Speed and Distance Restrictions

New Hampshire law states that these dangerous operating practices are illegal.

Unsafe Passage is not maintaining a proper speed or distance while operating a vessel or while towing a person on water skis or any similar device. Specifically, the following operations are illegal:

• Operating a vessel at greater than "headway speed" if within 150 feet of:
  • Swimmers
  • Other vessels
  • Rafts or floats
  • Permitted swimming areas
  • Docks or mooring fields
  • The shoreline
• Operating a vessel at greater than headway speed while passing under a bridge
• Overtaking another vessel at a distance and speed such that your wake causes danger or damage

Unsafe Wake Crossing is not maintaining contact between a vessel’s hull and the water when crossing a wake. It is illegal for a vessel to become airborne when crossing the wake of another vessel or its own wake.

Speeding is exceeding speed limits or operating at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent, taking into consideration weather and other operating conditions.

• On Lake Winnipesaukee (located in Belknap and Carroll Counties), the speed limits are:
  • 30 miles per hour maximum between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise
  • 45 miles per hour maximum at all other times
• On Squam Lakes (located in Belknap, Carroll, and Grafton Counties), the speed limits are:
  • 20 miles per hour maximum between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise
  • 40 miles per hour maximum at all other times
• For more details on other speed limit restrictions, call the New Hampshire State Police-Marine Patrol at 1-877-642-9700.