"Regatta" in Meredith Bay last weekend
 

Enjoyed watching the rowers racing back and forth in Meredith Bay last weekend from our deck. I noticed that most of the motor boats in the vicinity of the rowers were going at headway speed during the race. Were the boaters just being courteous, or is there an unwritten rule about this? Just wondering....also noticed a boat go speeding past the rowers so it seemed unclear.

fron the Laconia Citizen
Read the rest of the CITIZEN article http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...-1/citizen0103

We have to go "Head-way" speed within 150' of another boat. This is part of the "Rules-of-the-Road" which substitute for traffic markings and signs for boaters. It is a protocol for reducing hazard and conflict in various situations.

Thanks for the article. I enjoyed watching it last year as well, rain and all. Glad to hear it'll be an annual event!

Marine patrol was stopping everyone going in to Meredith and telling them it was no-wake all the way in. We turned around and went to Wolfboro instead...

no wake
 

Found out the hard way. Came out of Merideth Marina and noticed the regatta so I hugged the shore as I picked up speed. Marine patrol stopped me and just told me about the no wake for the entire bay. Nice guy. No problem though as it was the perfect day for a ride.

sad though
 

slowest day of the year on the lake for boaters and the regatta had 3 patrol boats working the bay. Most patrols I have seen on the lake all year. The officer told me they had a permit for the regatta.....who pays for the marine Patrol to work it. Special detail? :confused:

Thanks much for the info - I did see a couple of Marine Patrol boats that looked like they were manning the bay during the races - I had wondered if they were the ones enforcing the no wake speed for the duration of the race.

I didn't see the Meredith race but those races are great the watch! I do a lot of boating on a river that crew teams use for practice and where a major crew race is held annually. The Textile River Regatta is the first Sunday in October and it's the warm up for the Head of the Charles Regatta!

Anyway, when I am on the water with crew boats that are practicing, I go past them at headway speed because they are easy to capsize! I have two beefs with them.

1. When we are headed in the same direction and they see me coming up on them and I slow to headway speed, they almost always seem to try to maintain my speed (and race me) so that I can't get past them unless I wake them!

2. The coach who is riding in a small skiff, usually kicks up a pretty good wake as she zips from one crew boat team to another even while I maintain a no wake speed!

It's really not necessary to shut down an entire bay and declare no wake even during a race like this, but you really do need to give these boats a much wider berth at a much reduced wake than you would give anyone else. To declare Meredith Bay no wake is overkill, but it is reasonable to direct boat traffic to the opposite shoreline.

Another way to look at is is to look at is the number of people in that crew boat and keep this in mind when you go past. An 8 man crew has 9 POB.

Ask yourself as you pass by, can you, in your boat, rescue 9 people from the water, at the same time, from the same boat, putting them all on your boat safely, and remember, none of them are wearing life jackets?

I know I can't do that so I make certain I don't capsize anyone no matter how POed I am that they are "racing" me!