Has anyone ever tried this for noise laws???

[Jim W]

I was just reading another post on noise where hot boaters are being ticketed for noise.
Most of our boats pre-date the noise laws.
Has anyone ever been given a ticket and gone to court pointing out the boat is "as built" and pre-dates the noise law???
I have old cars and am not being made to put in seat belts, turn signals, emissions, etc. I dont think the tires on my Model A are even DOT legal much less the glass windshield???
When it comes to auto emissions, the older cars are exempt. Shouldnt this be the same way with our vintage boats???
If the law demands we quiet down a previously legal "as built" boat that in many cases is 20-30- 40+ years old, shouldnt they be telling us what to add-on to make us legal?
As pointed out in the other post, our boats were built before almost of the lake residents ever bought a place on their lake.
Your thoughts??????
Be good, Jim

[Big H]

Sounds reasonable to me. The term you are referring to is "retroactive". As with automobiles and motorcycles, when new laws come out they are current to date of manufacture and do not include the vehicles built and registered prior to the law's inception date. Really the way it should work. Can we get a legislation enacted? Let's stick it to the man! :mad:

[YeLLowBoaT]

Actually here in CA there are diffrent Db levels you can run for boats built before 19XX( it has 2 steps... just can't remember the years).

[uvindex]

The term you're looking for is "grandfather exemption" or "grandfather clause" and you're right that there are plenty of grandfather exemptions for automobiles and motorcycles, even in strict states like CA. If you Google the topic you'll see that there are already local statutes in various places that grandfather older boats from current noise laws. So, if your boat is indeed stock and was built by a "recognized" boat manufacturer, then you should check with your local authorities to see if there are already laws in place such that it can be exempt from newer noise restrictions.
Good luck!

[Oldsquirt]

I believe the problem with this approach is that there have been laws on the books for decades regulating the dB limits for boat exhaust. It just proved too hard to enforce until recent technological advances changed that. Don't know if the laws were Federal or State, but I bet if you checked with your state you would find them. Boatcop would know and I think he has already indicated this to be fact.
I had a buddy get a noise ticket in 1981 for a jet with water-injected headers. Since he had no baffles, all he had to do was install them and get the ticket signed off.

[Danhercules]

The law also states you need a muffeling divice. So headers through the transum that have no mufflers dont cut it.

[Boatcop]

I believe the problem with this approach is that there have been laws on the books for decades regulating the dB limits for boat exhaust. It just proved too hard to enforce until recent technological advances changed that. Don't know if the laws were Federal or State, but I bet if you checked with your state you would find them. Boatcop would know and I think he has already indicated this to be fact.
I had a buddy get a noise ticket in 1981 for a jet with water-injected headers. Since he had no baffles, all he had to do was install them and get the ticket signed off.
Can't speak for when CA first enacted their noise laws, but AZ has had them since at least 1972. That doesn't mean that any boat built before '72 would be "grandfathered" in. That's when the state's boating laws, in their present form, were enacted. I'd have to dig into the archives to see what they had prior to that.
The "as built" defense might work, except that there are very few, if any, recreational boats still around that have stock, NOS, or OEM parts still on them that would exceed noise limits. I'm talking recreational boats. Not race boats. Pulling a "technical" rabbit out of the hat would backfire, since "race boats" aren't certified or legal for use in a recreational setting. Technically speaking, that is.
The Feds have never had a regulation regarding noise levels on recreational boats. Their authority is for regulation of safety only.

[Jim W]

The "as built" defense might work, except that there are very few, if any, recreational boats still around that have stock, NOS, or OEM parts still on them that would exceed noise limits. I'm talking recreational boats. Not race boats. Pulling a "technical" rabbit out of the hat would backfire, since "race boats" aren't certified or legal for use in a recreational setting. Technically speaking, that is.
I am sure someone can answer this then.
My old 1971 Hallett. Did Hallett and others build complete/turn key boats or just hulls back then?
Be good, Jim

[thriller]

A friend of mine has developed and patented a new muffler design for use initially in Bassett long tube headers.I will be handling potential marine sales for this product.This product has been proven to provide no horsepower or torque losses and some dyno tests have actually shown horsepower and torque increases as compared to no mufflers at all.I have tested these in my own Rogers Bonneville jet boat for a number of seasons and can confirm ZERO rpm loss at top end when comparing them to empty pipes! A set is now being tested at a California marine dealer so I hope to have noise specs soon.As we all know every state has its own noise regulations and methodoligy for testing noise so rather than develop a product for each state or region We will offer only 1 flavor which can be modified by the user (caps on or off) depending if he is involved with sanctioned racing.If any of you are interested let me know and I will keep you on top of when we plan to start shipping and pricing,which has not been established as of yet.

[Wet Dream]

I was in Strongsville on Thursday, go figure. How much noise are the new mufflers reducing? Your boat has been used for testing, but what kind of motor?