The Mid Atlantic Powerboating Association (MAPA) team is once again fighting breast cancer this Friday and Saturday (June 28 and June 29) with a squadron of Offshore Power Boats and a deck of cards.
The event is organized by MAPA, the 11th annual Powerboating for a Cure Poker Run, and has raised over $300,000 for Breast Cancer Research in the last 10 years, and donated over $50,000 to the Associated General Contractors for their scholarship program.
The course, for this Year’s Run, will have a slight change. The boats are running a little more north in the James River up to Leeward Marina and Gatling Point in Smithfield. Later on, the poker runners will stop at Rudee’s on the Inlet. In between there are stops at Blue Water Yachts in Hampton, and Long Bay Point Marina in Lynnhaven, Virginia Beach. The longer of the two courses is approximately 135 miles. You will experience the calmness of the river, the chop of the Chesapeake Bay, and the excitement of the Atlantic Ocean.
Before the Run begins, there’s a Fun Run on Friday afternoon at the new Bennett’s Creek Marina, a Silent Auction that carries over into Saturday, included on Friday Night is an Italian Buffet Dinner provided by Ynot Italian. On Saturday, the Run ends with a party, where the teams play their poker hands and the money raised is handed to Susan G. Komen for the Cure that night, with a little left over to fund the Associated General Contractors Scholarship Fund.
This comes after being treated to barbecue shrimp on the barbie, grilled pork chop medallions and smoked grilled sausages served to the participants at their boats in the afternoon, followed by a dinner of beef brisket, pulled barbecue chicken and all of the fixings provided by Mission BBQ, and Awards Event.
This year’s Powerboating for a Cure has 50-plus boats registered and 225 attendees.
We are excited to be able to handle everything out of the Waterside Sheraton Hotel and the Waterside Marina in Norfolk, Virginia. We have over 20 Gold, Silver and Bronze Sponsors this year, and looking forward to seeing Dr. Mike Janssen and his canopied Outerlimits, along with Brian Forehand, Jeb Bradshaw, Vinnie Diorio, Burt Kirsten, and Richie Szenet, all part of Team Outerlimits. And not to be outdone, Team Cigarette and Team Fountain are both well represented in the fleet.
The forecast is Bright skies, low winds, and calm seas making for what looks to be an exciting event.—Bob Veith, event chairman
