Of the 20 events I’ve covered in person so far this year, only one—the Florida Powerboat Club Bahamas Poker Run—came with really big water. And thanks to Mark Fischer of Deep Impact Custom Boats and the second 499 center console from the Opa-Locka, Fla., builder, we had more than enough boat to handle it with no drama.
As it happens, the six-outboard-powered 49-footer will be part of the Boyne Thunder Poker Run fleet this weekend in Northern Michigan. Well-known in the go-fasting world as a bipolar body of pristine water you don’t want to mess with, Lake Michigan could provide another big-water performance arena for the center console.
Based on my Bahamas experience, I know the 499 can handle whatever Lake Michigan throws at it. But what will Lake Michigan throw at it?
That’s always a good question.
Lake Michigan hasn’t shown its ugly side to Boyne Thunder participants in several years. But the longer its rough-water drought lasts, the more anxious returning participants become. The question above hangs in the air during the annual Thursday night welcome party at Boyne Mountain Resort.
Will this be the year we rediscover Lake Michigan’s evil side? Will the conditions for the 2025 Boyne Thunder Poker Run match those for the 2017 event, which yielded some of the most wild images of boats soaring through the air in the 16-year history of Speedonthwater.com.
Despite accurate marine forecasts for the lake’s Northern Michigan waters, you never know for sure until the day of the event. And even if the day begins with dead-glass waters, those waters can get ugly in a second. While you’re enjoying lunch at pretty marina on Round Lake in Charlevoix nasty waters could be building just in time to ruin your day.
Will this be the year that happens?
If so, I can only hope I have a seat in the 499, at least for Thursday’s lunch run to Bay Harbor. I am bound for New Hampshire early Friday for the HK Powersports Land and Lake Poker Run on Lake Winnipesaukee. Last year, the New Hampshire group raised more than $175,000 for Easter Seals of New Hampshire in just one day. That plus the famous waterway got my attention. So I’ll be gone for this Saturday main event on Lake Michigan.
But will the lake make me glad I missed it? Will big-air Boyne return this year?
Until the answer arrives Saturday, the question will burn.
