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www.pokerrunsamerica.comA PASSION FOR LIFEFROM BOATS TO TRUCKS TO FOOD, CHRIS WALKER LIVES EVERY MOMENT TO THE FULLESTINSIDE: SAULT STE. MARIE PRESIDENT’S CUP POKER RUNNEW MERCURY V-8 OUTBOARDSLIGHTWEIGHT MOTORS WITH HEAVYWEIGHT PUNCHCOVERAGE OF THE 2018 TICKFAW 200 POKER RUN & MTI OWNERS FUN RUN THROUGH THE KEYSMIDNIGHT EXPRESS 43 OPENA PERFORMANCE CENTER-CONSOLE PIONEERMARYLAND OFFSHOREGOES THE DISTANCE TO KEEP CUSTOMERS HAPPYBioKleenTAKES A GREEN APPROACH TO CLEANTMCover 21-1.indd 12018-06-14 3:10 PM Back in Production!It’s Official!Black Thunder Powerboats are back in production! Our fully renovated 57,000 sq.ft. Hannibal production facility is completed andoperational. Limited Edition Models include Navigation and Entertainment Systems from industry leaders Garmin, Alpine, and Klipsch Audio.Reserve your 2019 production position today!Call John York / Director of MarketingOur design team will work with you to create a one-of-a-kind Limited Edition 2019 Black Thunder Offshore Powerboat.BLACK THUNDER OFFSHORE 636.497.5597 email: john@blackthunderoffshore.comBlack Thunder.indd 22018-06-18 11:10 AM Boats In Production:*Optional Engine Packages: Mercury Racing Dual Cal 1550 / 1350—Mercury Racing 1650—Mercury Racing 1750** 2019—46’ Raised Deck Offshore equipped with Twin Mercury 860 engines / M6 Drives 2019—46’ Raised Deck Offshore equipped with Twin Mercury 1100 engines / M6 Drives 2019—46’ Raised Deck Offshore equipped with Twin Mercury Dual Cal 1350 / 1100 engines / M8 Drives 2019—43’ Raised Deck Offshore (buyer’s choice of engine package available) 2019—43’ Flat Deck Poker Run Special equipped with Twin Mercury 860 staggered engines / M6 Drives 2019—43’ Flat Deck Poker Run Special equipped with Twin Mercury 1100 staggered engines / M8 Drives 2019—43’ Flat Deck Poker Run Special equipped with Twin Mercury Dual Cal 1350 / 1100 staggered engines / M8 Drives AnnouncingBlack Thunder Owners Club!Our number one priority is to re-establish contact with the family of Black Thunder owners. Special Events are being planned as of the writing of this article.Owners can trade-in their Black Thunder Powerboat receiving generous credits / discounts. Look for exciting Black Thunder Offshore Logo Apparel, available soon. Special pricing and discounts apply to our Owners Club Members. PLEASE REGISTER TODAY! Email contact information along with your favorite boating photos to: John York / Director of Marketing John@BlackThunderOffshore.com 636-497-5597Facebook: Black Thunder Offshore Marine CorporationInstagram: Blackthunderoffshorewww.blackthunderoffshore.comBLACK THUNDER OFFSHORE 636.497.5597 email: john@blackthunderoffshore.comBlack Thunder.indd 32018-06-18 11:10 AMWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMEric ColbyEDITORS REPORT4POSITIVELY OLD SCHOOLEarlier this year, a new page popped up on Facebook. It’s called Old School Offshore and for me, at least, it’s been a refresh-ing escape the daily political rants that have absolutely nothing to do with social media. “It’s working so far and it has 1,200 people,” said the man who published the page. Most know him as Roger Dean, which is the name he uses on the page. He’s 73 years old and he grew up in South Florida. He’s been involved in offshore powerboat racing and has been on the some of the sport’s best-known and suc-cessful teams. “I was a friend and acquaintance to almost everybody,” said Dean during a phone interview in late March. During his career he worked for virtually every com-pany on North Miami’s NE 188th Street, which was better known as Thunderboat Row. Maybe it’s because we just published our 20th anniversary issue or maybe I just love seeing the names of the great offshore racers that I respected and fol-lowed during my decades covering the sport, but I can’t help but check out the page every time I see a new post. The list of names of the people who are members reads like a who’s who in the history of the sport. “I’m somebody that was there and was always interested in it,” said Dean. “As we leave, that story disappears. Being born and raised in Miami and being involved in offshore and the marine stadium, I thought why not get more than pictures together?”He continued, “I want today’s kids to know how they got to where they are. Back then you had to swing your com-pass at each one of the races. It was an entirely different deal. We weren’t better. We weren’t worse.”In addition to Dean, throttling legends like Richie Powers and Bobby Moore show up on the Old School Offshore page regularly. Bill Rosensteel from Bluewater Performance chimes in to posts on occa-sion. So do Gene Lanham and Rich Luhrs. I’ve seen current Superboat Unlimited world champion throttleman Steve Curtis on the site and it came as no surprise that the guy who grew up drawing pictures of raceboats before he made a living wrap-ping them in graphics, Ryan Beckley, reg-ularly posts when people have questions about the history of a boat. About the only thing better than the names of the sport’s legends is the photos that people post. Pick a classic name like Ajac Hawk, Kaama, Top Banana, Popeye’s or Agitator and someone has posted a photo of the boat. One thing you won’t see is negative posts or content that pertains to anything other than old school offshore racing. “I do filter through them,” said Dean. “If I haven’t heard of you and I look through the groups and if I see that you’re part of nasty groups, I say, ‘No.’” When someone posts a new photo or answers a question from another mem-ber, Dean always takes the time to say, “Thank you.” And before he links or posts something, he always asks the person who has the photo or information. When Dean would meet fellow racers in the pits at an event, he said he learned more by listening and observing. “If you hang around intelligent people, you pick up things,” he said. “If you don’t ask ques-tions and follow it, you see how it works.” But mostly, as you’ll see when — and if Dean lets you — sign on to the Old School Offshore Facebook page, you’ll see the biggest reason why Dean enjoys it so much. “You just meet wonderful people in boating,” he said. PRA POKER RUNS AMERICA | Volume 21 Number 1Eric Colby, Editorecolby@pokerrunsamerica.comEditors page1.indd 42018-06-14 3:11 PMSkater’s New ConceptAll levels of performace boats up to 5 enginesIncreasing up to 6 foot cockpit spaceSpecificationsHulls available from 28-50’10-12 person cockpitsFamily friendly with enclosed head and sleeping accomodationsCruise speed of 110+ MPHCruise range up to 600 milesYesterdayTodayCustom Center Console Cats ComingWE ARE RETURNING TO OUR ROOTS WITH AN ALL NEW OUTBOARD LINEUPSkater 20-4.indd 12018-06-14 3:13 PMWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMFEATURES282022 LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST Whether he’s building custom Ford F650 trucks, collecting sports memorabilia or buying his next performance boat, Chris Walker goes all in. 28 CHEMICAL BONDING Tim and TracyLynn Kowalski spend 300 nights per year on the road, promoting their family of BioKleen products.34 SAULT STE. MARIE POKER RUN Poker Runs America’s Sault Ste. Marie Poker Run has come out with flying colors, standing out as a shining example of what a poker run should be.42 MIDNIGHT EXPRESS 43’ OPEN This super-sized boat has become one of the most popular high-performance center consoles on the market.48 1000 ISLANDS POKER RUN Over 40,000 spectators lined the shores during the 1000 Islands Poker Run.56 THREE DAYS OF THUNDER The 2018 edition of the Tickfaw 200 poker run is in the books and the event is turning into one of the premier happenings in performance boating.62 NEW BENEFIT CHARITY FOR ROCK THE BAY POKER RUN Poker Runs America is working with Ryan’s Hope Charity.6POKER RUNS AMERICA | Volume 21 Number 18 Publisher’s Message14 Fast Facts78 Power Play: MTI Owners Fun Run throughout the Keys.82 Power Play: Powerboating For A Cure.88 Meet the Players90 2018 Annual Poker Run Calendar 94 Ad IndexDEPARTMENTSpra vol. 21-1CONTENTScontents.indd 62018-06-15 3:57 PMWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COM2856347 Volume 21 Number 1 | POKER RUNS AMERICA1000 ISLANDS CAN/AM POKER RUNPhoto by Travis Kingdon / Poker Runs Americacontents.indd 72018-06-14 3:19 PMBill TaylorPUBLISHERS NOTE8WWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMWWW.POKERRUNSAMERICA.COMARE READY TO RUMBLE?IT’S POKER RUN TIME!Volume TwenTy one / number onePUBLISHER 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 CONTENT MANGERSteve Sansford ssansford@taylorpublishinggroup.comONLINE EDITORTravis Kingdon tkingdon@taylorpublishinggroup.com PRODUCTION 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 TaylorADMINISTRATION 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 USAThis summer marks the start of our 31st season of Poker Run events, and we have a series of Poker Run weekends that will bring the thrill of performance boating to venues across the nation. One of the highlights of the year has been the creation of a special commemo-rative “coffee table” edition of Poker Runs America celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Poker Run world. This special edi-tion is jam-packed with more than 280 pages of some of the most exciting images and stories, following the devel-opment of engine technology including outboards and inboards, from the 540 Bulldogs to today’s big 1750 turbos. The issue features highlights of the biggest names in race history, and some of the most exciting Poker Run events. Check out the website at www.poker-runsamerica.com to see how you can obtain a copy of this special commemora-tive edition! More and more of our readers are ask-ing us to bring back some of our classic boat reviews – the best way to learn about the “experienced” performance boats. It was just a few weeks ago that I was speaking to racer and Poker Runner Vinnie Rifice about how fast the twin 900 SC’s were pushing a 40-foot Skater back in 1987 – so I dove into the vault to bring readers the story from the archives – you can read all about the history of this famous boat on page 70, and we will be bringing you more of these “blasts from the past” because our job at Poker Runs America is to put performance minded people on the water, and what better way to do that than to show them an affordable way to ignite their passion… and from there they can jump into their brand-new boat. We have 24,000 pages of articles cov-ering boats from a 26-foot Baja to a 29’ Fountain to a 32-foot Skater. It is wonderful to see how the business is booming – Black Thunder is back in full force, and the spectacular center console performance boats are igniting interest in boating across the nation, and selling like hotcakes.The best way to see the Lamborghinis and Maserati’s of the water is to come out to a Poker Run event – we’ve made it easy for you to find an event near you – just check out the website at www.pokerr-unsamerica.com and see our calendar on page 90, and we’ll look forward to seeing you on the water! PRA William E. Taylor, Publisherbill@pokerrunsamerica.comPOKER RUNS AMERICA | Volume 21 Number 1COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF TARA GALLIGANPub Page1.indd 82018-06-15 3:23 PMw w w.mysticpower boats.comThe World’s Finest Offshore PowerboatsJOHN COSKER | MYSTIC POWERBOATS INC. | 1848 PATTERSON AVE | DeLAND, FL 32724 | OFFICE: (386) 736-2247 | MOBILE: (386) 451-0047Coming SoonOutboard Cat38’mystic.indd 12018-06-14 3:21 PMNext >