When I first came up with the concept of publishing an international performance boating magazine that would focus on poker run events (which we first introduced almost 16 years ago) and offshore racing, I knew it would eventually be successful. At that time, I had no idea that Poker Runs America would, in a few short years, become a runaway hit and eventually pave the way for several projects specifically designed to help promote the growth of recreational performance boating.

Our recently established American Poker Runs Association - which now sanctions more than 20 events - is just the first installment. Considering the incredible growth of poker runs, APRA was initially formed to ensure that these weekends followed and enforced some basic principles of safe and responsible boating. It was never our plan to become the one-and-only official event-sanctioning body. Our goal was simply to make certain nobody got hurt. From the very beginning, we made sure participants in every one of our events accepted some commonsense rules, such as wearing life jackets or PFDs on the water and totally abstaining from any alcoholic beverage consumption during the event.

It's a given that the poker run phenomenon we first introduced and promoted 16 years ago will continue to flourish. It's also a fact that today's performance boats are capable of running at incredibly fast speeds. Only two reasons for our continuing emphasis on safety.

I felt very proud when we were recently invited to address delegates at the 6th Annual International Boating & Water Safety Summit in Florida (see our Fast Facts section for the full story). Not only had the organizers (the National Safe Boating Council) singled us out to present our views on proper performance boating practices, the conference delegates, representing organizations that legislate maritime regulations, applauded us for our active role in promoting and enforcing safe recreational boating.

Basic rules that stress safety on the water do not remove the fun element of a poker run weekend. Like the saying goes, "Better safe than sorry." All it takes is one tragic accident that could have been avoided to create a media circus that would eventually result in a nationwide ban on poker runs.

And that's something we'll continue to make every effort to prevent. But we can't do it alone. We need your help and your cooperation.
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