THE 11TH ANNUAL JACKSONVILLE RIVER RALLY POKER RUN IN MID-MAY WAS A WELCOMED RETURN FOR FPC MEMBERS WHO HAVE COME TO ENJOY THIS GREAT VENUE. STORY: JASON JOHNSON I PHOTOS: JIM WENGER
For 10 years, Bill Pyburn Sr. was the backbone to the immensely popular Jacksonville River Rally Poker Run. Pyburn, a retired Jacksonville, Fla., firefighter who was born and raised in the majestic city that’s split by the St. Johns River, helped start the poker run that was originally called the Jacksonville Firefighters Poker Run. But this year Pyburn got to enjoy himself in a completely different capacity—as a participant while the Florida Powerboat Club (FPC) organized the 11th annual Jacksonville River Rally Poker Run in mid-May. “I think the event took steps forward this year,” said Pyburn, who rode in a Donzi 38 ZFX center console. “The weather was pretty nice so it worked out good moving the event up a few weeks earlier from the first weekend of June. I really enjoyed the Friday afternoon raft-up that was sponsored by PowerboatNation.com, and I think (FPC president) Stu Jones hit a home run from the food to the parties.” If there’s one thing you can count on when it comes to the Jacksonville River Rally, it’s a rockin’ good time, and Jones and company proved that again in 2012. Not only did the Friday and Saturday evening functions at Fionn MacCool’s Irish Restaurant and Pub provide a brilliant social setting, the fun lasted well into the evening at the other hot spots within The Jacksonville Landing, a downtown nightlife paradise. And while the boat count didn’t come close to topping 100 as it had in the event’s heyday, the fleet did include an impressive assortment of boats. The uniqueness of the boats on hand, as
well as the wide-open freshwater river, proved that the poker run is a far cry from the runs to the south. “This area is great for boating because it has everything,” said Bill Pyburn Jr., the owner of Pure Platinum, a 38-foot catamaran from Douglas Marine/Skater Powerboats. “There’s so much to do on the water here and we have very few nowake zones. You have the river, which runs south for about 200 miles, and you’ve got the Intracoastal and the open ocean. “I think that’s what people have enjoyed about this run in the past—you can run hard for a long way in a safe environment,” the Jacksonville native continued. “For his first time putting the event together, Stu did a good job. I think he’ll be able to build upon it next year.” Between Pyburn’s 180-plus-mph cat, a 1975 Bertram Competition 38 race boat owned by Kurt Bloom and Gene Crowley’s beautiful Donzi Marine 22 Classic, the variety of boats was very apparent. It’s not often you’ll find a cruiser, a turbine-powered cat, a center console and a canopied V-bottom race boat all running in the same event. “It’s been a few years since I’ve done the run, and while it would have been nice to see a bigger turnout of boats, I think the event was fun and well organized,” said Mike Fountain, who ran his newly acquired 34-foot catamaran from Doug Wright in the poker run. “It was nice to see a little bit of everything represented out there. As usual, the lunch stop was great, as was the pool party at the last stop.” POWERBOATING IN PARADISE
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