Thanks Jedi, I was going to comment on this earlier, but got busy.
My boat has a 4 person 1200lb plate, but the next year the same model etc had a 5 person plate with more weight. I asked the dealer and they said when they submitted it too the coast guard thats what they put??
When I take kids out, I insist that a parent comes with the small kids as I am the captin resposible for the operation it's hard to watch the kids and drive etc.
2 parents and +me and 2 kids puts me over my "limit" but the boat is more than safe.
Never overload, boat safety comes first.