Third Annual Texoma Throw Down Is Best One Yet

According to people who have been to all three of the Texoma Throw Down events organized by the Texoma Powerboat Association and others who attended the run for the first time last weekend, this year’s gathering hosted at Marina Del Rey in Kingston, Okla., was the best one yet.

Several MTI owners, including Oklahoma’s Jim Williams in his colorful 2018 48-foot catamaran, were on hand for the third annual Texoma Throw Down. All photos by Kevin Johns/Instant Memories Photography

Primary organizers Casey and Tegan Moore and their team, which includes Kevin Johns of Instant Memories Photography and several other volunteers, followed up on their promise to provide a fun, stress-free run. And, thankfully for them, the participants came in droves and the weather was more than suitable for an awesome weekend on the water. According to Moore, the final tally on registered boats for the event was 118, which was up from the 97 boats that entered in 2019.

“It was a hell of a week man but it was an awesome one and I can’t thank everyone enough who helped us out and came out for the run,” Moore said. “I was kind of surprised by the turnout with all the COVID-19 stuff going on, but I think people were looking to do something fun and different because the event schedule has been pretty limited this year. Considering we had 40 boats the first year, the jump to 118 was pretty amazing.

“We learned some things this year because of the size—like we figured out we’re going to need to do a few starts next year and also find some more people to help us with registration and everything else,” he continued. “It was pretty cool to have so many boats here—I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many powerboats out at the islands before. My wife said she was getting goosebumps when we were out there Friday for the Burgers In Paradise lunch.”

The event started with a Thursday evening meet and greet and continued into Friday with the traditional Burgers in Paradise lunch on the islands that are popular for raft-ups on the lake, which borders Oklahoma and Texas. On Saturday, the run went smoothly as participants—including Billy Shipley and Chad Woody, who brought the Team Woody 35-foot canopied Fountain Powerboats raceboat to the event—enjoyed going to as many stops as possible.

Check out the slideshow above for more images from last weekend’s Texoma Throw Down.

“I hadn’t been to Lake Texoma in years—it was back when they had the High Roller Poker Run—so it was nice to get out there again,” said Texas performance boater Cass Shewbart, whose new Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats SL 44 powered by twin Mercury Racing 860 engines earned the event’s “Best V-bottom” award. “We had a great time there and the array of boats on hand was pretty impressive. There was a little bit of everything from sportboats and cats to center consoles and cruisers. I kind of forgot how big the lake was, too. The water was great and it was a pretty long run if you went to all the stops so that was nice because we really got to run the boat.

“I did make one suggestion to the organizers that I think they were already aware of, which is to alter the start times a little because it was pretty hectic with everyone leaving at the same time,” he continued. “I’d go back next year for sure. And not just because they told me my boat is going to be on the event shirt since it got the Best V-bottom award (laughs). The boat definitely got a lot of love during the run.”

Along with Shewbart’s award, Moore said the awards for best catamaran and best center console went to a couple of Oklahoma performance boaters—Joe Whisner, whose new MTI 390X catamaran is powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R engines, and Jake Nossaman, who had his MTI-V 42 luxury performance center console with quad Mercury Racing 400R engines on hand along with his new MTI 390X cat with twin Mercury Racing 450R engines.

“We had an entire row at the docks with just outboard-powered MTI cats—that was pretty cool,” Moore said. “We also had an IV station at the event this year, which everyone loved. I did a couple of IVs and not because I was drinking, but because I was drained everyday. In fact, I’m still trying to get my voice back.”

Moore added that the Texoma Throw Down is going to donate about $7,500 to the event’s charity—Mission 22, a non-profit organization that provides treatment programs to veterans for Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury and other issues they might be facing in hopes of combating the ever-rising veteran suicide rate. He also said the event took $3,000 of the proceeds and split that in half to give to the Possum Kingdom Muscle Boat Association and the Lake Travis Powerboat Association since those organizations weren’t able to raise as much money this year with their runs being hindered by COVID-19 pandemic.

As expected, Moore is excited about the event’s future. And while he’s taking a few days to recoup, he said he’s going to get started on 2021 planning very soon because, based on the response following the run, he’s expecting next year’s event to be even bigger.

Third Annual Texoma Throw Down Is Best One Yet

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