Spring Key West Poker Run Minus His Boat Still A Jones ‘Favorite’

A fast-moving marketing object for the Florida Powerboat Club and Mercury Racing, Top Gun Flight 1130—a conventional V-bottom, vintage-2000 Cigarette Racing Team 38 Top Gun owned by club president Stu Jones—won’t be in this weekend’s Spring Key West Poker Run mix. Jones and his wife, Jackie, are leaving the twin Mercury Racing 565 engine-powered 38-footer on the lift behind their Pompano Beach, Fla., home and catching a ride with club member Tory Robson in his Cigarette 39 Top Gun.

Florida Powerboat Club principals Stu and Jackie Jones will enjoy the upcoming Spring Key West Poker Run in this fiery Cigarette 39-footer. Photo by from the 2024 Miami Boat Show Poker Run Jeff Helmkamp copyright Jeff Helmkamp Photos.

New Florida Powerboat Club general manager John Wittenberger and his girlfriend, Natalie, as well as Jones’ son, Tyler, will be tagging along aboard Wild Horses, a Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats 390 Sport center console owned by Roger and Pam Anderson, in the 20-boat fleet.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy the roar of supercharged power, and will remind me of the old days when I owned the 39-foot Nor-Tech V-bottom with the same exact power,” Jones said. “I’ve always loved this run, but perhaps for personal reasons. It is the one time I can go boating to Key West and not have the pressure of a 300-boat poker run hanging over my head like I am the dean of students at a boarding school.

“Jackie and I are just going to hang out with our fellow participants and friends, enjoy their camaraderie and celebrate the Florida powerboating lifestyle,” he added, then laughed. “We’ll let John and Tyler do the heavy lifting.”

The third event of the 2024 Florida Powerboat Club season, the Spring Key West Poker Run will depart the Miami area tomorrow. So, too, did the annual MTI Owners Run to the Florida Keys. That means there will be no shortage of exotic go-fast center consoles and catamarans in the Keys this weekend.

Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones is leaving the driving to someone else this weekend.

“We’ve made some small tweaks to the agenda like an earlier start so that we can get a jump on the MTI run departing from Biscayne Bay around the same time,” said Jones. “With a 30-minute head-start, we can easily make it to Sundowners in Key Largo and stay out of their way, as they arrive at Gilbert’s Resort and Tiki Bar, which is nearby.

“So I think this is the one event where Jackie and I will be able to let our hair down a little,” he added, then chuckled again. “Key West will be alive with Spring-Breakers celebrating St. Patrick’s Day weekend and we will be enjoying every minute of it as we plan a ‘Duval crawl’ on Friday evening after our Sunset happy hour at the Hyatt Centric.”