Stories of the Year, Part II: Almost All Positive

As Matt Trulio wrote in his Stories of the Year, Part I column yesterday, 2017 was most definitely a year of ups and downs. For me, the loss of Larry Goldman was a major low and the success of the 25th annual Key West Poker Run hosted by the Florida Powerboat Club was an enormous high. Fortunately, as is usually the case, there were more highs than lows and it shows in our stories of the year list, which we’ve written for OffshoreOnly.com every year since 2012. It’s hard to believe this is our fifth year compiling this list, but it is and here are my five top stories to add to Trulio’s list from yesterday.

When it came to performance boats Larry Goldman was comfortable whether he was at his office in Florida or in Spain delivering an MTI. Photo courtesy Larry Goldman

Larry Goldman Leaves Too Soon
The performance boat industry skipped a beat in late May when the beloved Larry Goldman, the 57-year-old owner of Xtreme Powerboats in South Florida, died suddenly after suffering a severe stroke. I was proud to call Goldman a friend, although I admit I didn’t know him as well as those who go back 20 or 30-plus years with the gifted boat racer, setup man and sales person who is survived by his wife, Jodi, and children Jacob and Jilian. As proven by the incredible turnout for his memorial service, the colorful and charismatic Goldman touched the performance boat community well beyond South Florida.

Read more: Stories of the Year, Part II: Almost All Positive