Small-Boat Poker Runs Present Big Opportunities

[Matt Trulio]

I have to hand to the the NJPPC and any other club offering poker runs that cater to the small-boat crowd. Here's why, http://www.boats.com/boat-content/20...le-brilliance/.

You guys are ahead of the curve.

[Ted]

Yep, ahead of the curve

[Matt Trulio]

Another club that is ahead of the curve. Way to go, Ted, and everyone else at CBPBA.

[Ted]

Didja notice the date on that post?

[Matt Trulio]

Yup. I should have said, "way ahead of the curve." Taking nothing away from your club, Ted. NJPPC does a great job of getting out the word on its stuff. But "the word" serves all of us—if the news is good. And in this case, it is.

[Matt Trulio]

Worth noting: You guys were seven years ahead of the curve. Not bad.

[BOJOE2]

Ted we have been talking about putting on a 30ft and less run for years but just could'nt fit it in, this year it worked out with our schedule. I'm sure all the 30 and smaller boats will have a blast as I'm sure they do at your event. Ted some of my best days of boating are when I get up to Chesapeake bay each year you guys have some of the best water around.

[BOJOE2]

Matt that was great

[Ted]

Yup. I should have said, "way ahead of the curve." Taking nothing away from your club, Ted. NJPPC does a great job of getting out the word on its stuff. But "the word" serves all of us—if the news is good. And in this case, it is.

Matt, just funnin with ya. I know we all appreciate the great information you are getting out there and it does help all of us.

Ted we have been talking about putting on a 30ft and less run for years but just could'nt fit it in, this year it worked out with our schedule. I'm sure all the 30 and smaller boats will have a blast as I'm sure they do at your event. Ted some of my best days of boating are when I get up to Chesapeake bay each year you guys have some of the best water around.

Joe, we have run into the same problem. We do at least one run each year that smaller boats can do, but we have not put as much emphasis as maybe we should have in recent years. But I will say our club is much more diverse in the type of boats we have because we have tried to be more inclusive and/or our members have changed their boating habits as they "grew up"

I hope I can hook up with you all when you come down this year and if you ever want to try one of our events feel free to contact me and I will be happy to give you the local "hookup" .

[JupiterSunsation]

great article Matt.....


But seriously what's next? Maybe a Maryland Poker Run geared for guys that love center consoles, Chinaman rubdowns, interior decorating and jewelry too?

[DaveP]

Thanks Matt for the awesome piece!!!!!!!!!!!

[Airpacker]

You want to talk "ahead of the curve"? How about on two fronts.
The Performance Boat Club of Canada held its first "small boat charity poker run" on Lake Muskoka in Ontario 1990. I know because I was the organizer.

[Matt Trulio]

Airpacker wins! (Are you guys still doing that run? I hope so.)

Seriously guys, this is awesome and I don't just mean the concept. I mean the timing. New blood is one of the many things the high-performance powerboat market needs for any sort of recovery. As I said in my article, the conversion rate (Baylner to Cigarette) will be low. But as least people who already own boats don't have to be educated about the simple joy of being on the water. Their passion is already instilled.

[MahopacMarine]

This is truly the way to go. This is what has started our Hudson River Fun Run. It is open to anyone at no cost. This will obviously bring in the smaller and larger crowd. This also allows these 2 groups of boating enthusiasts to meet and talk with no pressure. We encourage everyone to come out and runa at a comfortable pace. We have some of our customers that run with us in our Stingray's just because they want to see the river and be a part of something bigger.

Great piece Matt

[Ratickle]

You want to talk "ahead of the curve"? How about on two fronts.
The Performance Boat Club of Canada held its first "small boat charity poker run" on Lake Muskoka in Ontario 1990. I know because I was the organizer.

I knew you were gettin old.....

[htrdlncn]

I like when they separate the groups by speed,
even with guys with big boats dont always wannna be WOT during a poker run.
Doing a 45mph class and an open class lets both smaller boats , slower boats , and guys that dont wanna be going 70-100mph join in without having to have a separate run just for them.
On the other hand it really pisses me off when I see poker runs that specifically
exclude smaller boats, almost all of the runs when I was in Miami exclude boats under 27ft which is funny because the early races to Bahama and back were mostly boats UNDER 27ft.
Even last years run to Bimini had under 27ft boats like the Formula 233.
Guess its okay to race to Bimini and back in the open ocean but not enter in a Poker run
down to the Florida Keys..

[High Priority]

Great idea, we wil try to make this run.

[Airpacker]

Airpacker wins! (Are you guys still doing that run? I hope so.)

Seriously guys, this is awesome and I don't just mean the concept. I mean the timing. New blood is one of the many things the high-performance powerboat market needs for any sort of recovery. As I said in my article, the conversion rate (Baylner to Cigarette) will be low. But as least people who already own boats don't have to be educated about the simple joy of being on the water. Their passion is already instilled.

Matt, that particular event ran from 1990 until 2002. It was resurrected last summer.
The Rice Lake Charity run has been going on since 1989. Boats from 19 ffot STV's to 50 foot plus turbine cats participate in that even together.

Check out the galleries on

www.performanceboatclub.ca

Unfortunately, lots of older stuff was lost one or two web sites ago but you will get the idea.

Maybe you would like to come and join us for one of our runs this coming season? There are several to choose from.

Sean