See full version: Fast Times at Lake of the Ozarks Shootout
Yet the Shootout isn’t just about the big boys—far from it. Although the exotic stuff gets top billing, the Shootout remains a “run what you brung,” grassroots event. There is a slew of V-bottom classes, additional catamaran classes, a deck boat class, a personal watercraft class and more. There’s even a pontoon class and, let me tell you, there’s nothing that looks more delightfully absurd than a pontoon boat running nearly 100 mph. here
Though the lead-up for this year’s Shootout starts Monday with a slew of extracurricular events including a radio-control boat Shootout with model boats that can reportedly run almost 100 mph, the days to be there are Saturday and Sunday. I’ll be headed there on the Friday prior to cover the event for Powerboat magazine.
Go-fast boat entertainment on the water just doesn’t get any better, but don’t take my word for it. Ask any of the estimated 70,000-plus fans, many of them in the incredible spectator fleet which is more than a mile long. The boats are rafted off so closely that you could walk most of the way from vessel to vessel without dipping a toe in the water. [links]
So where is the best action, the kind that spectators will actually watch, in the high-performance powerboat world? That’s a no-brainer—the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, which will be held this year August 28-29. more
Thin fields where an entire “class” might consist of two to three race boats don’t make for riveting competition. Fact is, most of the racing at the Key West Worlds is, well, boring. more
As usual, here is the annual list of speedonthewater.com stories related to the 2021 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout and the coinciding Super Cat Fest at Camden on the Lake Resort. Our coverage of the 33rd year of the Central Missouri event is brought to you by Factory Billet, MTI, Performance Boat Center and Waves and Wheels. Proud to be one of the event’s longtime supporters, speedonthewater.com would like to thank all of the sponsors behind the top-speed event hosted at the one-and-only Captain Ron’s Bar & Grill in Sunrise Beach. here
While the Onken Racing-owned American Ethanol Mystic catamaran is gunning for its seventh straight overall Top Gun title at the 2021 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout (August 28-29), the Factory Billet Outerlimits is looking to best the V-bottom-record-setting top speed of 164 mph it ran on the event’s three-quarter-mile course in 2020. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp/Helmkamp Photos
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Ben Robertson of BAR Marine Group in South Carolina ran 152 mph in a 42-foot Fountain Powerboats V-bottom powered by twin Mercury Racing 1550/1350 engines.
Enjoy another 25 images from speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden in the slideshow above. here
He laughed, adding that the Shootout is much more than the two days of racing. here
“I’ll be back next year,” he said. “My new goal is 140 mph.” more
Lewis also gave credit to his wife of 31 years, Shaila, and their four wonderful children. [links]
“There’s more in it if you had another mile or two,” Robertson said. “But the weather was too hot and too humid, so I thought 152 mph was good enough.
And return they did with a top speed on their first pass of 190 mph. That run cost them a blower belt on one of their four piston engines that combine to a total output of 12,000-plus hp, but they replaced the belt and headed back out. About an hour before the course closed, Cosker and Battiato ran the 51-footer to 194 mph, enough for overall Top Gun honors but still shy of the 200-mph club of which they are charter members.