watercraft and its capacity has grown, where
it’s not just one person on board, it’s now
very common where people will hop on a
PWCwith their children or grandchildren.
Their grandchildren themselves will be the
ones operating them.
So it’s not always that it’s the 40-year-old
operating it, but certainly that’s the age
group that’s buying it and people are using
it. One of the things we did, as an
organization, is created a model law, and
worked very hard over the years to have
various states put it in place. That law has
three key elements – one of which is no
longer an issue, which is mandatory
lifejacket wear.That is almost universal,
there’s one state that has yet to have it. We
are also strong advocates for the operator to
be at least 16 years old. Sometimes when
I’m in talking to legislators, they say,
“Really, the industry is asking to limit the
age of operators?” And, we absolutely are.
We feel that these are boats that should be
operatedby peoplewho are a little bit older.
BUSINESS WORLD:
To what extent
180 | BusinessWorld |
June-July 2014
