I attended the FPC Key West Poker Run this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised. I want to share what I saw with everyone.

SAFETY was the #1 Priority!

I attended the Wednesday night drivers meeting which included over 200 drivers and crew. Stu gave one of the most intense speeches on Poker Run Safety that I have ever witnessed. Some people in the back of the room started to say “enough already” but Stu ignored them and kept on reminding everyone of the tragedies that occurred this year. Stu was visibly touched by those tragedies because both boats that were involved in the Lake Texoma accident were members of FPC and friends of Stu.

Stu drove home the following points during the meeting:

• He wanted everyone to wear life jackets because it is the right thing to do!
• He wanted no one to consumer alcohol until the run was over because it is the right thing to do!
• He wanted no one blowing through the pack at excessive speeds and pointed out specific individuals who had done it in the past and were not invited back this year.

The following morning another boat owner came up to me on the docks and asked “do you think they are going to enforce the life jacket rule?” The whole crew I was with thought it was pretty funny that the guy picked me since I am so outspoken about poker run safety. I replied “why wouldn’t you wear them?” He replied “yeah I know but..” and I repeated the question “why wouldn’t you wear them?” The boater looked at me in amazement and walked into the dock store. (hopefully to buy life jackets!) The bottom line is that Stu’s Safety Meeting the night before made people think about safety!

So are we to jump up and down and say mission accomplished? No, not yet. Not everyone had life jackets on and there were crew members having some cocktails at the lunch stop but they were in the minority. What we should jump up and down about is the tremendous forward progress that has been made over the last year at this event and others like it across our sport.

Overall the event was a huge success and a big thank you again to Stu, Jackie, Brad and the entire FPC team for the hard work and the strong focus on safety!

“The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in a person's determination.” - Tommy Lasorda

Best Regards,
Dave Patnaude
President
NJ Performance Powerboat Club

The Florida Power Boat Club did a 1st Class job as usual.

Thanks we had a ball !

LS & Co.

Yes Dave, you Stu and Jackie have to beat the crew with a safety stick sometimes, but all appreciate it.

It "beats" not coming back at all, detouring to the great beyond.

Glad you had fun on the FPC run and were impressed.

BTW thanks very much for recommending it to the misses and I. We loved it when we went a few years ago. Hope to do it again sometime, if we can find some slow boats to run with. <gg>

Good to hear. Some people just don't get it

Thanks for everything this weekend Stu and Jackie! Team Saber had a great time!!!!

Went down from NJ and also had a blast. Thought the whole thing was pretty well organized. Obviously a lot of planning went into it.

Well put Dave !! Stu and Brad did a great job with the saftey part of the run. It was the most enjoyable boating I have ever done in the keys to date. Most everyone seemed to listen and follow what these people had to say