Cory Molinari Atlantic City Poker Run Shines Brighter Than Ever
It takes a lot to pique the interest of New Jersey’s go-fast boating royalty—its members have experienced a lot of great and not-so-great events in their home-state during the years—but that is exactly what Del Flores has done with the Spartan Powerboat Club. Thanks to the Garden State events produced by Flores, local legends such as Thomas Anselmi, Michael Ciasulli, Tom Totto and Dave Massi are back on their home-waters in earnest.
Last weekend wasn’t the first time Thomas Anselmi’s immaculately kept and resorted 38-foot Donzi sportboat has prettied-up the docks behind the Atlantic City Golden Nugget Resort and Casino.
Last weekend’s Spartan Powerboat Club Corey Molinari Atlantic City Poker Run was the most recent example of the ongoing New Jersey boating-event revival, which has attracted the aforementioned OGs as well as new blood. Named to celebrate club member Molinari, who was 19 years old when he died in a boating accident, the trek from Brick to the Atlantic City Golden Nugget Resort attracted 45 boats and 200 participants.
And all of the aforementioned heavy-hitters were in the Atlantic City run mix.
“The 2024 Molinari Atlantic City Poker run couldn’t have been better,” said Anselmi, who runs a recently updated Donzi Marine 38 ZRC sportboat with his wife, Andrea. “Del Flores and the whole Spartan Powerboat Club threw a top-notch event from beginning to end. The word ‘perfect’ kept getting thrown around and it fit, as in perfect weather, perfect hosts, perfect sponsors, perfect crew and perfect performance from my boat.
“The club does a great job honoring Corey Molinari who was so dedicated to performance boats and loved this sport,” he added. “I knew him for a short time, and he reminded me so much of myself as a young man. He always will be remembered through this event.”
Ciasulli, who also recently upgraded his current ride—an MTI 390X catamaran repowered with Mercury Racing 500R engines—offered a similar perspective.
“”Del Flores and his girlfriend, Angela, did a fantastic job, and the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City is a great venue,” he said. “This is the Spartan Powerboat Club’s premier event and it is dedicated to the memory of a fine young man.
“The run also gave me an opportunity to check out my cat’s performance with 500R outboards,” he continued. “Needless to say, I was not disappointed. We made it from Brick to Atlantic City in 37 minutes.”
The Garden State go-fast boating scene is loaded with fine hardware. Photos by Luke Bossert courtesy of the Spartan Powerboat Club
Flores was delighted to have the veterans as well as newer members of the go-fast boating community such as Michael Tandoi, an experienced powerboat enthusiast from Rochester, N.Y., who owns the famed 44-foot Speed Racer MTI catamaran, join in last weekend’s fun. Tandoi’s prized MTI was once the property of Bob “The Bob-Father” Christie, a charter OG member of the New Jersey go-fast boating scene who couldn’t make it to the Atlantic City event this year.
Most of all, the organizer was grateful the Total Marine- and Total Dollar Insurance-backed event ran safely and smoothly.
“We had amazing weather for once and we made it there and back safe and sound,” Flores explained. “Safety is my biggest concern, and it’s what I punctuate most during captains meetings.
The fleet arrived in Atlantic City without incident.
“Michael Tandoi actually won first place in the poker-hand drawing Friday night, and in Saturday’s poker-hand drawing he took third place,” he continued. “He and his crew also won the ‘Best Dressed’ and ‘Sexiest Crew’ awards. But all of that good luck was short-lived because he ran aground in the back of Brigantine, N.J. Sea-Tow pulled him off safely and soon he had the boat back on his trailer and was heading back to Rochester.”
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Enjoy more images from last weekend’s event in the slideshow above.
According to Flores, a portion of the proceeds from the Atlantic City run—and all Spartan Powerboat Club events for that matter—will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital and a local autism charity.
“I’m so excited about the growth of the club and all the new members and beautiful boats,” he said. “Plus, I’m really blessed to have such a good core group of people to hang out with.”
Powered by Mercury Racing 1100 engines, Ed Stella’s Cigarette 41 Nighthawk center console won the Spartan Powerboat Club President’s award.
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