Inside SOTW Mag: Out Of This World At The 2021 Cigarette Owners Rendezvous

Asked a week before the seventh annual Cigarette Owners Rendezvous at the Lake of the Ozarks if he expected to break the 2020 event’s 104-boat record, Mark Waddington, the owner of Performance Boat Center, played it cool. So, too, did Brett Manire, Waddington’s business partner in the multi- brand full-service dealership in Osage Beach, Mo., which has hosted the event on the Central Missouri waterway since its inception.

“It’s definitely going to be hard to beat 105 boats,” Waddington said. “We shall see.”

Added Manire, “I don’t know—105 boats, that is a lot of boats.”

Thanks to the most brand-loyal powerboat owners on the planet, the seventh annual Cigarette Owners Rendezvous hosted by Performance Boat Center set yet another attendance record while wowing the Cigarette faithful. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Whether they were just being cagey or had genuine doubts, that was their story and they stuck to it. But one thing is certain: Both were delighted with this year’s new-record-setting 111-boat turnout, which started with an 80-plus- boat fun run to Coconuts Caribbean Beach Bar and Grill and Backwater Jacks before Saturday’s main event that included a short trek to Big Dick’s Halfway Inn for lunch and  a raft-up in Linn Creek Cove.

“We couldn’t have been happier,” Manire said. “The weather, the boats and the people were awesome. What a great event.”

Among the 111 Cigarette owners who made the pilgrimage to the lake was Tennessee’s Kelly Cook, who owns a 42 Tiger dubbed Mind If I Smoke. It was Cook’s second Cigarette Owners Rendezvous—his first was in 2020.

“We had a great time,” said Cook, who was joined by his girlfriend, Shelly, and her son, Logan, and several friends from California, including Tank and Kelly Sears. “It’s always fun when you’re able to spend time with your closest friends whom you only see two or three times a year. Sadly it is always over way too soon but we’re making life memories.”

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