Riding With The Lake Boys

A couple of weekends ago, I made a stealth mission to the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri to experience Performance Boat Center’s annual Fall Fun Run. Why travel almost 2,000 miles—one way—from my home in Northern California to cover what was supposed to be a small, casual event on a quiet fall weekend?

There are no coincidences. Or are there? (Click image to enlarge.) Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Because it was supposed to be a small, casual event on a quiet weekend.

Jason Johnson, my offshoreonly.com columnist and speedonthewater.com co-publisher, and I cover the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout every year. And that weekend—make it that week—is anything but quiet.

Don’t get me wrong, I love pretty much everything about the Shootout save for Missouri’s nasty late-August humidity. But if you’re looking for a low-key experience on the vast waterway, Shootout week—combined with all the hijinks of the concurrently running Super Cat Fest—is a bad call.

Brett Manire of Osage Beach-based Performance Boat Center told me he was expecting “about 30 boats, maybe.” He ended up with 50 and got me a ride in a beautifully renovated (by the team at Performance Boat Center) 48-foot MTI catamaran owned by Scott Rosenbach, who splits his time between Chicago and South Florida. Manire joined us, as did Performance Boat Center’s Myrick Coil.

Read more: Riding With The Lake Boys

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