Image of the Week

This time of year, high-performance powerboat photographer Jay Nichols doesn’t spend much time kicking back at his home in the Naples, Fla., He spent last Friday and Saturday shooting the Tickfaw 200 go-fast boat event in Louisiana. A week before that he was in Arizona shooting Desert Storm. Next week he’ll be on a special assignment across his home state for the second issue of Speed On The Water magazine. A few days later he'll cross the state again to cover the Super Boat Boat International Cocoa Beach event.

Rolling—and rumbling—on the Tickfaw River. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image. (Click for expanded for view.)

Nichols never complains about all the time away from home—he knows that being crazy with work is a high-class problem, and he loves his job. On every shoot, he finds something he hasn’t seen before. On every assignment, he makes friends. Being an in-demand go-fast boat photographer is a good gig, and he knows it.

Among his stronger qualities as a photographer? Patience. Enough to wait for the right moment. I’ve worked with a lot of photographers and all the great ones have it. Which is one of the main reasons why there aren’t that many great ones.

Read more: Image of the Week: Rumble in the Swamp at the Tickfaw 200

While in Puerto Rico for the Caribbean International Boat Show in March, representatives from Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats were able to get out and tour the waterways in and around Fajardo’s Puerto del Rey Marina in the company’s triple-engine 390 Sport.

The Sunset, a ship used in the filming of three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies was docked in Puerto Rico last month. Photo by Mario Vazquez

During one outing they came across an unusual vessel, which turned out to be a floating movie set. Sunset, a ship that has appeared in the last three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, was docked in Fajardo. Although you can’t see it in the image, the transom has the boat name with Long Beach, CA below it.

Notice the combatant skeleton up front. I know, nothing about this shot says speed, but you have to admit it’s still pretty cool—and it was taken by Mario Vazquez from a performance center console so it passes my test.

You can read more about Nor-Tech’s Exotic Escapes in Puerto Rico here.

With what will likely end up as close to 150 boats on Lake Havasu this Friday, the Desert Storm Poker Run remains one of the most popular poker runs in the country. It’s not a “destination” run such as the Florida Powerboat Club’s Key West and Miami Boat Show/Islamorada events where participants finish the run in some exotic location. It doesn’t include a fun lunch stop, one that’s ideal for socializing and mingling, at a tropical tiki bar.

Yet for any number reasons, the Desert Storm Poker Run continues to draw high-performance powerboat enthusiasts from around the country. Without question, there’s something compelling about running fast on inviting blue to green water in the middle of a forbidding orange and red desert. It’s a visual mind blower. And the untamed nature of the geography, as well as the Lake Havasu scene, holds more than a little appeal.

At least some of the magic of Desert Storm is contained in its annual Street Party. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

But from a pure, “Why does this event work so well every year?” perspective, you have to give significant credit to the annual Desert Storm Street Party the day before the run. Created by the event’s organizers and sponsors, the open-air Street Party, which boasts more than a mile of go-fast boats and displays along McCulloch Boulevard in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., is an event like no other.

Read more: Image of the Week: Street Party Oasis

We didn’t see nearly as much of JBS Racing on the offshore the racecourse as we would have liked to over the years, but we always appreciated it when we did. Despite that the JBS team of owner/driver Jeff Stevenson and throttleman Joe Skrocki (Brandon Weppner eventually took over the team's throttling duties) rarely went head to head with Turbine-class arch rivals Marc Granet and Scott Begovich in Miss GEICO, that didn’t’ stop the two teams from developing a colorful and often contentious—at least on the offshoreonly.com message boards—rivalry.

Photographer Jay Nichols shot this photo of the spectacular turbine-powered 50-foot Mystic Powerboats catamaran during the Poker Runs America Cape Coral (Fla.) Poker Run in 2010. Using a 43-foot Nor-Tech V-bottom owned by Alec Cloke as a photo platform, Nichols captured JBS Racing accelerating hard and throwing a hefty roostertail. 

The racing days are over for JBS Racing, but flying new colors it should be a favorite on the poker circuit this summer. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“The shot was slightly planned, as Alec put the idea into Jeff’s head on my suggestion,” Nichols recalls. “It was one of those ‘while we’re here’ moments.”

With Stevenson’s sale of the cat a couple of weeks ago to Tom Borisch (Read the story) , the 50-foot Mystic’s days on the racecourse are over. Heading to the paint shop for new graphics, the boat—at least while Borisch owns it—will spend the rest of its days on the poker run circuit.

So farewell, JBS Racing. We never saw as much of you as wanted to, but we always enjoyed it when we did.

Related Story: New Owner to Campaign Former JBS Racing Mystic on Poker Run Circuit

At speedonthewater.com, we love photos of exotic go-fast boat hardware in big-air flight as much as anyone—no question about that. But we also appreciate shots that reveal the essence of being on the water with friends and family on a perfect day.

The essence of a day on the-water in a high-performance boat—it doesn't get any better than this. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

That’s why we chose the Jay Nichols photo above as our Image of the Week. As high-performance powerboats go, this twin Mercury Verado outboard 34-foot Statement Marine center console owned by Lois and Charlie Amorosi is relatively simple compared to the outrageous V-bottom sportboats and catamarans the St. Petersburg, Fla., company builds. And caught during Boat Kids Day last week idling out of Dunedin Marina on its way to Caladesi State Park, the 34-footer isn’t  exactly flying across the water.

And yet … Who wouldn’t want to be on this boat with the Amorosi’s and their guests, especially on such a fine spring day in Florida?

We look at this picture and we see ourselves there. Like you, we love speed on the water. But we love quieter moments, the ones that let give us enough time to appreciate what we're doing and where we are, just as much.

Maybe even a little more. At least sometimes.

When a helicopter with a photographer flies over your boat during a poker run, it’s almost instinctive to raise one hand in recognition of the moment. The question is: What hand gesture do you use?

Peace, victory or anything else—the hand gestures from elated passengers during a poker run never stop coming. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Napless Image.

Having covered a slew of pokers runs from helicopters during the years, I’ve seen several different hand gestures including the thumbs-up, the fist-pump—the most popular one for men—the “beauty pageant” wave—generally favored by women—the “OK” sign and, as captured in this image by ace photographer Jay Nichols, the peace sign.

Or is it the victory sign? Hard to tell, but in a strange way—you usually don’t “win” anything in a poker run and gesture of “peace” is nice enough but somewhat random in the context of what you’re doing—they both make sense. Victory or peace, both signs work.

About the only sign I haven’t seen from passengers in a boat during a poker run? The middle finger. That, too, makes sense. I mean, why would you flip the bird for photographic posterity, especially when you’re having a great time?

Whatever your poker run “sign,” they’re all expressions of pure joy and exhilaration. And they’re all a welcome sight.

Last week, the community of offshoreonly.com—the best-known website in the high-performance powerboat world—raised more than $26,000 for Kenny “Toes” Cranmer, a Jersey Outlaw class boat racer who was paralyzed from the shoulders down during a crash in 2011. Cranmer needed a piece of physical therapy equipment that his insurance company wouldn’t cover, and led by Alec Cloke and Jimmy Winters, a couple of well-known figures in go-fast boat circles, the offshoreonly.com family raised the money Cranmer needed—and even a little more.

Like most of the people who got behind Cranmer’s cause, Jason Johnson and I at speedonthewater.com have never met the man, much less seen him run while he was still racing in his classic Garvey speedboat. So I called my friend Tim Sharkey, an excellent New Jersey-based photographer who shoots all kinds of powerboat racing, to see if he had any photos of Cranmer in action.

Sharkey had dozens.

Kenny Cranmer in action in 2010. Photo courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images.

“This one is my favorite,” he said of the image above. “It was taken during a race in Beachwood, New Jersey, in 2010.”

Thank you Tim Sharkey for this amazing photograph. Thank you Alec Cloke, Jimmy Winters and the “unnamed West Coast donor” who donated the lion's share of the money. And thank you, the community of offshoreonly.com community for reaching out and giving to a stranger.

Helping our own friends and family is instinctive. For most of us, it's a reflex.

Helping a stranger is noble.

Related Story: Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are

From the red-hot Cigarette Racing Team V-bottom to the whitewater wake exploding behind it as the boat begins to come off plane, there’s plenty to appreciate in this classic image from photographer Jay Nichols. It resonates with anyone who’s ever taken a ride with friends in a high-performance powerboat.

Conversation is challenging in a moving go-fast boat, but that doesn't stop even the most experienced drivers and passengers from giving it a try. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

This photo, which Nichols captured during the 2013 Miami Boat Show Poker Run, is especially meaningful among those who've tried to carry on a conversation at anything above idle speed—because for the most part it’s an exercise in hoarse-throated, shouting futility. Still, no matter how many times you try it and get nowhere, it doesn’t stop you—in the heat of the good-time moment—from trying it again.

Nichols captured the moment perfectly. Take a close look at the enlarged photo above. The driver and the portside passenger are leaning in to holler at and hear one another. The passenger behind the driver clearly wants in on the conversation so he’s leaning forward.

The other two passengers, the woman in the center with her hair in her face and the guy with the shades behind the portside passenger? We don’t know whether or not they wanted in on the cockpit conversation, but they sure appear happy to just enjoy the ride.

From its sugar-sand beaches to its swimming pool water, Florida’s Emerald Coast can give any high-performance powerboat location a run for its money. The collection of hardware in the area, not to mention the good-time party scene, makes it a hotbed for the local go-fast boat crowd and a destination for those from northern climes.

And with the coastal town of Destin as ground zero, it’s also home to the annual Emerald Coast Poker Run, which always is one of the top events of the Florida Powerboat Club poker run season.

Go-fast boating environments don't get much better than Florida's Emerald Coast. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

Photographer Jay Nichols manages to shoot the event almost every year. The image above was taken in 2009 during the Navarre Beach lunch stop that Nichols described as “the best” of any poker run he’s covered.

“This is a great raft-up shot—just a ton of great hardware and good people having fun,” said Nichols. “It was one of those of those parties that you don’t want to leave.”

Fortunately for Nichols and as many as 200 go-fast owners, the Emerald Coast Poker Run returns to Destin every year.

There are serious advantages to being part of the Fort Myers Offshore high-performance powerboat club. Here are just a few.

First, it likely means you live at least part time in an area that offers some of the prettiest water and destinations on the west coast of Florida. Second, it means you’re going to be surrounded by fun-loving folks in some super-fine hardware. And third, you have Jay Nichols, who captured this image of club members on their way to the Sarasota Hyatt for the weekend, as your official club photographer.

Just another day in the life for members of Fort Myers Offshore. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“This shot is kind of unique,” said Nichols. “These guys are out in front and heading north around Venice Beach, and I am flying south from Sarasota to meet them.”

Read more: Image of the Week: Fort Myers Offshore Flies in Formation