Hello Wake Sport Enthusiasts!

The legislative hearing on HB 1071 is going to be scheduled for Wednesday, February 9th before the House Resources, Recreation & Development Committee. This is the same committee that heard and defeated the “definition of wake boat” bill last year. We do not have the time of the hearing yet.

We plan to oppose this bill as it establishes a 250 Ft setback in law for the sport of wake surfing. Here is a link to the bill. http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1370&inflect=2 Click on Introduced (PDF) Many of the sponsors are the same sponsors that sought to “define and ban” wake boats last year. Here are a couple of reasons why we oppose:

• NH would have the strictest setback specifically for wake surfing in the country if HB 1071 passes. Even now, there are activists calling for even stricter setbacks. Our efforts to EDUCATE through the NH Wake Responsibly campaign are more effective than these efforts to REGULATE the sport out of existence. This would be a bad message to send to boating families and tourists that NH relies on for summer tourism.

• Establishing specific setbacks for wake surfing will confuse the overall boating public. New setbacks for different activities will lead to less enforcement, more confusion, and more complaints on the lakes. Boaters need to know the 150 ft safe passage law. This will cause confusion.

• There are areas (small lakes, rivers) where this setback will ban or severely restrict the ability to wake surf. There is NO DATA to show that wake surfing activity specifically has been the main cause of any harm in those areas.

• There is no scientific data supporting “250 ft” – it is a number picked from the air. The NH Wake Responsibly Campaign IS BASED ON SCIENCE and a study by a wave energy expert that showed 200 ft would be best practices for the sport (along with no repetitive passes and keeping music levels down).

• The bill targets wake surfing when there are many types of boats and activities that can also generate larger waves. There are also waves from constant winds and storms.

• The NH WAKE RESPONSIBLY campaign is working. Manufacturers, dealers and boating families have invested significant time, effort and resources into the campaign. There are signs at many boat launches, materials and handouts being disseminated from marine dealerships, summer radio ads, social media presence, and partnership with NH Marine Patrol (who even included NH Wake Responsibly in their boat registration renewals). Let this educational campaign work before taking the step to create a new law.

HOW TO HELP

• COME TO THE HEARING. Providing Testimony is different this year. House hearings DO NOT ALLOW REMOTE TESTIMONY. Testimony needs to be done in person, at the State House in Concord. If you can come to Concord to testify please contact me and I will help you prepare. The more organized we are – the better.

• EMAIL THE COMMITTEE/LOG IN OPPOSITION. For folks who cannot attend, there will be an opportunity to register opposition by emailing the Committee and logging in to the sign-in portal. Once we receive the final schedule for the hearing and the online portal for sign in is available, I will send out directions. We need to show unified opposition to the bill so we can be as successful as we were last year.

If you have any questions, or would like to talk about the bill further, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you!

Jodi

Jodi Grimbilas, President
J Grimbilas Strategic Solutions LLC
(Office) 4 Park Street, Suite 101, Concord
(Mail) PO Box 233, Northwood, NH 03261
(Cell) 603-496-2638
jodi@jgstrategies.com