The crew piloting the turbine-engine-powered XINSURANCE Mystic catamaran, driver Nick Buis and throttleman J.J. Turk made a huge mistake last Saturday at 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run in Upstate New York. They blew through a 30-mph zone at 157 mph. The fines for the citations that Buis received, as the boat’s driver, will be costly.
The XINSURANCE catamaran was on display during the event’s Thursday evening Block Party in downtown Clayton. Image by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
What’s more, no one knows what effect the incident, which went viral on social within minutes after it occurred, will have on next year’s event. But it’s fair to say to widely viewed optics weren’t great.
Here’s what Buis and Turk didn’t do.
Make excuses. Because there weren’t any. The organizers explained the course including its speed limits through all zones in great detail—as they do every year—during the Saturday’s morning drivers’ meeting. Buis and Turk either missed the meeting or missed the message it delivered.
Still, they didn’t behave like a couple of teenagers in traffic court and go the “guilty, but with an explanation” route. They didn’t blame a lack of speed-limit signage or a full moon or smoke in the air, much less get really silly and start blaming state politics.
Don’t believe me about the politics? Blow through the speed-restricted “Miserable Mile” in Cape Coral, Fla., at that speed and get back to me.
Buis and Turk did what grown men do. They took responsibility for their actions.
For those who missed it, here’s what they had to say in yesterday’s speedonthewater.com feature by Eric Colby on the event.
Buis: “We messed up. This is 100 percent on us. We appreciate the venue and the great cause. We’re sorry we disrupted the run due to our lack of knowledge and we hope the venue will allow us back.”
Turk: “The poker-run teams, the locals, the event organizers and the Make-A-Wish foundation all did an incredible job. We made a mistake and will do our best to turn a negative into a positive.”
Just owning it was the right way to start.