Later Date Translates To Emerald Coast Perfection
During two decades of producing events on the Emerald Coast, one thing has remained constant for the Florida Powerboat Club—unpredictable and often unbearable weather. That’s just the nature of Sunshine State boating in August.
Changing dates for the Emerald Coast Powerboat Week Poker Run proved to a savvy move for Florida Powerboat Club president Stu Jones and company. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
In moving his Emerald Coast Powerboat Week Poker Run to fall—as in this weekend—Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones was hoping to solve that problem. And if conditions for today’s poker run match those of yesterday’s fun run, Jones and his team can consider the date change a success.
“What a great day on the water,” he said this morning as he prepped for the day’s poker-run, which will see the 84-boat fleet run 120 miles from Sandestin to Pensacola and back with seven stops along the way. “We had insanely beautiful weather with Incredible temperatures in the low 80s, no humidity and blue skies all day. We had a great turnout at Juana’s Pagodas and a very nice captains party at AJ’s last night.”
Enjoy more images from the Emerald Coast Powerboat Week Poker Run in the slideshow above.
The significant date change from mid-August to late-September did concern Jones, who knows that many of his members are creatures of habit and/or have school-age children. But with 80 club members registered before the event and four more joining this week, he said he’s feeling very positive about the move.
“Based on 2020 numbers it looks like we kept the same roster,” he said. “I thought we would go down a little with the new dates, but that did not happen.”
Today’s poker run will follow a course from Sandestin to Pensacola.
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