I have been reading the forums, and one question that has come up several times is "Why do they do it on this weekend? StageCoach and the bike run are on the same weekend?" To answer that question I want to take you back to a little over a decade ago, when I first attended one of the AZHB Poker Run's called the "Heat Wave." Years before I attended this one I had heard they used to do a "Shotgun" start, meaning everyone would just take off heading down the lake at the same time. The year I attended the Poker run had gotten so big, that they decided to do two mass starts just for the sheer amount of boats.
For the life of me I can't remember who's boat I was in, but I was floating in the second group near one of the promoters named Art. The first group lined up all the way across the lake just outside of Thompson bay, and the second group (which we were in) was still milling about behind them. I'll never forget, I was looking back towards the Nautical and in unison I heard what was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 to 50,000 Horsepower all hit the sticks at the same time. I almost jumped out of my skin. The noise was deafening, and it would make even the most seasoned dyno operator get the chills. I am to this day happy that I was there at that spot, at that moment, to see what few people in life would ever witness.
The reason that the dates are picked for the Poker Run simply come down to History. Back then the lake was absolutely dead this time of year (pre memorial day), it was just before the hotel room rates went up for the summer, and you could run 100's of boats in a single direction without too much concern of running into traffic. As time wore on, and the Poker Run grew larger and more popular the Spectator fleets grew exponentially as well. In short this event more or less extended "Boating Season" in Havasu. The other events like StageCoach didn't exist yet (not sure on the Bike run).
It didn't take long before everyone came to the conclusion that the "ShotGun" start (even with two groups) was a bad idea with the additional boat traffic of the ever growing spectator fleet. Pretty soon there was Group A, B, C, D that were set to head in different directions to different stops to lower the amount of traffic all heading one way on the lake. The fastest guys ended always ended up in one group heading to the south end of the lake to Card Stop 1. Now instead of 100's of boats racing down the lake, you would only have 10-20 which seemed reasonable.
As with anything things started evolving quickly, Horsepower and boat technology was changing fast. The front runners were now running closer to 200 mph, then 100, which made things yet even more exciting which in turn bumped up the numbers on the spectator fleets. If you were in the first flight of Desert Storm, then you were amongst some of the fastest boats in the world, an extremely prestigious place to be in. Jim and Art reacted by moving the poker run to Friday and creating the shootout, trying to move the high speeds to a closed course. The faster guys, weren't deterred, they loved the start and the friendly competition, cubic dollars were being spent to be in that group, and ultimately to try and be "number one."
THE RACE TO CARD STOP 1 WAS ON. People were asked to call it a "friendly competition" or in some cases to not even talk about it on the forums. Somehow that was supposed to protect the event if there ever was an incident, and to supposedly keep insurance companies in the dark of what was actually going on, not only at Desert Storm, but at some of the other poker runs across the country. A few years back I spent about 18 grand covering Desert Storm with Live Feeds, helicopters, spotters on Card Stop 1, youtube videos that were edited as fast as we could transfer the video, and to be rather blunt about it, we covered it like it was a Nascar race. Complete with shout outs to sponsors.
http://youtu.be/aD6VGQXhHag[/video]
http://youtu.be/ZpawMyBLm6M[/video]
To see more vids from 2012 click here
http://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/content.php?142-poker-runs
Just between us, this actually caused quite a bit of friction between myself and Jim, plus one of the major sponsors of the event. This wasn't calling it a friendly competition anymore. It was shining a very big spot light on an elephant in the room. Jim's position (and still is) is the event is about the charity, and he didn't care about Card Stop 1. My position was, 99% of the people that come out to this thing couldn't even name the charity, but could cite off who was first to Card Stop 1, for three years prior, what boat they were in, and in the die hard cases who powered it. Ultimately my position was (and still is) "Everybody can keep calling the Elephant in the room a dog, but make no mistake you aren't walking it down the street.. It's walking you." In short the speeches about keeping it mellow, and safe distances, and gently yanking on the leash isn't stopping the elephant. I'm not even sure the Elephant is or rather was listening.
(Fastest Piston Power Skater at the time built to be # 1)
In my opinion the Street Fair is the game changer. Desert Storm finally had something that could compete with the draw of Card Stop 1, and for those lucky enough to experience it for the last couple of years, you got to see the best of both worlds. The street show, and some of the fastest and most exotic boats in the country battle it out in a mass start to see who really is King of the lake.
The Shoot Out was now the third major Draw to the Poker Run. Behind the scenes it was hoped this would finally solve the Card Stop 1 problem. While it was put on to the best of anybodies abilities, it hadn't gotten the traction the staff at Desert Storm had hoped. Ultimately the "King of the Desert" via the shoot out was still playing second fiddle to whom ever was first at Card Stop 1. The hurdle being a lot of the big guys were breaking their equipment in the Poker Run trying to be number one, so when it came time to the Shoot Out the field was more or less who was left over. Between the attrition, and a secondary problem of wind that kept rearing it's head, The Shoot Out was another fun draw for the event, but ultimately considered "weak" by most compared to the Street Fair and the Run itself.
Last year there was an accident with one of the boats that left in the first flight. Everyone has their own opinions on it, and I'm not going to bother getting into all of it, but ultimately I think it was the best thing that could've happened for Desert Storm. Miraculously nobody was seriously injured, but that was the straw that broke the Camels back. Changes weren't up for discussion anymore, they were imminent.
http://youtu.be/-zyMO30Clts[/video]
There was some grumblings this year from some of the spectators that came out to watch guys like Tony C, Gary Smith, John Roth, Mike Bobbit, Mike Dufrese (sp?), and others go head to head. There was some grumblings from some of the old first flight guys about the new format as well. It's a dead issue guys. The old mass start isn't coming back. It's a miracle nobody was killed during some of those starts.. From boats being hosed down doing 150+ mph, to guys losing motors or drives and being lucky that nobody happened to be right next to them when they changed lanes, it really was out of hand in retrospect. (Albeit the most fun you could ever have outside of a bedroom)
So where does this leave us going into the future? Well the answer is simple! If you were like me and rafted up every year south of Pilot Rock to watch the first flight go by at 180+ mph, there's not much point in that anymore. I'd like to offer that crowd an alternative idea of fun for the day. Join the POKER RUN! Everyone says Desert Storm is all about the big boats, they are wrong. Out of 152 entries this year, only a handful of them are true baller boats. The vast majority of the fleet are normal everyday boaters like us. You will get to see the event from a different perspective, and will come away with a clearer understanding of what Desert Storm was original founded on... "FUN."
If you were one of the 10 - 12 guys that used to participate in the first flight, not to worry you're going to get your chance to lay the smack down on your buddy, and it's going to be a lot more fun, with a lot more bragging then the first flight could ever deliver. No more jumped starts, hose downs, cross traffic, or potentially losing your life if someone else makes a mistake.
(2013 Fast Group Start)
The most exciting thing to happen at this years Desert Storm (or likely any Desert Storm in History) was two guys paired off SIDE BY SIDE at the Shoot Out. I was driving up Highway 95 from the south end of town, and I came over the hill just in time to see the two Rooster Tails light off. I knew in an instant Desert Storm was changed forever, and it's going to be A LOT more exciting for the Spectators, and the big guns going into next year.
Two M-35's paired off on Saturday It was Tony C, driving Dean Kato's M-35 vs Charlie Brown in his M-35. Both boats were powered by Mercury 1350's, with minor setup changes between them. Kato's boat was running a 1.40 Gear with 41 props, Brown's boat was running 1.30 gears with 40 pitched props (Wilson Blue printed Lowers). They entered the start line with Tony about a boat length ahead, and at the end of the mile Tony was two boat lengths. Tony was quick to point out, that Charlie was running him down and on a longer course Charlie would've got him. The exit speeds were 159 and 160. (Picture becomes pretty clear, pretty quick of where I'm going with this, and how I plan to cover it next year)
written by RiverDave
Pics courtesy of LakeRacer LLC and NAPLES IMAGE
For the life of me I can't remember who's boat I was in, but I was floating in the second group near one of the promoters named Art. The first group lined up all the way across the lake just outside of Thompson bay, and the second group (which we were in) was still milling about behind them. I'll never forget, I was looking back towards the Nautical and in unison I heard what was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 to 50,000 Horsepower all hit the sticks at the same time. I almost jumped out of my skin. The noise was deafening, and it would make even the most seasoned dyno operator get the chills. I am to this day happy that I was there at that spot, at that moment, to see what few people in life would ever witness.
The reason that the dates are picked for the Poker Run simply come down to History. Back then the lake was absolutely dead this time of year (pre memorial day), it was just before the hotel room rates went up for the summer, and you could run 100's of boats in a single direction without too much concern of running into traffic. As time wore on, and the Poker Run grew larger and more popular the Spectator fleets grew exponentially as well. In short this event more or less extended "Boating Season" in Havasu. The other events like StageCoach didn't exist yet (not sure on the Bike run).
It didn't take long before everyone came to the conclusion that the "ShotGun" start (even with two groups) was a bad idea with the additional boat traffic of the ever growing spectator fleet. Pretty soon there was Group A, B, C, D that were set to head in different directions to different stops to lower the amount of traffic all heading one way on the lake. The fastest guys ended always ended up in one group heading to the south end of the lake to Card Stop 1. Now instead of 100's of boats racing down the lake, you would only have 10-20 which seemed reasonable.
As with anything things started evolving quickly, Horsepower and boat technology was changing fast. The front runners were now running closer to 200 mph, then 100, which made things yet even more exciting which in turn bumped up the numbers on the spectator fleets. If you were in the first flight of Desert Storm, then you were amongst some of the fastest boats in the world, an extremely prestigious place to be in. Jim and Art reacted by moving the poker run to Friday and creating the shootout, trying to move the high speeds to a closed course. The faster guys, weren't deterred, they loved the start and the friendly competition, cubic dollars were being spent to be in that group, and ultimately to try and be "number one."
THE RACE TO CARD STOP 1 WAS ON. People were asked to call it a "friendly competition" or in some cases to not even talk about it on the forums. Somehow that was supposed to protect the event if there ever was an incident, and to supposedly keep insurance companies in the dark of what was actually going on, not only at Desert Storm, but at some of the other poker runs across the country. A few years back I spent about 18 grand covering Desert Storm with Live Feeds, helicopters, spotters on Card Stop 1, youtube videos that were edited as fast as we could transfer the video, and to be rather blunt about it, we covered it like it was a Nascar race. Complete with shout outs to sponsors.
To see more vids from 2012 click here
http://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/content.php?142-poker-runs
Just between us, this actually caused quite a bit of friction between myself and Jim, plus one of the major sponsors of the event. This wasn't calling it a friendly competition anymore. It was shining a very big spot light on an elephant in the room. Jim's position (and still is) is the event is about the charity, and he didn't care about Card Stop 1. My position was, 99% of the people that come out to this thing couldn't even name the charity, but could cite off who was first to Card Stop 1, for three years prior, what boat they were in, and in the die hard cases who powered it. Ultimately my position was (and still is) "Everybody can keep calling the Elephant in the room a dog, but make no mistake you aren't walking it down the street.. It's walking you." In short the speeches about keeping it mellow, and safe distances, and gently yanking on the leash isn't stopping the elephant. I'm not even sure the Elephant is or rather was listening.
(Fastest Piston Power Skater at the time built to be # 1)
In my opinion the Street Fair is the game changer. Desert Storm finally had something that could compete with the draw of Card Stop 1, and for those lucky enough to experience it for the last couple of years, you got to see the best of both worlds. The street show, and some of the fastest and most exotic boats in the country battle it out in a mass start to see who really is King of the lake.
The Shoot Out was now the third major Draw to the Poker Run. Behind the scenes it was hoped this would finally solve the Card Stop 1 problem. While it was put on to the best of anybodies abilities, it hadn't gotten the traction the staff at Desert Storm had hoped. Ultimately the "King of the Desert" via the shoot out was still playing second fiddle to whom ever was first at Card Stop 1. The hurdle being a lot of the big guys were breaking their equipment in the Poker Run trying to be number one, so when it came time to the Shoot Out the field was more or less who was left over. Between the attrition, and a secondary problem of wind that kept rearing it's head, The Shoot Out was another fun draw for the event, but ultimately considered "weak" by most compared to the Street Fair and the Run itself.
Last year there was an accident with one of the boats that left in the first flight. Everyone has their own opinions on it, and I'm not going to bother getting into all of it, but ultimately I think it was the best thing that could've happened for Desert Storm. Miraculously nobody was seriously injured, but that was the straw that broke the Camels back. Changes weren't up for discussion anymore, they were imminent.
There was some grumblings this year from some of the spectators that came out to watch guys like Tony C, Gary Smith, John Roth, Mike Bobbit, Mike Dufrese (sp?), and others go head to head. There was some grumblings from some of the old first flight guys about the new format as well. It's a dead issue guys. The old mass start isn't coming back. It's a miracle nobody was killed during some of those starts.. From boats being hosed down doing 150+ mph, to guys losing motors or drives and being lucky that nobody happened to be right next to them when they changed lanes, it really was out of hand in retrospect. (Albeit the most fun you could ever have outside of a bedroom)
So where does this leave us going into the future? Well the answer is simple! If you were like me and rafted up every year south of Pilot Rock to watch the first flight go by at 180+ mph, there's not much point in that anymore. I'd like to offer that crowd an alternative idea of fun for the day. Join the POKER RUN! Everyone says Desert Storm is all about the big boats, they are wrong. Out of 152 entries this year, only a handful of them are true baller boats. The vast majority of the fleet are normal everyday boaters like us. You will get to see the event from a different perspective, and will come away with a clearer understanding of what Desert Storm was original founded on... "FUN."
If you were one of the 10 - 12 guys that used to participate in the first flight, not to worry you're going to get your chance to lay the smack down on your buddy, and it's going to be a lot more fun, with a lot more bragging then the first flight could ever deliver. No more jumped starts, hose downs, cross traffic, or potentially losing your life if someone else makes a mistake.
(2013 Fast Group Start)
The most exciting thing to happen at this years Desert Storm (or likely any Desert Storm in History) was two guys paired off SIDE BY SIDE at the Shoot Out. I was driving up Highway 95 from the south end of town, and I came over the hill just in time to see the two Rooster Tails light off. I knew in an instant Desert Storm was changed forever, and it's going to be A LOT more exciting for the Spectators, and the big guns going into next year.
Two M-35's paired off on Saturday It was Tony C, driving Dean Kato's M-35 vs Charlie Brown in his M-35. Both boats were powered by Mercury 1350's, with minor setup changes between them. Kato's boat was running a 1.40 Gear with 41 props, Brown's boat was running 1.30 gears with 40 pitched props (Wilson Blue printed Lowers). They entered the start line with Tony about a boat length ahead, and at the end of the mile Tony was two boat lengths. Tony was quick to point out, that Charlie was running him down and on a longer course Charlie would've got him. The exit speeds were 159 and 160. (Picture becomes pretty clear, pretty quick of where I'm going with this, and how I plan to cover it next year)
written by RiverDave
Pics courtesy of LakeRacer LLC and NAPLES IMAGE
