THE HARBOR COLUMN:New regulation will hurt sales

Ahoy.

Last weekend I was cruising just under 100 mph in a Spectre 36 off the shores of Laguna Beach with offshore racing Super Vee National and World Champion Scot Conrad, who is president of SC Performance Marine in Huntington Beach. This boat has twin 650-horsepower, Chevy-aspirated engines that can easily push the speeds into the low hundreds. The boat rode so well at a comfortable 80 mph that my wife and daughters took a spin too. If you have never flown across the ocean at crazy speeds, then you are missing a segment of boating that is a must-do.

Soon, however, there will be a competitive disadvantage for dealers in California selling boats with inboard gasoline-powered engines up to and including 500 horsepower. The California Air Resources Board has enacted new engine-emission regulation starting Jan. 1, 2008. Keep in mind that California will be the only state with this new regulation (we will come back to this detail in a moment).

In 2008, the state will require every new boat sold with a gas engine to be equipped with a catalytic converter by the manufacturer. The converters must meet the state’s emission levels. That will boost the cost for consumers.

Boat brokers have yet to calculate how much the converters will cost and how much it will affect the prices for boats. I am concerned about the safety of adding an extremely hot piece of exhaust equipment to smaller boats with limited engine compartment space. Also, consider salt water flows through the exhaust system where the converter will be placed.

Now let us get back to the issue that only boats sold in California will be required to have converters. Local dealers can feel sales sinking as the new state law will allow boats purchased in other states not requiring the converter to register in California. So, anyone thinking of buying a boat might take a weekend trip to Las Vegas and come home towing a new boat. Further, the air resources board does not have any provisions for enforcement of boat inspections.

Why would the board take at least a two-year jump on the anticipated but not-set-in-stone federal emissions standard for all the states? I think that the air resources board might not understand the economic effect that boat sales have statewide, especially in our local economies. I can image how many new boat sales will be lost to our neighbors of Arizona, Nevada and Oregon, pumping up their economies with this blatantly unfair competition.

Remember last week when I asked you to let me know the whereabouts of the Web cams in Newport Harbor? Well, the only camera that I missed is another camera listed on www.talesofbalboa.com, and this cam looks out to the bay from the Balboa Yacht Club. So, I’m putting the call out again to let me know about any other harbor Web cams, and I will add that you can include any forthcoming Web cams in planning for Newport Harbor.

Lastly, I received an e-mail from a boater who asked if it was legal for him to fill the fuel tanks on his trailer boat at a regular gas station for autos. Of course, you can buy fuel at any gas station, but I do not encourage such practice for a couple of reasons. First, you are not patronizing the local fuel docks, and secondly there’s the issue of fuel taxes. Roadside service stations charge for highway taxes, and marine fuel includes a marine tax that is returned to the Department of Boating and Waterways, which puts the money back into boating. So support your local fuel dock and at the same time support California boating.

Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, “Capt. Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show” on KLAA-AM (830) from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday. Join me with my motley crew, Chandler Bell and Eric Hovland, as we talk about all things boating.

Safe voyages.