Gallery: Big Turnout For Friday’s Big Cat Poker Run Fun Run
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Event Coverage: Gallery: Big Turnout For Friday’s Big Cat Poker Run Fun Run
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With more than 80 boats registered for this week’s Big Cat Poker Run in Northern California, many of the event arrived in town in time to join the fun run from Discover Bay, Calif., to Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill in Antioch for lunch earlier today. Along with many of the event’s most supportive local participants, such as Rick Bowling, Gary Colledge, Mark Cooper, Karl Koster, Rob Storlee, and Bob Teague of event title sponsor Teague Custom Marine, there were quite a few boaters, including several first-time attendees, who ventured north from Southern California and from as far away as Arizona, Nevada, Utah and beyond.
Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill in Antioch, Calif., hosted lunch for Big Cat Poker Run participants who enjoyed today’s fun run on the California Delta. Photos by Jason Johnson
Today’s fleet was treated to excellent weather to and from the lunch venue with warm temperatures and mildly sporty conditions on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, aka the hardest-working rivers in California. After lunch, several participants headed north toward Sacramento as Dale Rayzor, another prominent member of the Northern California go-fast boating community, helped lead some of the newcomers along with Tony Chiaramonte of DCB Performance Boats, who has been coming to the event for many years and knows the Delta’s winding waterways well.
“We had more than 20 boats head upriver before we headed back to Discovery Bay for tonight’s registration festivities and I think half of them were DCBs,” said Chiaramonte, who enjoyed the day with Arizona’s Mike Demore in his new M37R Widebody catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R engines. “We went up to Walnut Grove and everyone had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to heading out again tomorrow.”
Check out the slideshow above for more images from the lunch stop during today’s Big Cat Poker Run fun run. Photos by Jason Johnson
Between a couple of jaw-dropping M44 Widebody catamarans owed by Southern California couples Dave and Buffie Megugorac and Mauricio and Angie Vivanco, several big-powered M35 and M31 cats and a stockpile of outboard-powered models ranging from 28 to 37 feet (including Brett and Sheila Baur’s newly delivered M33R), the DCB contingent dominated today’s fleet. Not to be outdone though, the mix of boats from the likes of Skater Powerboats, Wright Performance/Doug Wright, MTI, Cigarette and Outerlimits was impressive.
The Eliminator Boats crew, thanks to Mark Baker’s 255 Speedster powered by an Ilmor Marine MV8 570 engine coupled with an Ilmor One-Drive system and Chris Leach’s new 27 Speedster featuring twin Mercury Racing 450R engines, also was well represented thanks to a few classic 27 and 28 Speedster cats in the pack.
Tomorrow the fleet will wind its way through the Delta maze multi-stop for the poker run, which benefits the Discovery Bay Lions Club. The final stop of the day prior to the Saturday night dinner celebration at Discovery Bay Marina will be Windmill Cove Resort.
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