www.pokerrunsamerica.comUP FOR THE CHALLENGESMART MARINE PRESIDENT CHRIS SCHOENBOHM HAS PROVEN HIMSELF ON AND OFF THE RACECOURSEFIRST LOOK• SUNSATION’S NEW 39’ CENTER CONSOLE• PREDATOR POWERBOATS’ IMPRESSIVE 447-RCOVERAGE OF THE 2017 DESERT STORM AND TICKFAW 200 POKER RUNSASHLEY WELDINGBUILDING A STRONG FOLLOWINGI use VC® 17m as a smooth, ultra thinantifouling paint. VC 17m is formulatedwith an additive, in fact a fluoromicro-additive, to reduce frictionand drag so it won’t slow you down.We find it great for use in freshwateror low fouling saltwater. To us,VC 17m is the Original in sail racing finish. Our customers specify it,over and over.Scan this QR code to see Scott’s videoScott CainBay Port Yachting CentreAN_200079_150114All trademarks mentioned are owned by, or licensed to, the AkzoNobel group of companies. © AkzoNobel 2016.It’s fantasticfor racingsailboats andpowerboats…7342 - NAM VC17m Test AD Power Boating CA_9 x 10.875 22/02/2016 16:24 Page 12 p.m. - 9 p.m.SEE THE BOATSAnchor MarineNorth East, MD4 p.m. - 7 p.m.DOCK PARTYThe Nauti GooseSANCTIONED BY POKER RUN HOTLINE 1-800-354-9145 ext. 252 COORDINATOR@POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMPOKERRUNSAMERICA.COMOFFICIAL WATER OF POKER RUNS AMERICASATURDAY 26TH :FRIDAY 25TH:START 10:30 a.m. Anchor MarinaLUNCH 12:30 p.m. Baltimore - Nick’s Fish House THE JOKER IS GOING WILDat our final card stop, WIN CASH at JOPPATOWNE Marina, The home of CMS Engines on the Gunpowder River. + Live band, Car Show, Plenty of docking & Fuel DINNER AND AWARDS:6:30 P.M. THE NE FIREHALL15TH ANNUALAUGUST 25-26NORTH EAST , MARYLANDCHAMPION OF THE CHESAPEAKEUse your cards from “THUNDER IN THE CITY” Poker Run - and mix and match with your RTB card hand to determine the CHAMPION2016 WINNERMIKE & KIM BELLINI BENSALEM, PA• $10,000 in Cash & Prizes• Mercury Marine inflatable boat with outboard engine• Magnificent weekend FOR FOUR in a Castle • Experience the “Key West Worlds” on the OFFICIAL STARTER BOAT• 2018 PRA Season Tour entry PAID• DINNER FOR FOUR at the award winning Aqua Terra Restaurant, Delta Waterfront Kingston• Winner featured on the COVER of Poker Runs America magazine • Prizes and awardswww.facebook.com/PokerRunsAmericawww.pokerrunsamerica.com1STPRIZE2016 FIRST PLACE1000 ISLANDS Tony and Justine JosephCAN/AM POKER RUNThe Joker Goes Wild with $2,500 cash at some of his favorite card stopsExotic Banquet DinnerJumbotron LIVE CoveragePrizes and Cash for 1st, 2nd & 3rd placePlus Awardsand much more...For more information call 1-800-354-9145 ext 252 or email coordinator@pokerrunsamerica.comAugust 18-192016 KING OF THE 1000 ISLANDS Max Taillefer and Melissa Mathieu Kingston, ONWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COM FEATURESCONTENTS3022PRA vol. 20-222 BIGGER AND BETTERSunsation Powerboats is building its biggest center console yet, the 39CCX. 30 PREDATOR 447-RA luxury performance boat that tops 130 mph 34 THE ULTIMATE DIY PROJECTChris Schoenbohm has a simple goal for his company Smart Marine, to build the best outboard-powered high performance catamarans on the water. 38 DO UNTO OTHERSTony Scioli and Elite Poker Runs take a simple approach to making sure participants enjoy their events. 42 TIMING IS EVERYTHINGFor nearly 40 years, Randy Garciga has used hard work and clever thinking to keep Cobra Power at the top of the perfor-mance-boat game. 46 STRUCTURAL INTEGRITYAshley Welding has established itself as one of the premier builders of hardtops and towers for performance and fishing boats. 50 2016 ROCK THE BAY POKER RUN A photo recap of last year’s event .58 ONE-STOP SHOP From paint to mechanical repairs to upholstery upgrades, Slinger Motorsports can get the job done. 6POKER RUNS AMERICA | Volume 20 Number 28 Publisher’s Message10 Editor’s Column12 Fast Facts54 Meet the Players68 Power Play: 2017 Tickfaw Poker Run66 Power Play: 2017 Desert Storm Poker Run72 2017 Poker Run Calendar 76 Tribute Ed Nichols, Larry Goldman78 Ad IndexDEPARTMENTSWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COM 38347 Volume 20 Number 2 | POKER RUNS AMERICAROCK THE BAY 2016 ROCK THE BAY POKER RUN50Photo by Randy Nuzzo8WWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMPOSITIVE SIGNSVOLUME TWENTY / NUMBER TWOPUBLISHER William E. Taylor bill@pokerrunsamerica.comEDITOR Eric Colby ecolby@pokerrunsamerica.comTECHNICAL EDITOR Price TurnerCONTRIBUTING WRITERS Chip Fendt, Bill Jennings, Bobbye Kenyon, Dina Paolella, Garth Cane, Chris Kourtakis, Bob Brown, Mark Rothermal DESIGN ads@pokerrunsamerica.com Tamara Taylor, Giselle BansalDigital MediaTravis Kingdon tkingdon@taylorpublishinggroup.com Michel Julien michel@powerboating.comPRODUCTION COORDINATOR Giselle Bansal giselle@pokerrunsamerica.comVP ADVERTISING & SALES Todd Taylor todd@pokerrunsamerica.comSALES Todd Taylor todd@pokerrunsamerica.comRoy Baird Jr roy@powerboating.comMelanie Taylor-Wallis melanie@powerboating.comSPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATORS Al Buitenwert, Melanie Taylor, Jennifer TurnerADMINISTRATION President William E. Taylor Group Publisher Melanie Taylor-Wallis VP/Special Projects Norm RosenPHOTOGRAPHERS Duane C. Adams, Pete Boden, Ken Denardo, Jeff Geradi - Freeze Framevideo.net, Jay Nichols - Naples Images, Randy Nuzzo, Tim Sharkey- Sharkeys ImagesEXECUTIVE & EDITORIAL OFFICES New York777 East Park Drive, Tonawanda, NY 14150 Tel: 1-800-354-9145 • Fax: 905/844-5032TORONTO 268 - 44 Crawford Crescent, Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 905/844-8218 • Fax: 905/844-5032EDITORIAL OFFICES 1-800-354-9145Subscription inquires call: 1-800-354-9145Website: www.pokerrunsamerica.comE-mail: info@pokerrunsamerica.comCover and contents are copyright protected and may not be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from the publisher. Editorial contributions must be accompanied by return postage and will be handled with reasonable care. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photographs, or manuscripts. Poker Runs America reserves the right to refuse any and all advertising and disclaims all responsibilities for claims or statement of facts made by its advertisers or independent columnists Regular subscription rates are 4 issues: $19 US. 8 issues: $32 US. Canadian subscribers add $10. Single copy price is $5.95 US and $8.50 Cdn.POSTMASTER Send all returns to Poker Runs America, 777 East Park Drive, Tonawanda, NY 14150PRINTED IN USAPUBLISHERS NOTEPRAbill taylorRecent acquisitions and mergers involv-ing some of the major names in the marine industry are signs that the per-formance boating lifestyle is alive and well. First and foremost among these new developments is the recent announcement that stern drive and inboard propulsion giant Volvo Penta has signed an agreement to acquire Seven Marine of Germantown, Wis., the company that builds the largest outboard motors in the world. This is note-worthy because of the trend that we’re see-ing in bigger and bigger boats being built to accommodate on their sterns as many as four to five outboards making a minimum of 350 or 400 hp each. Seven Marine builds 557 and 627-hp motors based on a GM V-8 powerhead and we’ve started seeing more boats from companies such as Marine Technologies Inc., Mystic, Hydrasports Custom, Nor-Tech, Outerlimits, Sunsation, and more. The part-nership between Volvo Penta and Seven Marine helps the Volvo get into the big out-board game in a very big way and Seven Marine customers will benefit from Volvo’s extensive dealer network. Another recent merger took place between Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Bennett Marine, best known for making electric and hydraulic trim tab systems. Bennett will remain in its Deerfield Beach, Fla., manufacturing facility and will operate as an independent stand-alone company. Yamaha offers what it calls total vessel control with its Helm Master and Bennet recently introduced its AutoTrim Pro auto-matic trimming system. It would be easy to imagine the two combining these two appli-cations in one system that would give a boat driver even more control. The poker run outboard sector has expanded tremendously over the past few years as people see this as an affordable entry into the high-performance market, with center consoles and v-bottom hulls gaining popularity.While the excitement builds surrounding these new hulls, the traditional big power inboards with the twin 1800 hp and larger engines continue to dominate the high-per-formance class, especially when you look at boats like My Way with 3,000 hp per side and Aquamania are turning heads at Poker Run events throughout North America. Poker Runs America has seen an influx of new performance boating enthusiasts at recent events, and the sport continues to attract a large and dedicated spectator base, as the boats bring a touch of Hollywood to waterways across North America. Check out the excitement at our web-site www.pokerrunsamerica.com, on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/poker-runsamerica and at our YouTube channel, and we will look forward to seeing you at a Poker Run in your area! PRA William E. Taylor, Publisherbill@pokerrunsamerica.comWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMPOKER RUNS AMERICA | Volume 20 Number 2COVER PHOTO OF COUPLE COURTESY RANDY NUZZONext >