Wozencraft World Tour Stop No. 3: Scenes From The Jacksonville River Rally And Poker Run

High-performance marine insurance man Devin Wozencraft had a couple of weeks of “downtime” between the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run in the Louisiana Bayou and the Jacksonville River Rally and Poker Run a little more than a week ago on the St. Johns River in Northern Florida. So that gave him some breathing room before he had to return to Louisiana to retrieve his 30-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran and haul it more than 560 miles to Jacksonville.

The 2019 Jacksonville River Rally and Poker Run lived up to its laidback reputation (click image to enlarge).

Jacksonville organizers Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman, who are based in South Florida, and Wozencraft are longtime friends, so he was eager to reach the event and actually arrived a day early so he had a bit more time to hang out with them.

“This was my first time to this event so I arrived early to get acquainted with the area,” he said. “On Wednesday night, I got to have dinner with Yvonne and Greg, Bill Pyburn, Jr.—his father, Bill Pyburn, Sr., originally hosted the Jacksonville event—and his girlfriend, Fallon Thibodeaux.

“I offered to pay since all people in the party have been so supportive of me and my business,” he added, then laughed. “However, Bill paid and told me to take it off his premium on his next boat, which is currently in production.”

Check out the slideshow above for more of Devin Wozencraft’s images from the 2019 Jacksonville River Rally and Poker Run.

Wozencraft broke one of his Spinelli propellers during the Tickfaw event, so Spinelli company owner Doug Harper shipped him a new set. Though the propellers arrived late Friday afternoon as scheduled, Wozencraft had to use his back-up set of Dewald four-blade wheels for Friday’s fun run. And he was impressed with the results.

“I have owned them since I bought the boat, but have never put them on the boat in fear of breaking them and knowing the replacement cost,” he said. “So, I decided to try them for the first time and—wow.

“I have put a lot of hours on my boat at various waterways,” he continued. “I typically cruise around 80 percent throttle and that gives me a cruise speed of approximately 90 mph. With two passengers in the boat and three-quarters full on fuel, I’m running in my typical throttle position and we’re traveling 98 mph. What an incredible difference. I think I may be using them for the next run.”

A first-timer to Jacksonville, Wozencraft credited organizers Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman—shown here in Harris’ 32-foot Skater catamaran called Mad Props—with putting on an outstanding event (click image to enlarge).

As for the overall weekend itself, it lived up to its laidback reputation, according to Wozencraft.

“Thanks to all the hard work Greg and Yvonne put in, Jacksonville was well organized and had a great vibe,” he said. “The people who participated were all cool and the event pretty much was drama-free. And the accommodations, right on the St. Johns River, were terrific.”

Wozencraft World Tour Stop No. 3: Scenes From The Jacksonville River Rally And Poker Run

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