For high-performance powerboat lovers, the only thing better than tearing across the water is tearing across the water en masse. One look at the “average” go-fast boat paint job—and some of these outlandish color creations cost more than $60,000—is all you need to know that go-fast boating is a see-and-be-seen activity. So if one go-fast catamaran or V-bottom, is good, then 190 of them is even better.

A record turnout for Desert Storm's poker run



And that was exactly how many high-performance boats registered for the poker run during the annual four-day go-fast extravaganza called Desert Storm on Lake Havasu, a Colorado River-fed body of water that has shorelines in both Arizona and California, in late April.

Organized by Jim Nichols of Lake Racer LLC and title sponsor Bob Teague of Teague Custom Marine, Desert Storm includes a day of boat rides for underprivileged and physically challenged kids, a mile-long high-performance boat and product street fair in Lake Havasu City (Ariz.), a poker run, a 1-mile top-speed shootout and an offshore race. By the time Sunday rolls around, most of those attending have had their fill of go-fast boating. At least until the following weekend.

A helicopter keeps an eye on the festivities.



Quite simply, Desert Storm has become the high-performance boating event of the season.

This I know firsthand, because I was there this year covering it for Powerboat magazine—a comprehensive feature complete with pretty pictures will run in the next issue. I even stayed an extra day to help the Powerboat crew test five exotic performance boats, including Terminator, a 48-foot-long, 160-plus-mph Marine Technology, Inc., catamaran owned by NFL All-Pro Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth.

Was I ready to head home by Monday afternoon? Oh yeah. Couldn’t bail quickly enough. But I left with a few, scoops, tidbits and gems including:

•Running into John Cosker of white-hot Mystic Powerboats, who me told that he would build smaller catamarans—he even has a 42-footer already drawn up—if he gets a few orders for them. Smart money says he will.

•Chatting with longtime friend Fred Kiekhaefer, the president of Mercury Racing, who said that production of the company’s new 1300/1350 turbo-charged engine is already sold out for 2010. Not bad for an engine that was introduced in February at the Miami International Boat Show and costs $202,000. Of course, that price includes a new M8 drive and a one-year warranty.

•Hanging with Haynesworth—courtesy of a houseboat supplied by the always gracious and infinitely entertaining David Woods of MTI and Cigarette dealer Pier 57—who shook his head and said, when someone tried to introduce him to me, “I’ve know Matt, I’ve known him for like five years.” A definite ego stroke for my definite ego.

•Watching a record-setting—for fleet size—190-boat poker run, essentially a rally with card stops, go smoothly and without incident. Wish I could say that about all the runs I’ve covered in the past 15 years.

•Checking out a high-performance boat fair that, despite freak late-April rainstorms, was better-attended than most boat shows.

Terminator, a 48-foot-long, 160-plus-mph Marine Technology, Inc., catamaran owned by NFL All-Pro Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth.



•Kicking back with Peter Hledin, the owner and founder of Douglas Marine/Skater on the docks in front of a brand new and totally unique 44-foot Skater catamaran with a power hardtop. “We don’t like to repeat ourselves, we don’t like to do the same thing over and over,” said Hledin. “Our (boat) owners don’t want that either. I’ve always said we have the greatest owners in the world.”

•Driving back to Las Vegas to catch a flight with John Tomlinson, a multi-time offshore racing world champion, one of the most gifted throttleman in the history of the sport, an ace rigger and setup man and a cherished friend. Tomlinson, the owner of TNT Custom Marine in Miami and a test driver for Powerboat magazine, is a devout Christian who is able to tolerate devout heathens. Like me. We laugh and tell stories pretty much through our entire drive back to Vegas.

Tomlinson has raced offshore since he was 17 years old. He’s been around performance boats since he was a kid. It takes a lot to impress him. Desert Storm, which he has attended for his second year, clearly does.

“Where do all these people come from?” he asks. “Where do all these young guys get their money for these boats? I don’t know, but it’s amazing.”

 

Written by: Matt Trulio
Matt Trulio is the co-publisher and editor in chief of speedonthewater.com, a daily news site with a weekly newsletter and a new bi-monthly digital magazine that covers the high-performance powerboating world. The former editor-in-chief of Sportboat magazine and editor at large of Powerboat magazine, Trulio has covered the go-fast powerboat world since 1995. Since joining boats.com in 2000, he has written more than 200 features and blogs.