Powerboat Community Rocked By Loss Of Louisiana’s Pierce

I’m not often at a loss for words, but I was when I heard the news late Friday night that one of the most likeable performance boat enthusiasts I’ve ever met—Louisiana’s Michael Pierce—lost his life in an automobile accident in Baton Rouge on Friday evening.

During the 2016 Key West Poker Run, Nikki and Michael Pierce posed with Pure Platinum, the Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran they purchased from their good friend, Bill Pyburn. Photo copyright Jason Johnson/Speedonthewater.com

According to local news reports, two people died after a wreck on Airline Highway involving a flipped vehicle. State Police confirmed the crash happened around 8 p.m., and Facebook posts from Pierce’s friends and family members confirmed the accident claimed the life of the 39-year-old who has owned several performance boats—the most recent being the Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran Pure Platinum—and his father, Michael Pierce, 59, of Springfield, Ill.

The younger Pierce, who also owned the Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 47 GTX XXX and a beautiful Cigarette Racing Team 45 Maximus prior to that, was married to Nikki Pierce and owned North American Auto Group in Gonzales.

Check out the slideshow above for more images of Michael Pierce and Pure Platinum, his Skater 388.

It’s not normal for me to write with tears in my eyes, but that was the case early this morning following a night of zero sleep as I was pretty much in shock knowing that I’ll never get to talk to or text back and forth with Pierce again. My one regret is that I did not call him sooner as I was planning to write an OffshoreOnly.com column about how he managed to get his wife and her beautiful friends to wear bathing suits with his face on them during last month’s Key West Poker Run (see image in slideshow above). I also planned to talk to him about his intentions to try offshore racing.

Now I am only left wondering what it will be like to see Pierce’s good friends—Nate Michel, Bill Pyburn, Fallon Thibodeaux and so many others—at the next event or poker run. The description “taken way too early” has never been truer. Rest in peace Mike Pierce and Michael Pierce. My condolences and prayers go out to Nikki Pierce, their children and the rest of Pierce’s friends and family members.

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