What is the law on Boat capacity?

[Wolfeboro_Baja]

So I'm a little late coming to this party but I'll throw my .02 cents in!!

Originally Posted by Dave R

My 25 foot Regal is rated for only 10 people, but it's also rated for 3000 lbs. Must be designed for morbidly obese boaters. The helm chair is really wide...

The plate on our 25 Outlaw says 6 people or 1,600 lbs. If you do the math, that's 266 lbs per person. However, if you are familiar with the cockpit of a 25 Outlaw, you'll know that the most bodies you can fit in it are six (seats 5 comfortably). On the other hand, our first Baja was a 212 Islander (bowrider) which was rated for 8 people or 1450 lbs (I could be wrong on the total weight). Smaller boat, more bodies but less total weight. This is interesting though; using the formula posted by Kracken, my Outlaw's capacity is 14! Good luck trying to fit even HALF that capacity in our cockpit!!

SO, the rating must be a combination of actual seating space (six on our boat and that's REALLY crowded) and/or total weight to include bodies and their gear.

Originally Posted by Kracken

I would think the capacity (in lbs) of a vessel is relative to the buoyancy. I believe the amount of people it is rated for has something to do with the number of seats on the boat. Could be wrong though but it makes sense.

What he said; makes TOTAL sense!

Originally Posted by camp guy

Oh, I love these technical discussions with decimal points and points of law, but, notwithstanding the manufacturers capacity rating, the buoyancy factor, or the Dallas cheerleaders, the single most important consideration concerning how many people can go in a specific boat is COMMON SENSE by the operator. Laws are there for some purpose, the technical details are there for some purpose, but common sense is the bottom line (as long as you don't exceed the law).

Just remember, you can't legislate common sense!

[ishoot308]

I believe most weight capacity noted on boat placards are "dry weight". This means you also have to add the weight of gas and oil. Gas weighs approximately 6.4 lbs per gallon so if you have a 50 gallon tank you must deduct 320 lbs from your weight rating. Also any factory accessories such as tables, built in coolers, are not included in the weight rating and should be accounted for.

I think once you do all the gear, liquid and accessory deductions from the max weight rating, most would be surprised how little there is left for people!

Dan