2017 Key West Poker Run Part 4
With 160 boats currently pre-registered, the 2017 Florida Powerboat Clubs Key West Poker Run is going to be incredible. But, it has not been a smooth year by any means for Club President Stu Jones his wife Jackie and their team. This year Hurricane Irma did create a series of hurdles for Stu to overcome.
With little to no dockage available at Gilbert’s, the usual lunch stop, everything had to be moved to Marathon Key, which will have three separate lunch stops at some new locations that should prove to be outstanding.
Key West Poker Run A Go. Seven Marine Ceases Production. Yamaha 275 SD Boat Test. Reproduction in whole or in part. November 7-13, 2017. MORE INFO: Florida Powerboat Club’s signature poker run event, attracts a global roster of participants and features scenic cruising from Miami to Key West, through the. A 4-day Key West Poker Run village acts as event headquarters, with entertainment every evening and great dining at the Conch Republic Seafood Company. Daily powerboat excursions and fun runs give participants a chance to explore local waters.
The actual poker run course was also of great concern so Stu hired a sea plane and just last week flew the entire course from Miami to Key West low and slow checking every inch of the inter-coastal waterway to verify the course remained well marked and free of any submerged objects or debris. Stu told us he has also been promised a full waterways report from Florida Fish and Wildlife near the end of this month.
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Stu said” The bottom line is that the Key West Poker Run is on in full form. Key West is fully recovered, all the marinas, hotels, and other venues are open and ready to accommodate everyone. There are about 10 to 15 boats still on the fence you have indicated they are coming but have not registered and while hotel accommodations remain available they will go fast as the date approaches.
This is the Florida Powerboat Clubs 25th year and the contributions the club has provided to marine industry especially in the high performance segment are clearly not measurable. The number of boaters inspired to buy a boat new or used, big or small has to be huge and a significant amount of credit goes to Stu and his team for continuing to provide safe and fun powerboating experiences throughout Florida and the world.
This years run is also dedicated to my great friend Larry Goldman. Larry was always at each and every FPC run since the beginning and was the host of the very first club Poker Run at Sunny Isles, Marina 25 years ago. The dedication of the 2017 Key west Poker Run to Larry’s memory is a great honor to Larry and his family and close friends who miss him so very very much.
Powerboat Nation will be all over Key West shooting video for out new episodes so be sure to be camera ready when we catch you in and around Key West!
COMMENTS
The Powerboat Nation Team was in full force for this years 25th Annual Key West Poker Run presented by the Florida Powerboat Club. I had the privilege to throttle the new Goodwin Competition powered 388 Skater owned by Chris and Angela Bradley, all the way from Miami to Key West on the Wednesday departure and it was a blast. We didn’t run real hard but still managed to maintain about a 120 MPH average speed and the boat performed flawlessly.
This year about 180 boats registered for the run and of course another handful came on down on their own bringing what we estimate to be over 200 performance pleasure boats to Key West for a fun filled exciting week for us all. Our team was able to shoot lots of video and develop new content for this coming year and we got to meet many new boating friends and fans.
The outboards certainly seem to now dominate the scene as they were everywhere and we had the great opportunity to see some very cool and huge new offerings from Hydra-Sports, Nor-Tech, Sunsation, Deep Impact, and Cigarette. This size, complexity, luxury and amenities now found on these big Center Consoles is crazy. We ran a few of them through their paces and have some great video coming for you soon.
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While the boats in the powerboat world have been changing the one constant is the great people of powerboating. All of us here at Powerboat Nation really appreciate all the support and accolades we receive this year. Standing in our booth in Poker Run village I was really taken back by just how many of you took the time to come over and talk with us and tell us how much you liked what we do. You are our fans and you are really appreciated by all of us here at PBN.
We have an incredible amount of video coming so be sure to check back to see all the great powerboat action from the Key West Poker Run.
The week also brought great heartache as the powerboating world lost an Icon when Joe Sgro died from injuries sustained in a terrible boating incident on Thursday’s departure. We extend our deepest sympathies to Joe’s family and friends and pray for them all.