Not As Busy As Brett

As I usually do the week leading up to the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Missouri, I started mapping out my calendar of happenings for the annual event. In doing so on Tuesday, I was thinking to myself that it’s going to be quite a busy week. This being the 30th anniversary and all, not to mention that I’ll be catching a flight to St. Louis on Monday—after covering this weekend’s Big Cat Poker Run in Northern California—so I can get to the lake in time for Tuesday’s Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Hall of Fame ceremony. That reminds me, I still have an induction speech to write.

Brett Manire and Mark Waddington are going to be honored next week as their business is being inducted into the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

Still, while I seem busy, I realized my situation is a breeze compared to what Performance Boat Center’s Brett Manire has going on. I know because I asked him about his plans for the week, and he told me his Shootout preparation began a couple of weeks ago between scheduling, prepping the facility, getting displays set up, making sure boats are ready for customers to enjoy the event and much more.

I caught up with Manire quickly on Tuesday afternoon as he was off to catch a flight to Michigan to visit the Sunsation Boats factory to check in on a new boat that is going to be showcased next week at Lake of the Ozarks. Not only was he consumed with Shootout prep, he said the Performance Boat Center/Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast offshore racing team—a skeleton crew, he added—left on Tuesday for the Race World Offshore event this weekend in Dunkirk, N.Y., and there were a couple of new Wright Performance Powerboats 360 cat rigging jobs being completed by the end of this week.

Although I expect my time with Manire to be limited next week—it usually is—I should be crossing paths with him several times as the company he owns with business partner Mark Waddington is being inducted into the Bob Morgan Memorial Hall of Fame as well. That happens Tuesday evening at The Stables at Cannon Smoked Saloon. On Wednesday I’ll run into him a few times during the Shootout on the Strip street festival on Bagnell Dam Boulevard, then I’ll likely see him at the Speedonthewater.com Mercury Racing Verado 400R Sport Cat Roundup at Super Cat Fest at Camden on the Lake on Thursday, followed by the one-of-a-kind welcome party hosted at Performance Boat Center on Thursday night.

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