Capacity Rating

My little I/O is rated for 7. Is this a "suggestion" or law? We have one too many couples interested in a weekend trip and we'll have 8. Can I get by with this?

It is a suggestion, at least in Washington. Where they get you though is they can give you a ticket for being overloaded, which is up to the perception of the officer. I am guessing if he pulls you over and you have more than 7 people he is going to give you an overloaded ticket.

That's what I was afraid of. I was also thinking it would increase the chances of being stopped. With the 8 people we'd still be under the weight rating. That is the only reason I was even considering it.

The rating on my 2001 ski supreme v-sky was faded away when I bought it and I have no idea how many people it is rated for.
Does anyone know?
How many people is a generic 21.5 ft v-drive rated for?

plhorn, there is no generic rating... they vary widely.

Enforcement varies state-by-state, but they do not necessarily have to follow the Coast Guard rating, which is the posted capacity on your boat.

Brett nailed it for Washington state... it's completely up to the officer and whether he believes you are overloaded, which blows my mind.

I don't support overloading. That being said, at least in Washington, if you are being responsible out there and have enough life jackets for everybody on-board they will generally look the other way...

Brandon, it is the law that you don't overload either of the Person or Weight ratings on your capacity plate. Like Brett said you'd normally get a ticket but they might also require you do drop some people off, if they catch you. The Person rating is based on the list the boat gets if everyone is on one side. The Weight rating is based on what the boat could easily carry if the weight is evenly distributed.
My 18' I/O had six seats (closed bow) and was rated at 7 people. It was really slow getting on plane with 7 people in It was fine with that load and would have handled one more. If you get caught in a storm or hit an unexpected wake you might have a problem but that's up to you.
plhorn, your boat does not need to have a plate because it's over the size they are required for. That leaves the decision up to you. The capacity might have been 10. On my Sanger 215 it's 12.

Thanks for the input guys. There wouldn't be any wakeboarding on this trip and little cruising. I never go out with out extra vests and throwables so that wouldn't be an issue.

our 21ft Vdrive is 11 people... donno the weight.

the newer boats are the higher rating they seem to have.