Photo Essay: Miami Boat Show Poker Run Wave No. 2

As they often do in South Florida this time of year, winds out of the north—a cold front is forecast to arrive sometime this weekend—kicked up to more than 20 knots yesterday for the second wave of boats in the Florida Powerboat Club Miami Boat Show Poker Run to Key Largo. A mix of approximately 25 catamarans, V-bottom sportboats and center consoles departed from Miami to their final Key Largo destinations late yesterday morning.

Blustery conditions prevailed yesterday for the second group of boats heading to Key Largo in the Florida Powerboat Club Miami Boat Show Poker Run (click to enlarge). Photo courtesy/copyrigtht Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Having traveled with the first departure group yesterday with his wife, Jackie, Tres Martin Performance Boat School instructor Brad Schoenwald and another guest in an Adrenaline Powerboats ZRX 47 V-bottom powered by Mercury Racing 1100 engines, Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones handled today’s run in his Project 1080 Cigarette Racing Team 38 Top Gun. Jones said the blustery conditions made the run more challenging than usual.

“It’s really windy and that made for a not-fun ride down,” Jones said shortly after he arrived in Key Largo. “Exposure to the north wind created some docking problems. It’s kind of a cluster right now, to be honest.”

In addition to the 47-footer piloted by Schoenwald, Adrenaline Powerboats principals Mike and Robin Layton and their daughter tackled the trip in their quad Mercury Racing 400R outboard engine-powered 45 Speede sportboat unveiled during the 2019 Miami International Boat Show. Both boats are available for demo rides today.

“We’ll give rides to anyone who is interested in the boats,” said Schoenwald, who will bring the 47-footer back to Miami tomorrow.

Check out the slideshow above for more images from yesterday’s wave of boats in the Florida Powerboat Club Miami Boat Show Poker Run to Key Largo.

On scene to capture the fleet from the Card Sound Bridge Thursday and Friday, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden got a firsthand, comparative look.

“There’s a front starting to come through,” he said. “So the winds picked up quite a bit from yesterday.”

But the winds weren’t strong enough to knock Boden off the bridge and he delivered some beautiful images. Today he’ll be shooting a fun run to the Islamorada sandbar from a helicopter.

Two new Cigarette Racing Team HyperLux series models unvieled at the Miami international Boat Show last week—the 41 Nighthawk (blue) and 42 Auroris—were in yesterday’s poker-run fleet.

Photo Essay: Miami Boat Show Poker Run Wave No. 2

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