Word: watercraft
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...roar across the waves. The naval battles between the two types have gone on for years, as sailboats topple in the wakes of motorboats. But this year the most visible -- and audible -- combatant promises to be one of the smallest and peskiest of them all: the "personal watercraft," better known by Kawasaki's trademark Jet Skis. "Everyone I know has had at least one close call," says board sailor Barbara Glunn in Miami. "And it usually happened when one guy tried to beat the antics of another...
...across the water. Like their landbound cousins, motorcycles and snowmobiles, they are quick, maneuverable, noisy and a rush to ride. Costing $4,000 on average, the scooters can reach speeds of 40 m.p.h. Sales are believed to have doubled since 1984, and there are now over 200,000 personal watercraft in use from coast to coast...
...riders at 14, require use of a life jacket and forbid riding at night. In Florida, where eleven deaths have occurred since 1987, the state plans to outlaw such reckless maneuvers as weaving through powerboat traffic. Local authorities in Arizona and Oregon have restricted the use of personal watercraft to designated areas on certain lakes. New Hampshire has banned the craft entirely from all lakes and ponds of less than 75 acres, and last week restricted the craft, with some exceptions, from coming within 300 ft. of the shoreline...
...flight to Mustique last fall, never got a shot of the pair. He tried from a chartered yacht, tried heroically while water-skiing behind a motor boat, and tried in jungle stakeouts, where, he admitted dolefully, "the police always found me." Some two dozen other journalists in expensively chartered watercraft also flopped...
...officers in Saigon would dispute that. Air Force men credit the raids with destroying about 85% of the North's power-generating capacity, 30% of its rail system, half of its air force, 3,000 trucks, 4,000 watercraft and one-fifth of all men and materiel headed for infiltration into the South. McNamara further claims that 400,000 to 500,000 North Vietnamese have had to be diverted to repair bomb damage...