AB 656

This bill regulates wakesurfing and wakeboarding. The bill defines

wakesurfing as surfing a motorboat's wake, regardless of whether the person is being

pulled by a tow rope attached to the motorboat that is producing the wake or

operating a motorboat in a manner that creates a wake that is, or is intended to be,

surfed by another person. The bill defines wakeboarding as being towed on a board

with or without foot bindings by a motorboat across the vessel's wake or operating

a motorboat in a manner that creates a wake while towing a person on a board with

or without foot bindings.

Under current law, various regulations apply to water skiing, aquaplaning, “

or

similar activity,” and under current law, wakesurfing and wakeboarding likely fall

under “aquaplaning” or “similar activity.” The bill explicitly provides that

“aquaplaning” includes wakesurfing and wakeboarding, and thereby applies the

same safety regulations that apply to water skiing and aquaplaning to wakesurfing

and wakeboarding. These regulations include requiring an observer or a wide-angle

mirror on the motorboat, restricting wakesurfing and wakeboarding to between

sunrise and sunset, prohibiting intoxicated wakesurfing and wakeboarding,

requiring a motorboat used for wakesurfing or wakeboarding to stay more than 100

feet away from any occupied anchored boat, personal watercraft, or marked

swimming area or public boat landing, and prohibiting a person engaged in

wakesurfing or wakeboarding from being within 100 feet, or allowing a tow rope to

be within 100 feet, of a personal watercraft.

The bill also adds restrictions that apply specifically to wakeboarding and

wakesurfing. Current law prohibits the operation of a motorboat on a lake open to

public access that is 50 acres or less. The bill prohibits wakesurfing and

wakeboarding on a body of water of 50 acres or less or that is less than 400 feet wide,

regardless of public access. The bill prohibits wakesurfing or wakeboarding within

200 feet of a shoreline or dock, pier, boathouse, or other structure located completely

or partly on the water, though the bill allows a local ordinance to be less strict, but

not more strict, than this prohibition. The bill also requires that a person surfing a

wake or being towed on a board must wear a personal flotation device.

The bill applies the same penalties to wakesurfing and wakeboarding

violations that apply to water skiing violations under current law.