PRESIDENT LE T T E R FRO M T H E
I
recently attended a Florida tourism conference in Orlando, which included a private event for attendees at Orlando’s Seaworld theme park, home to the latest and greatest roller coaster, the Mako. Correction, it’s called a Hyper-coaster, and it delivered on SeaWorld’s promise to be the tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the Orlando Theme-park circuit. I’m no coward when it comes to adventure rides, so I quickly took the back row car, having heard from other riders that was the “wildest” seat of all. Indeed it was all that and more, at 73mph on the first 200 foot, face-first vertical drop, followed by frequent high speed humps that crate a zero gravity “ air time” feeling…a sensation that made me feel like I was about to be catapulted off the top of the ride, were it not for the firm safety bar locking us into place. I’m not so sure Tracey, our FPC office manager felt quite as enthusiastic about the whole experience, but I would say that after disembarking, and with our feet planted on the platform, we both agreed, it was “shock & awe” … something we would not likely forget for a very, very long time. For the many of us who are passionate about our powerboating lifestyles and the sport of performance boating, this past summer of 2016 may have been akin to riding the Mako, with one profound twist. Instead of stopping to offload the riders so we can catch our breath and get blood back in our heads, the ride merely slows down, the seats safety bars remain locked in place, and the 24-seat car passes through
Stu and Jackie Jones
the staging deck, only to make that big long climb back to the 200’ foot peak, followed by the eye-watering, gut wrenching twists and turns that almost make us faint. After the first tragic accident at Lake Lanier, which took the lives of four boaters that many refer to our closest friends, tragedy struck in a more northern latitude. A young couple on a poker run flipped over in a small cat on the Niagara River…with the husband critically injured and forced to spend several weeks in an ICU with an induced coma. Another week passed as we exhaled, and headed to the Emerald Coast Poker Run, where as organizer, I literally crossed my fingers and pleaded with our participants in the captains meetings…to just slow down and be safe. Somehow, 160 teams got through that weekend with no reported incidents, but barely five days later… LOTO. Hearing the tragic news of the horrific crash which claimed the lives of Richie Prince and Brad Dunphy, put many of us back on that emotional roller-coaster once again, with puzzling, unanswered questions and above all Numbness..to the bone. Still numb, as I sat down this Saturday afternoon in October to write this edition of “Letter from the President”, a text message and a horrific powerboat crash video arrived on my phone. In Virginia, two popular, experienced powerboats have lost their lives during a high-speed shoot-out run, in a 190 mph open-cockpit Skater. Yes indeed, it’s like the Mako ride is now on its fastest speed setting, loaded with horrified riders that just want it to end, and yet the ride’s conductor has left his post. Enough said. It’s time to make
some serious changes in our sport…or we will lose it for good. At FPC, the time for those changes…is Now! As we put the finishing touches on this issue of Powerboating in Paradise, you will see in this 100-page issue that we have been very busy over the last few months! To say it was a bitter-sweet summer is an understatement, but on the bright side, what an adventure it has been. You’ll see a lot of our FPC Ocean Hawk 33 in this issue, simply because it was just…Everywhere! From its maiden event at the April Tampa Bay Poker Run, to a historic Cuba run in May, a 700-mile Bahamas adventure in June, then towing to a series of poker runs far north as Canada and back to the Florida Panhandle, never before can I say that one boat can deliver so much enjoyment to our family! Take a closer look at the Ocean Hawk in the Key West Poker Run Village. It’s time for her new home, and thanks to Boatsdirectusa for sponsoring our 2016 Summer Boating Tour. Let’s have a safe 24th Annual Key West Poker Run.. hope to see you all there! Sincerely Stu Jones President- Florida Powerboat Club