Catching Up With Stu Jones—How Mercury Racing Bought A Round In Key West – Speed on the Water

With Thanksgiving just two days off and Christmas coming up quickly, Florida Powerboat Club president Stu Jones has something rare on his hands: spare time until the new year begins and he slides back into poker-run organizing mode. That doesn’t mean he’s sitting on his hands—there is still video work from the 250-boat 2023 Key West Poker Run to be done.

But for the moment at least, worries about safety assets on the water, insurance and dock space and behind him.

Capping off Mercury Racing’s series of 50th anniversary celebrations was an honor for Stu Jones and the Florida Powerboat Club team. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.

In no small way, Jones explained when I caught up with him yesterday to “debrief” the recent Key West Poker Run, the event was a tribute to presenting sponsor Mercury Racing. It was the fourth and final celebration of the Fond du Lac, Wis., company’s 50th anniversary that included an industry party and the introduction of the new V-10 400R outboard engine during the Miami International Boat Show, another industry affair in Charleston, S.C., that saw the introduction of the 500R outboard and the Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis.

Longtime Mercury Racing director of engineering Jeff Broman, who was named “director of the Mercury Racing category” in late September, and other team-members were on hand for the company’s final Golden Anniversary celebration in Key West.

To get the party started, Jones presented an award to Broman during a special event at the Poker Run Village outside the Conch Republic Seafood Restaurant.

“The Florida Powerboat Club thanked Mercury Racing for yet another year of support,” said Jones. “It was exciting to meet some of the new Mercury Racing team after a recent changing of the guard, and I was proud to award Jeff with a large silver sponsor cup on the stage, while introducing him and his team to our FPC members and attendees.

“We had been planning some special events with the Mercury Racing marketing team for several months, which included a four-hour live music set from the local Andy Wescott Band, and it seemed like those festivities went off without a hitch,” he continued. “Poker-run captains received a complimentary beverage courtesy of Mercury Racing and more than 3,000 beverages were served—in plastic souvenir cups with the Mercury Racing logo—by the Conch Rep Seafood Company bartenders.”