You thought speeding was a problem on the K+A: >From UK Boating website:
30th April 08: Environment Agency prosecutes boat owner for speeding - A reckless boat owner has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency for exceeding the speed limit on the Medway Navigation. Mr Dan Casson of Hollingworth Road, Maidstone, was found guilty in his absence and fined £500 and ordered to pay £190 costs and £15 victim surcharge on Tuesday 22 April at Maidstone Magistrates Court. The Environment Agency has a responsibility for 31 kilometres of the Medway Navigation, from Allington Lock to the Leigh Barrier at Tonbridge. Vessels travelling through this section of the Medway are required to limit their speed to a maximum of five knots. On Saturday 28 July 2007 at approximately 11pm, Mr Casson was moving at an estimated speed of 20 knots, when he collided with a police boat and then continued to travel down the river towards Allington. Four police officers from Kent Police Marine Unit were patrolling the River Medway as part of the Maidstone River Festival. After completing their patrol, the constables waited in a queue to use the slipway near the Dragon's Leisure Centre in Maidstone. It was here that Mr Casson's Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), which did not have any navigation lights, hit the police boat and sped off. It is illegal for anyone to navigate a mechanically powered vessel in such manner or at such speed so as to injure any bank, drainage work, or river control work in the main river where the Environment Agency has imposed a speed limit. When considering the fine for this case, the magistrate took into account the high speed that the boat was travelling, the damage to both boats involved, the fact that the defendant was considered to be drunk and the increased danger of speeding on a river. PC Robert Dadd of Kent Police said: "We are pleased that the Environment Agency was successful with this prosecution. We hope it will send a clear and strong message that drinking alcohol while using boats is dangerous. In this instance, it was extremely fortunate that nobody was hurt." -- Michael Askin http://shoestring_DOT_zapto_DOT_org/
