Summers always are busy in the go-fast boating world, but this one could top them all (click image to enlarge). Photo from Skaterfest 2015 courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.
For the sake of argument, let’s say there are 12 weekends from June through August in a high-performance boating summer. That means 24 days are “open” for organized boating events. Let’s rule out Sundays, because for the most part people will be traveling home—or staying close to it with Monday coming—on Sundays. We could rule in Fridays because everyone craves a good three-day weekend now and then, but the truth is that most action in weekend boating events happens on Saturdays. So really, we’re talking about 12 open days.
Also for the sake of argument, let’s rule out events that happen outside of the summer season as defined above. For example, while the Florida Powerboat Club’s Key West Poker Run is an all-time show-stopper, we can rule that one out as it happens in November. Another epic event you should do at least once before you die, the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run doesn’t make the summer cut because it happens in May. And let’s also rule out the combined 10 races between the Offshore Powerboat Association and Super Boat International from June through August, not because they aren’t worthwhile events but because they’re more limited in appeal to the average recreational performance-boat owner looking for “something fun to do” with his or her own boat during a summer weekend.
and then