Susan, you have one post on this site and no boat. As a Investigation Reporter I will ask you to deeper into your "investigations" and stop skimming the surface. Now this is just me and what I see in your report at NBC4.
8pp in the front of a open bow boat, approximately 1000lbs
2pp drinking, granted they are not the Captain, but where there are drinks there are coolers. So there is another 175lbs.
Add another 250 to 300lbs for gear, lines, life jackets, wakeboard and such.
That's approximately 1475lbs in a 18' boat with approximately 2.5' of freeboard.
The boat in your report was severely over weight. That was not, in my opinion a manufacturer defect! It was a Captain who lacked the common sense to operate a boat in a safe manner.
If you want to find fault or place blame you must look deeper than what you see in front of you. And by the way I have over 15 years of looking into others MVA's. That doesn't make me perfect, it just gives me experience. I can always learn more and am open to learning more.
