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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 656
November 9, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives SWEARINGEN, PLUMER, SINICKI,
SNODGRASS, SPIROS, WITTKE and DALLMAN, cosponsored by Senators
FELZKOWSKI, NASS, ROYS and TESTIN. Referred to Committee on Forestry,
Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to amend 30.69 (3) (d); and to create 30.01 (1ag), 30.01 (1ah), 30.50 (13r),
30.50 (13v) and 30.69 (3) (cm) of the statutes; relating to: the regulation of
wakesurfing and wakeboarding.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
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
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ASSEMBLY BILL 656
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.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 30.01 (1ag) of the statutes is created to read:
30.01 (1ag) “Aquaplaning” includes wakesurfing and wakeboarding.
SECTION 2. 30.01 (1ah) of the statutes is created to read:
30.01 (1ah) “Aquaplane” includes the board upon which a person rides while
wakesurfing or wakeboarding.
SECTION 3. 30.50 (13r) of the statutes is created to read:
30.50 (13r) “Wakeboarding” means the activity of any of the following:
(a) Being towed on a board with or without foot bindings by a motorboat across
the motorboat's wake.
(b) Operating a motorboat in a manner that creates a wake while towing a
person on a board with or without foot bindings.
SECTION 4. 30.50 (13v) of the statutes is created to read:
30.50 (13v) “Wakesurfing” means the activity of any of the following:
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ASSEMBLY BILL 656
(a) 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.
(b) Operating a motorboat in a manner that creates a wake that is, or is
intended to be, surfed by a person.
SECTION 5. 30.69 (3) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:
30.69 (3) (cm) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., no person may engage in
wakesurfing or wakeboarding in any of the following circumstances:
a. On a body of water that is 50 acres or less.
b. On a portion of a body of water with a width, measured from the nearest
shoreline to the second nearest shoreline, of less than 400 feet.
c. Subject to subd. 3., within 200 feet of a shoreline or a dock, pier, boathouse,
or other structure located completely or partly on the body of water.
d. When surfing a wake or being towed on a board without wearing a personal
flotation device prescribed by federal regulations.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply to duly authorized wakeboarding or
wakesurfing tournaments, competitions, exhibitions, or trials therefor, where
adequate lighting is provided.
3. In an ordinance enacted under s. 30.77, a city, village, town, public inland
lake protection and rehabilitation district, or town sanitary district may not be more
restrictive than the prohibition in subd. 1. c. but may provide an exemption from the
prohibition in subd. 1. c. or substitute a lesser number of feet.
SECTION 6. 30.69 (3) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
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SECTION 6 ASSEMBLY BILL 656
30.69 (3) (d) Paragraphs (a) to (c) (cm) do not apply to pickup or drop areas that
are marked with regulatory markers and that are open to operators of personal
watercraft and to persons and motorboats engaged in water skiing or similar activity.
(END)
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