With the continued presence of COVID-19 cases across the nation, we remain on high alert throughout Florida as we try to get our lives back on track and economy back in motion. With that in mind, Florida Powerboat Club is taking a very cautious, but tangible approach to getting our club members back on the water, while adopting new measures to assure that social distancing guidelines and sanitation protocols are being maintained at our event venues. We are not worried much about the “on water” portion of our events because this is a recreation that clearly maintains these guidelines quite favorably. Our main focus, as we get back up to speed and re-activate our poker run calendar, is to change the way we “interact” with our members at the beginning of each event for the check-in process, captains safety meeting, and throughout the course of the events where we typically gather for lunch and dinner functions.
Our first summer event since we were forced into lockdown at the FPC Headquarters, will be the Bahamas Poker Run, July 24-29, 2020. This event has historically been somewhat smaller and will continue with about 20 registered teams and just over 100 participants. The Bahamas Govt continues to exercise due diligence with respect to incoming tourists, by plane or by boat, and we may have to jump through a few hoops by securing COVID-19 tests for all attendees….we are standing by for that update.
The Emerald Coast Powerboat Week will continue as scheduled for Aug 12-16, 2020. The biggest change in that event format is that we have rented the Emerald Coast Convention center for the Saturday night party. This is an air-conditioned venue that seats up to 1300 guests, so with our expected attendance of 400-500 poker run attendees, the staff at the Convention Center have assured us of the new seating plan and food & beverage practices that will comply with all state and federal and CDC guidelines. From this point forward, we expect to recover at least two more events that we lost earlier in the 2020 calendar, and we are looking great for the Key West Poker Run. Registration is now open for ALL 2020 events, so please click here to view our 2020 Revised Event calendar.