, but one of the compromises was to RAISE the night time speed limit to 30 mph?!? Who in their right mind thinks running 30 mph in the dark is even remotely safe?

I hope the speed limit is over turned, but that would require a predominance of common sense, and an accurate assessment of the situation. Given the feminized, pu$$ified, politically correct society we are now in, I will be surprised if it is.

[Carl C]

My favorite quote is "the vast majority of residents support the existing law". The residents don't own the lake. They own easy access to and a nice view of the lake. If they want peace and quiet there are plenty of really small lakes. 45 mph is ridiculous and I hope the law is repealed.

[DonziJon]

Lake Winni is the largest lake in NH. If you want to go fast you need to go to a Smaller lake where there is NO Speed Limit....essentially, ALL the other lakes in NH have NO limits. Go figure...:bonk:

It's all about Safety. :yes:

[Eplebnista]

IMHO daytime speed limits are a crock. Nighttime speed limits do not offend me as much because of the greater likelihood that people who were stupid before they got drunk will kill somebody else in the dark.

Unfortunately, Winni will always be the leader in accidents and deaths because of its size and the numbers of boats. It also doesn't help that a woman who testified against the speed limit bill in the past was recently convicted of negligent homicide after killing her friend when an island threw itself in front of her boat in the wee hours of the morning. She was doing over 30 mph at the time.

Speed doesn't kill. Stupidity kills.

[Fishermanjm]

my classic will be my first boat that can go fast, faster than 25mph that is,,, i know that doin 60 like we did on the sea trial last october scared the pants off me, im sure i will be goin fast on narragansett bay this summer, the bay is large alot like parts of Winni, 45 just sounds slow