Performance-boat guys are car guys—you’ve heard that before and you’ll no doubt hear it again. Embracing that notion, Florida Powerboat Club owners Stu and Jackie Jones and nine other couples from the Pompano Beach, Fla.-based club will head for Stuttgart, Germany, next Wednesday. Their mission? Seven days and seven poker runs in 2017 model-year Porsche Carrera 911 4S and GTS automobiles in Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland.

And in the evenings, they may even take a few boat rides.

“While there will be a few boating outings at night, it’s a 10-day deal that involves seven days of driving, starting in Stuttgart and going straight from there to Lake Como in Italy,” said Stu Jones, who “test-drove” the run last year. “It’s a completely guided situation. All cars will be in radio communication with each other and Sven Teuber, our guide from Fast Lane Travel.”

Stu and Jackie Jones—shown here doing their due diligence last year for the event on Germany’s Auotbahn at 150 mph—and nine other couples will begin their land-based European poker run adventure series next week. Photo courtesy/copyright Florida Powerboat Club.

While the longest run—486 kilometers—will happen on the first day of driving, most days will involve no more than 200 kilometers behind the wheel and five card stops. At dinner each night, the winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded. Most couples will be driving the 420-hp Porsche C4S, which reportedly can reach 190 mph and carries a $113,000 price tag. In addition to touring Porsche headquarters and the Mercedes-AMG Museum in Stuttgart, the group will traverse the Alps three times, spend a night in Germany’s famed Black Forest and visit the Bugatti Museum in France.

The cost of the all-inclusive adventure is $11,700 per person, and Jones said he had no trouble filling the limited slots for the trip.

“The ‘cast and crew’ is 100-percent Florida Powerboat Club,” he said. “We have three teams coming from Michigan, one from right here in Pompano Beach, Mark and Eileen Fischer of Boats Direct USA, another couple from New York and another from Louisiana. Unfortunately, another one of the couples had to drop out at the last minute and they’re selling their slot, so even though we leave next week someone could still pick it up—and probably for a good price.

“The itinerary is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, and everything—including all the meals and lodging at five-star hotels—is included,” he added. “It’s going to be amazing. Of course, as soon as we get back I have to start working again on the Havana run.”

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