(a) Required; Display.
(1) No person shall, after January 1, 1977, manufacture, sell or offer for sale any watercraft propelled by machinery as its principal source of power, or watercraft designed to be manually propelled, less than twenty feet in length and designed to carry two or more persons, manufactured after that date, unless a capacity plate containing the correct information, as prescribed by regulations adopted by the United States Coast Guard, is firmly attached to the watercraft, in such location that the capacity plate is clearly legible from the position designed or intended to be occupied by the operator when underway.
(2) No person shall operate watercraft for which a capacity plate is required under this section unless the capacity plate is attached.
(3) No person shall alter, remove or deface any information contained on the capacity plate unless the manufacturer has altered the watercraft in such a way that would require a change in the information contained on the capacity plate.
(4) As used in this section, "manufacture" means to construct or assemble a watercraft, or to alter a watercraft in such a manner as to affect or change its weight capacity or occupant capacity. (ORC 1547.39)
(b) Prohibitions.
(1) No person shall operate a watercraft to which a capacity plate is attached, if the total load exceeds the weight capacity indicated on the capacity plate, if the number of persons aboard exceeds the occupant capacity indicated on the capacity plate, or if the horsepower of any attached outboard motor exceeds the maximum horsepower indicated on the capacity plate.
(2) When no capacity plate exists, no person shall operate a watercraft if a reasonably prudent person would believe that either of the following circumstances applies:
A. The total load aboard the watercraft has associated with it a risk of physical harm to persons or property;
B. The total horsepower of any inboard engine or attached outboard motor has associated with it a risk of physical harm to persons or property. (ORC 1547.40)
(c) Penalty. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 303.99(b). (ORC 1547.99(F))