HF 1606 Summary

• Adds definitions for "wake surfer" and "wake surf" to Minnesota Statutes, including surfing a wake with or without a tow rope and operating a boat to create a wake for surfing.

• Requires an observer or rear-view mirror in the watercraft when wake surfing or towing persons on water skis, aquaplanes, surfboards, or similar devices.

• Prohibits wake surfing from one-half hour after sunset to sunrise, on lakes or bays of 50 acres or less, and on waterways less than 500 feet wide.

• Restricts wake surfing to slow-no wake speed within 200 feet of shorelines, docks, swimmers, swimming/diving rafts, and moored or nonmotorized watercraft.

• Requires wake surf watercraft to be powered by a propeller forward of the transom or swim platform, or by a jet drive, and allows local governments to implement additional regulations beyond the 200-foot distance requirement.