Inaugural BFD Fun Run On Lake Of The Ozarks Gets Off To First-Class Start

Thanks to an impressive opening reception at the brand new Big Thunder Marine showroom in Lake Ozark, Mo., on Thursday night and a well-attended fun run on Friday with several stops on Lake of the Ozarks, the inaugural BFD Fun Run came together smoothly and left no doubt in the mind of Jeremy Anderson, Big Thunder Marine’s general manager, that the event will take place again in 2019.

An obvious highlight of the inaugural BFD Fun Run hosted by Big Thunder Marine was the debut of Donzi Marine‘s new outboard-powered 41 GT in the event on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks. All photos by Clint Schaffnit/Big Thunder Marine

And with more than 70 boats registered for the first-year event, who is to say if the BFD (Baja, Fountain & Donzi) Fun Run boat count couldn’t double or triple as the event—and the brands it represents—gains momentum?

“The feedback overall has been excellent, and considering we only put people on notice about 60 days ago, the response and turnout was great,” said Anderson, who ran one of Big Thunder Marine’s 32-foot Fountain Powerboats catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R with his two sons on Friday and had a blast. “The customers who purchased the all-new Fountain 39 NX center console from us did the run and had a lot of fun.

“Probably the most exiting part was having the new Donzi 41 GT to show off,” he continued. “That’s a beautiful boat and it ran well considering it was the first time the boat was in the water in public.”

On Friday morning, Big Thunder Marine—the on-water location in Gravois Mills—hosted a breakfast before the boats headed to several stops, organized by time durations between Bear Bottom, Fish & Co., Paradise and Coconuts, and returned in time to clean up before dinner at the new Big Thunder Marine showroom.

Check out the slideshow above for more images from the first Big Thunder Marine-hosted BFD Fun Run.

Anderson thanked one particularly dedicated member of the Big Thunder Marine team—Ed Champion—for his hard work in putting the fun run together. He made sure to point out that it was still a team effort and that it was nice to have several representatives from Iconic Marine Group, the North Carolina-based parent company of Baja Marine, Donzi Marine and Fountain Powerboats, on hand for the event.

“We learned a few things like any first-year event does but there’s not a lot we really need to change moving forward,” Anderson said. “Ed has helped produce events before and he did a great job with this one. Of course he had the support of the company with whatever he needed, but he totally organized everything.”

Anderson said one of the coolest parts of the event was seeing everything from a Donzi 22 Classic and a 25 Baja running alongside a classic 38-foot Fountain with blower engines as well as a couple of new models—Fountain’s 39 NX and Donzi’s 41 GT.

Inaugural BFD Fun Run On Lake Of The Ozarks Gets Off To First-Class Start

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