104 



Prepared Statement of Darell Bentz 



Testimony, H.R. 2568 and S. 1374 

 Darell Bentz 



My name is Darell Bentz and I have spent my entire lifetime in the state of Idaho, 

 raised on a Salmon River Ranch. I attended the University of Idaho, earning a 

 degree in animal science. However, when I found that a career in this field would 

 take me away from Idaho and its rivers, I elected to stay here. I started rafting 

 rivers in 1964 and built my first jet boat out of plywood in 1966 while still in 

 college. I now own three businesses, one building pools and the others oriented 

 to my first love, rivers. I manufacture welded aluminum jet boats, mostly for 

 commercial duty. These boats have been shipped all over the world, where they 

 provide recreation, carry supplies to remote locations and transport people to 

 places they could not otherwise reach. In addition to the Northwest, Bentz boats 

 operate in places like Mississippi, Alaska, Canada, Saudi Arabia, India, Guyana 

 and Nepal. I also have an outfitting business and lodge on the Lower Salmon 

 River and carry guests on both the Saknon and Snake Rivers. I helped organize 

 the Welded Aluminum Boat Manufacturers Association and am currently its Vice 

 President. 



Jet boats 



The concept of moving a boat with a jet of water isn't new. Greek physicist 

 Archimedes posed the idea 200 years before Christ was bom. Yet, it was not 

 until a New Zealand sheep rancher. Bill Hamilton, refined the idea and made 

 practical application of it in 1954 that water jet propulsion came of age. Modem 

 jet boats used for recreational river running are rugged, welded aluminum, 

 shallow draft craft capable of negotiating major rapids. 



Water jets simply follow Newton's Third Law of Motion, that for every action 

 there is an equal and opposite reaction. Water is pulled into a pump housing 

 inside the craft through an intake grate in the boat's bottom. An impeller moves 

 the water through an axial or mixed flow pump and out of a nozzle at the 

 transom under high pressure. The boat is steered by turning the nozzle and 

 reversed by dropping a devise over the nozzle that diverts water forward, under 

 the boat. Since there is no propeller projecting beneath the boat's bottom, it can 

 run in shallow, rocky rivers without hitting the bottom. There are no sharp 

 blades to hit swimmers or marine mammals. Most recreational jet boats in Hells 

 Canyon are powered by automotive-type engines adapted for marine use. The 

 size of the craft dictates the size and number of engines required. They vary 

 from 18 to 42 feet in length and have one, two or three engines, producing a 

 cruise speed of 28 to 35 MPH and a top speed of about 50 MPH. 



