Cigarette Owners Rendezvous Beats The Weather For Success

Much as they would have loved to join in the fun, there was no way Jason and Lisa Hill of Kansas City, Mo., could register for the Cigarette Racing Team Owners Rendezvous at the Lake of the Ozarks last year. The couple still owned a 38-foot Fountain center console back then. That changed on the Monday before last Friday’s Big Thunder Marine-produced event on the Central Missouri waterway when they took delivery of a Cigarette 42 Auroris center console.

They bought the 2026 model-year 42-footer powered by quad 500-hp Mercury Racing outboard engines from the Lake of the Ozarks dealership, which also carries the Fountain, Donzi and Baja lines.

The Hills 42 Auroris is the newest addition to the Cigarette customer-family at the Lake of the Ozarks. Photos courtesy/copyright Big Thunder Marine.

“We’ve been Fountain people forever,” Jason Hill explained. “I told Ed Champion at Big Thunder I wanted different and he suggested I try a Cigarette. So we did.”

Last week’s turnout for the Friday event exceeded last year’s 90-plus-boat fleet, though Big Thunder Marine did not have a final total when this story went live. The celebration began Thursday night with a welcome reception at the Big Thunder Marine Speed and Luxury Showroom. Based out of the Camden On The Lake Resort, the poker run kicked off Friday morning with stops at the Fish and Co, Frank and Louie’s, Shady Gators, Neon Taco, Backwater Jacks and Dog Days waterfront eateries.

The show went on despite cloud cover and intermittent rainfall.

Saturday’s raft-up had no weather struggles.

A casual raft-up followed on Saturday.

“What an unforgettable weekend everyone had at the 2025 Cigarette Rendezvous,” said Sage Rush, Big Thunder Marine’s marketing coordinator. “From the high-energy welcome party to the epic raft-up at Party Cove, the event was a massive success.”

The most recent Lake of the Ozarks regulars to own a new boat from the Opa-Locka, Fla., center-console and sportboat company, the Hills—who own a second home in Sunrise Beach—confirmed that assessment.

Enjoy more scenes from the 2025 Cigarette Owners Rendezvous.

“We had a great time,” Hill said. “The entire event was top notch.”

The couple has two children, a four-year-old daughter named Grace and her 15-year-old brother, Henry. The 42-footer’s deep cockpit helped them feel more comfortable with their youngest on board.

To that end, they also had Cigarette install a video system in the air-conditioned cabin that fed live to one of the Garmin GPS units on the dash so they can look on their girl when she ducks inside to play.

A former Fountain family, Kansas City’s Jason and Lisa Hill joined the Cigarette fold just in time for last weekend’s event.

“The entire team at Cigarette did an amazing job,” Hill said. “And Big Thunder Marine was very good to us.”

Currently at home in Kansas City, the family with run the 42 Auroris in this Friday’s Support Our Troops Poker Run produced by the multi-location dealership. More than 60 boats currently are registered for the 18th annual event.

The event did not lack for classic Cigarette V-bottoms.

Rush, in turn, credited the Hills and rest of the Cigarette faithful who turned out for the event’s success.

“It’s all thanks to the incredible Cigarette owners and the legendary Cigarette Racing Team,” she said. “Their passion and presence made this event truly special.”