Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix, retrieved from speedonthewater.com
All eyes were on the Florida Keys during the FPC and MTI events held in November of this year. On November 11th the Florida Powerboat Club kicked off their final event of the year, the Key West Poker Run. With over 159 boats registered and many precations put into place for both the covid-19 pandemic and the weather, the event was set to be a proper end to the 2020 season. MTI had a group of 25 boats registered to participate in the poker run and a couple of causal events for their group. Continue reading to learn more.
With 159 boats registered for the Key West Poker Run, the Florida Powerboat Club produced its final event of the troubled 2020 season in November. As in years past, the boats departed in waves over two days, Wednesday and Thursday, from Haulover Marine Center in North Miami. Looking at Wednesday’s less than ideal weather and marine forecast for the run, Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones came up with a creative solution for the first group. In what he dubbed an “eleventh-hour strategy,” he had secured lodging and dockage for those participants at the Faro Blanco Resort and Yacht Club in Marathon, which is roughly halfway to Key West.
“Faro Blanco is wide open on Wednesday and they were able to turn this into an opportunity for the FPC members getting a great rate and plenty of docking,” he said prior to the event. “They do not have to pre-book or guarantee—it’s based on the weather. If they stick their nose out in the ocean and don’t like what they see, they can come back to safe harbor. The dockmaster and hotel staff are basically on reserve to serve us if we pull the plug on the final leg to Key West on Wednesday.” The Thursday group departed as scheduled and ran to various lunch stops on their way. The Wednesday group, as well as most of the Thursday group, stopped at Gilbert’s Tiki Bar and Resort in Key Largo for lunch. Both lunches at the popular waterfront eatery were sponsored by Wozencraft Insurance Agency.
Also departing Thursday, the 25-boat MTI group that was heading to the Faro Blanco Resort, which also served as that event’s home-base for the weekend. “Participants will have the option of day trips to Key West, as well as the local area for those who prefer shorter day outings,” said MTI’s marketing manager Taylor Scism prior to the event. “We were a little worried about the weather a few days ago but it looks like we’re in the clear,” said Scism before the event kicked off, the company’s marketing manager. “It’s looking good.” For several MTI center console and catamaran owners, the run was their first brand-specific event. This included V-42 owners Daniel Pharris, Jim and Susan Lewis, and Kevin and Robyn McCarty, as well as Nevada-based 390X owner Patrick Clark and Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman of South Florida, who ran their 340X. Scism emphasized before the event that the happening will be casual. “We just have a few lunch runs planned,” she said.
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