This is sad. Prayers sent to the families and friends. When I was checking out of my hotel this morning the girl working the front desk told me that the guy that was chatting with us when we were checking in on Friday was in the accident. It could have been any of us on any day. Not that it matters about what happened or what could have prevented it or bla bla bla but i will say that the spectators on the lake and running back and forth from shore to shore in between packs is total bull****. There was 1 cop at the starting line trying to keep dumb asses off to the side. I couldn't believe it.

Once again I am sorry to hear this and my family will pray for those fellas.

RIP brad & jeff, Prayers to the families.

We are such a small family of boating enthusyist .When this happens it's hard to think of anything else.Praying for all the familys. hf...

God Bless them both.

RIP boys

Prayers to the family's , Sad that doing something you love can be so dangerous. RIP

Jeff had a home 2 houses over from ours at LOTO. He seemed to be a very pleasant man, it will be sad not to see him standing on his dock, he always waved with a smile. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Brad and Jeff.

First it is very sad for our sport. They men involved obviously were very well know and respected. My prayers go out to them and the loved ones left behind.

I have docked on Lake Cumberland since 1995 and have attended every Poker Run in some capacity. Have run in several and spectated in all the others by my choosing. Get to see much more that way in my opinion.

I left State Dock in advance of the start of the first group and idled out to a point about 1 to 1 1/2 miles from the start to give my guest a good vantage point since it was there first. I idled to keep my wake to a minimum. I positioned myself on the right side of the course about 25 or so yards off the shore line and was well out of the way of the intended path. The water patrol you speak of came by and made us as well as several other boats go completly to the other side. Even though I did not want to cross the lake at that point knowing the start was only minutes away I was left with little choice. Once again I idled across as made to do. As I was approaching the other side the first group of boats had started and I actually speeded up the last 100 yards or so to be clear of the course. As the group came by they were running much slower tahn in previous years wich was a very good thing.

My point is I as well as others were directed by water patrol to cross the course at a very poor time. Some or at least one of the boaters is nor was a dumb axx.

I will shut up now. Just felt there needed to be some clarification as to way some were doing what they were at a very bad time!

Again my prayers to the victims and there loved ones.

Mark

Sorry for the loss of life this weekend!!! It sucks.

Sorry it this has been said earlier in the thread...........is this poker run a closed course event, or a private event held on a public lake?

The two major differences between poker runs and sanctioned power boat races, a closed course and the regulated safety equipment. I dropped in at Burnside and came 10 miles down to a good safe spot to watch, stopping to drag a HUGE log from the course along the way. We then ran along with some of the last group back down to the Harmon Creek area.

IMO, 90% of the spectator boats were parked well out of the way, however it was still very rough water with several of house boats in the center channel. I don't think your ever gonna close down a lake for such events, but feel some more precautions could be taken to improve safety. Like a few volunteer scout boats and a chopper to better clear the course, along with a dedicated radio channel to alert teams to obstructions and heavy congestion areas.

All in all these guys were doing what they loved in a very unregulated sport, so popular because of that fact. We need to respect that and learn from these tragedies if we wish to continue this tradition without outside regulations being imposed. Because you can bet those who see this from the other side sure will...

RIP Brad & Jeff