Commentary: Time For A Safety Reset—An Open Letter To The Industry From Stu Jones

I am aware that many of you are in the midst 2025 Miami International Boat Show and this important email comes at a time—by design—when we need to collectively shift our focus back to powerboating safety To do this, we need to hit the reset button on safety protocols and messaging in our sport.

Florida Powerboat Club founder Stu Jones has never been afraid to share his opinion, especially when it comes to safety. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp/Helmkamp Photos.

As a veteran and one of the few pioneers that saw the potential for bonafide performance marine industry back in 1991 when I attended my first Miami Boat Show, the last 35 years have been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. Many of us now derive our livelihoods from this performance sector of our recreational marine industry, and this marketshare is robust and continuing to sustain itself in our nation’s multi-billion-dollar outdoor recreational segment.

But, for how long? Far too many accidents continue to plague our sport. It has to do with high speeds of the boats combined with lack of operator experience and outright stupidity on the part of so many owners who do neither understand or practice correct safety protocols. The end result is serious accidents with often-tragic consequences, the kind that have led insurers to raise premiums to record highs and even withdraw from the market.

I am writing specifically to my respected colleagues in the marine industry, partly out of frustration but mostly due to the ongoing concerns I have about this continued lack of safety that I see in our sport.

In 2013, I initiated much-needed safety management guidelines for all Florida Powerboat Club events. We staged a Safety Summit at the Miami Boat Show that year, and invited members of the performance boating community and local law enforcement officials including the United States Coast Guard, Florida Wildlife Commission and county marine officials to meet for open discussion. This was the first formal stab that I took at identifying the serious need for better safety protocols on poker runs. A tangible set of structured safety guidelines was then released and intended for use in poker runs around the nation, not just those produced by FPC.

After visiting dozens of out-of-state poker runs staged by other organizations, it appears that I am all alone with my mission. Sad but true.

Since that first initiative 12 years ago, we made some good changes in the way we do things at FPC. But it is obvious that far too many participants in our sport do not get the picture. Over the last decade our industry has seen boat speeds increase dramatically, not to mention the size of the crews on board some of the larger center consoles, which can now carry 15-plus passengers at speeds well over 80 mph. It sounds crazy just to think about it, but it’s even crazier to see it firsthand. A recent accident with a fatality during the Key West event was an awakening for me.

But that is just one incident. There have been dozens of these incidents around the nation with fatalities and serious injuries. And they are not slowing down.

Despite all the messaging in our magazines, email bulletins, safety guidelines in captains’ kits, drivers’ meetings and video messaging in my FPC videos on YouTube, it all seems to fall on deaf ears.

Effective immediately, I have decided to initiate a “zero-tolerance” mandate for all 2025 FPC runs. Our primary objectives are 100-percent personal flotation device compliance, zero alcohol or drug use before or during operation of a powerboat, and 100-percent compliance on registered crew members with signed liability waivers.

These directives are not just from FPC. They also come from our event insurer, PRIME Insurance, which has played a big part in the verbiage of the waivers, and who consult with FPC regularly about use and enforcement of these much-needed safety protocols.

Penalties for non-compliance are quite simple: The boat owner gets one warning. Period. After that, next offense results in expulsion and disqualification from the FPC event where the infraction occurred. Some (overly proud) owners may take this as an insult and defiance of their freedoms, and they will leave the club and not come back. That’s not a great outcome for anyone, but this is the only enforcement tactic that I honestly feel will be effective at weeding out the biggest offenders.

It is my hope that the boat owner accepts his fate and takes the expulsion, then he may later return to FPC with a clean slate and practice the rules as outlined.

Support From The Industry Essential
We all know this is going to be an uphill battle to achieve these objectives, but it starts with messaging from industry leaders. You are the industry leaders, and you all have a tremendous amount of influence with your buyers and customers. I have learned that many of the underlying causes of careless boating practices, begins with a lack of constant messaging, both verbal and visual, from our marine industry leaders.

As an example of what I am saying, consider these points below:

• Take a look at your websites, print advertising, and social media content. How many manufacturers and boat dealers can honestly tell me that they mandate the use of PFDs in all of their photo and video content that promotes their model lineup? Sadly, very few manufacturers have ever made this effort. When we add up the sum total of performance marine advertising in the global arena, I would take an educated guess that less than half of the content that our industry uses, visually depicts drivers and passengers wearing (any) kind of life jacket while at speed. (I am excluding fishing and recreation cruising and yachting because clearly these are not high-speed boating situations.)

For our sport, the PFDs should be on worn in every photo and every video of any boat that is underway at any speed. FPC is also to blame on this front. We gather enormous amounts of content on any event and prepare our YouTube videos, online posts, and magazine features, which are still packed with images of people that disregarded our FPC safety guidelines and proceeded to run the poker run. There are so many of these infractions, that if we censored or blocked all these images, we wouldn’t have anything left for our media platforms.

That is all about to change in 2025. No lifejackets on your crew? No video or photos. Nothing The chopper crew is instructed to take the photo for proof of infraction. Then the content goes on the cutting room floor, never to be published.

• How do you option out your boats for delivery when it comes to safety? Do you provide two bags of obligatory cheap orange life jackets that nobody will ever wear on a poker run? If all you seek to do is comply with USCG requirements by putting those cumbersome PFDs on board, that is an utter failure as a high-end performance boat manufacturer in my opinion. If you know that you are selling a powerboat for use on poker runs, then let’s step up the game and get proper USCG-approved vests that people will actually wear. Offer them in multiple colors as part of the ordering process—the same way you would offer upgraded electronics, audio systems, interiors and lighting

But don’t make it optional, depending on the boat style. Just build six to 12 jackets into the price of your delivery It really is that simple. At wholesale pricing, you are talking about $125 to $150 per jacket. So eight jackets would barely reach $1,000—for $1 million boat.

• Speed is the main demon here. We all know that boating in a group setting requires extra care, extra eyes, and continued focus while in that setting. The risk of accidents is elevated in this setting. I urge manufacturers and dealers to dial back the ongoing dialogue about top speed. Let’s remind everyone how much better and more comfortable a center console rides at 50 mph versus 80 mph.

Worth noting? The maximum speed FPC allows for a loaded center console boat in its events is 70 mph. As part of our mission to get the safety of our sport back on track, I also plan to be watching our group speed guidelines. For the high-performance boats in our events, we have a 125-mph speed cap on poker runs. And yet I still hear of people running 150-plus mph. Frankly, that’s absurd.

It’s also not welcome at our events. Not a bit.

There is a long list of safety concerns that still have to be addressed, but I have identified the most critical concerns here. I am reaching out to all of you to make it very clear: The Florida Powerboat Club cannot do this alone. There needs to be a unified effort, and I am enlisting all of you in this effort.

Stu Jones and his wife, Jackie, have steered the Florida Powerboat Club to success for more than 35 years. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

If you are in this industry and building powerboats that operate at 50 mph or greater, it is your responsibility—as it is mine—to make sure our customers know there is only one way to enjoy this sport, and that is the safe way.

On this the third day of the 2025 Miami International Boat Show, I should be celebrating 35 continuous years working this iconic boat show and the great lifestyle career that I have so much enjoyed. Instead, I feel a more important issue at stake is the future of the sport. I urge you to all find ways to make safety a first priority.

Sometimes I really feel like I am fighting this battle on my own. And it’s getting kind of lonely out here.

Editor’s note: Stu Jones is the founder, owner and president of the Florida Powerboat Club. This is his first contribution to speedonthewater.com.

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