News and notes
Managing Personal Watercraft—A Guide for Local and Harbour Authorities
The use of personal watercraft is now an established form of water sport in the UK with a growing band of enthusiastic participants who enjoy the sport. But personal watercraft are noisy and can cause significant nuisance to others. Collisions involving them have caused serious injury and fatalities. This guide is designed to help meet the challenge of providing opportunities for users to enjoy themselves without risking the safety of others. It has been written for those responsible for the management of busy beaches and harbours. The issues covered include noise, safety, and disturbance to wildlife species and habitats. It goes into detail on how to choose a management strategy suiting the needs of different localities with ideas about zoning, signage, rules, and speed limitations. Three case studies cover varying local authority needs—harbour, an authority with a long stretch of coastline, and one with a short, heavily used coastline. The legal powers of local and harbour authorities are covered very comprehensively. There is also information on personal watercraft training and the Datatag marking system for registration of watercraft. It is a very comprehensive book available from Royal Yachting Association, RYA House, Romsey Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9YA, UK (fax: +44 1703 629924, e-mail: admin@rya.org.uk).
New boating rules in Canada
For the first time, recreational boaters in Canada are required to be trained to operate small craft, and children are restricted in the size and power of boats they can drive. The new regulations took effect on 1 April 1998 and will be phased in over 10 years. Until now, the only restriction on children operating boats was the wisdom of their parents. Under the new rules, children under 12 can drive boats with motors up to 10 horsepower (hp), children 12–16 years can drive boats up to 40 hp. No one under 16 can …
