Sorry, not true - State regs vs federal
Sorry, Peggy, but it just ain't so. To avoid putting my foot in my mouth, let me give examples from my area of expertise (I'm a registered geologist with 10+ years experience in environmental and geotechnical consulting). Federal law on groundwater contaminants is minimal. The Fed EPA does promulgate regulations on the matter, but Californa State Water Resources Board sets out provisions which are much (MUCH!) more detailed and stringent. California (and New Jersey and Florida) have spearheaded the development of these sorts of laws, without regard for the absence of supporting Federal law. California has extensive regulations regarding seismic standards. Federal law does not provide for this. In fact, my license is not required by the Federal government. It is required by a more stringent state government. State law cannot contradict Federal law. It can be less stringent (in which case the Fed law controls) or more stringent (in which case the state law controls). Scot P.S. Congrats on the 90% favorable judgement!
Sorry, Peggy, but it just ain't so. To avoid putting my foot in my mouth, let me give examples from my area of expertise (I'm a registered geologist with 10+ years experience in environmental and geotechnical consulting). Federal law on groundwater contaminants is minimal. The Fed EPA does promulgate regulations on the matter, but Californa State Water Resources Board sets out provisions which are much (MUCH!) more detailed and stringent. California (and New Jersey and Florida) have spearheaded the development of these sorts of laws, without regard for the absence of supporting Federal law. California has extensive regulations regarding seismic standards. Federal law does not provide for this. In fact, my license is not required by the Federal government. It is required by a more stringent state government. State law cannot contradict Federal law. It can be less stringent (in which case the Fed law controls) or more stringent (in which case the state law controls). Scot P.S. Congrats on the 90% favorable judgement!
)) All it takes to BUY a sailboat OR a powerboat is the ability to write a check. It takes a bit more than that to operate either one skillfully and responsibly. If you want a true test of sailing skill, put a randomly selected dozen owners of 30' + sailboats in the Hunter 16 in a 15-20k wind. I suspect the capsize rate would be about the same as if you put a randomly selected dozen stinkpotters in 'em. Proportionately, I'd guess that an equal percentage of ragbaggers and stinkpotters are idiots.However, since there are far more stinkpots than sailboats, that puts the raw number of idiot stinkpotters higher. 99% of the transgressions are due to ignorance, not malice. And most of the transgressors are trailerboat owners. Fewer than 10% of the total boating population has ever taken a boating safety course, and most of those are owners of boats that are kept in the water. Even those who haven't taken a course manage to learn a little "by osmosis" from their dockmates--if only from hearing the "you won't believe what some idiot did out there today" stories." Trailerboat owners--unless they're racers--have almost no interaction with other boat owners. Their boats are on trailers at home...they load up the kids, the water toys and the cooler...launch the boat and spend the day getting in everyone else's way...haul it out and take it home again. They don't have a clue that letting their kids ride on the bow--legs dangling--while they bounce across wake at 30 mph is more dangerous than letting the kid play in the middle of the freeway...they're at a complete to loss to understand why everyone on the boats in the anchorage is hurling profanity at 'em as they "tour it," smiling and waving, at just the right speed to create tsunami wakes--they decide it has to be "big boat snobbery." The same holds true for PWCers. There are a few in 40 footers who are just as clueless, but usually not for much longer than it takes one of his dockmates to experience it and tell him the "facts of life." They cause just as many problems for us as they do for you. And in my experience, they don't keep the boat for very long...the never-ending repair bills caused by their stupidity just get to be too much. They declare whatever make/model they bought to be a "piece of junk," sell it at a VERY distressed price ('cuz the boat IS distressed) and find something else to spend their on. But what about the sailboat that insists upon remaining under sail going up a congested channel, tacking back and forth without ANY consideration for the havoc he's creating for the vessels that have to give way to him...not only the stinkpots, but the sailboats who've dropped sail and are motoring? Or the sailboat who insists upon crossing in front you when all it would take to cross behind is falling off a couple of degrees? Or the guy who created one of the best teaching examples I've ever seen? For every idiot stinkpot story you can tell, I can match it with an idiot sailor story. You encounter a zillion powerboats every time you're out...you don't even notice 90% of 'em, because they don't upset you...you notice only the few that do. I encounter a half a zillion sailboats AND powerboats every time I'm out...I only remember the one or two that give me reason to. But isn't the same thing true on the roads? A "sail vs. power" attitude makes no more sense than a "sports car vs truck" attitude. There most certainly are idiots in the world...but there are many more responsible, considerate people--in both sailboats AND powerboats.