Inside SOTW Mag: Desert Bloom—On Scene At The DCB Owners Regatta

ByMatt Trulio

Hurtling along I-95 at close to 100 mph at 4 a.m. on my way to Las Vegas to catch a flight back to Northern California, a thought occurred that made me smile. Just the day before, I had topped my current driving speed by more than 35 mph in a DCB Performance Boats M35 Widebody catamaran owned by Canadian Brad Macaulay during the 21st DCB Owners Regatta in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. And it struck me that I felt a whole lot more comfortable with Macaulay at the helm of the 35-footer powered by Mercury Racing 1350 engines—with Deron Rettke, DCB’s resident perfectionist and head rigger, riding shotgun—than I did behind the wheel of my rented Nissan Maxima.

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For the 21st year, DCB Performance Boats owners gathered in Arizona to celebrate the vaunted West Coast custom brand. Photo courtesy/copyright Tom Leigh/Tommy Gun Images.

So a few miles before Searchlight, Nev., a notorious desert speed-trap that doubles as a wide spot in the road, I slowed down to 80 mph and continued to scrub speed as the small-town glow got brighter against the black desert sky.

By the time I was inching though Searchlight at its glacial 25-mph speed limit, I was eager to start speeding again. But having experienced the diligence of local law enforcement officials firsthand, I stuck to the speed limit, which changes every few hundred yards as you enter and exit the town, until I was well beyond the city limits.

My goal? Beat the time it took me to get from Las Vegas to Lake Havasu City to cover the DCB event less than 48 hours earlier. (Such are the kind of games you play with yourself when you spend a lot of time on the road.)

But while I was in a hurry to get home as I always am, I was in no rush to leave the DCB happening, which attracted 75 boats and approximately 300 people to Lake Havasu for the relaxing late September weekend. The El Cajon, Calif., custom high-performance boat builder has been hosting the casual event for more than two decades. This time around it included a fun run from the London Bridge Resort host venue to Pirate Cove Resort for participants who arrived early on Friday and a welcome party at the hotel that night followed by a five-stop poker run and a photo shoot on Saturday morning with a dinner celebration that evening.

In short, it was the most delightful Lake Havasu-based event I have ever covered.

To enjoy the complete feature, click the download link for the PDF of the September/October 2019 Speed On The Water magazine, and please share any feedback with us below, via email or on social media.