A Magazine Showcasing The Florida Powerboat Club Lifestyle

2023#2 SPRING/SUMMER

EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Stu Jones stu@flpowerboat.com

OFFICE MANAGER

Jackie Jones jackie@flpowerboat.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Lina Montes fpclina@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

Pete Boden

Jerry Wyszatycki

Stu Jones

EVENT MANAGEMENT

Jackie Jones jackie@flpowerboat.com

Megan Smith admin@flpowerboat.com

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Stu Jones

Ryan McCoy

Joe Kotrady

DIRECT ALL INQUIRIES TO

Florida Powerboat Club 1214 SW 6th St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33069

Tel: 954.545-1414

Fax: 954.782-2452 www.FLPOWERBOAT.com

POMPANO OFFICE HOURS

Monday - Thursday

10 AM - 5 PM

Contents

6. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Stu Jones recaps the robust start to FPC's first four 2023 events and announces big plans for tour around the country this summer with the Mercury Racing sponsored Top Gun Flight 1130 Cigarette.

8. WINTER FUN RUN 2023

This season opener in late January gave FPC members a chance for a tropical getaway to Key Largo, visiting the luxurious Playa Largo Resort & Spa.

20. MIAMI BOAT SHOW POKER RUN 2023

This 28th edition of the event that celebrates our performance marine industry, followed on the heels of the Miami Boat Show and returned to a once-favorite destination at Postcard Inn, Islamorada with great results on every level.

50. SPRING KEY WEST POKER RUN 2023

With just 21entries, this mid-March event made best use of the smaller size in every way, as participants enjoyed high levels of camaraderie, docked like rock stars and visited remote islands in paradise.

62. TAMPA BAY POKER RUN 2023

With Downtown Tampa's big city lights as the backdrop, FPC members enjoyed daytime boating on the calm Tampa Bay waters and night-time fun with an endless menu of dining and entertainment options.

BC. NEW FPC SUMMER TOUR CALENDAR boating family. The FPC 38’ Cigarette formerly known as Project 1080, received a new set of Mercury Racing 565’s with ITS and XR drives, and since the Key West Poker Run last November, has been making waves throughout Florida as the re-named, TOP GUN Flight 1130. Taking this double-anniversary celebration to the next level, I am pleased to announce the most aggressive cross-country summer tour that we have embarked on in many years. With my wife Jackie as first mate, we will be transporting the 2000 Cigarette Top Gun and attending six major poker runs in as many states June through September! With some much-needed logistics support from professional haulers along with the miracles of modern-day jet travel, we will manage this 8,000+ mile roadtrip while still staging our four FPC poker run events May through September. Please see our calendar for the 2023 FPC Summer Tour, Presented by Mercury Racing on the back page of this issue, or visit the home page of our FPC website at flpowerboat.com

With the pandemic behind us, Team FPC is back on the summer poker run bandwagon, announcing an exciting national tour with the Mercury Racing sponsored 38' Cigarette, TOP GUN Flight 1130.

ON THE COVER: FPC members kicked off 2023 with a roaring start on Biscayne Bay for the January Winter Poker Run. FPC Girls Chloe, Hannah and Maddie at Postcard Inn, Islamorada.

Summer is upon us and for many powerboating enthusiasts around the nation, it is the beginning of an exciting adventure with poker runs, shootouts, fun runs and raft up parties on every weekend agenda. For the Florida Powerboat Club, including our marine trade partners and the 180+ registered teams that joined us over the span of the last four months starting last January, it is time to his the “reset” button…and make the pilgrimage home for the summer season!

While our fellow powerboat friends in more northern climates are counting the days to the Memorial Day Weekend so they can hit water with their engines already idling, the trailering snowbirds who did the South Florida winter with FPC, logged thousands of miles from Miami through the Florida Keys and on Tampa Bay for mid-April fling. For these boaters, many are squeezing in late Spring service appointments for their Mercury Racing hardware and getting their boats on trailers to head back to homeports across the United States and Canada, from Texas to New England and beyond.

Let me begin by thanking all those teams that supported our fall and winter season by attending one or more of our FPC events, and we wish you all the best over the summer season, as you return to your homeports. Now, I am pleased to share the following news about our exciting 2023 FPC Summer Tour!

We hope to see all of you over the summer months, and my final request is that you PLEASE make safety a top priority this summer, and always wear your life jacket! It doesn’t work if you’re not wearing it!