Performance Boat Center Outboard Fun Run No. 5 Outdoes Itself

With yesterday’s Outboard Fun Run on the Lake of the Ozarks in the books and the second Sunny Sunday of the season for Sunsation Boats center console and sportboats owners on tap tomorrow, the Performance Boat Center crew has a short “break” between events. Held in late June, the first Sunny Sunday happening went back-to-back with the inaugural Powered By Performance Invitational Fun Run produced Saturday by the Osage Beach, Mo., dealership’s team.

The majority of catamarans in the mix were of the MTI variety. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos

Not that anyone involved is complaining about yesterday’s fifth annual outboard-centric event, which attracted more than 70 boats and hundreds of participants.

“It went great—lots of people, great weather, great time,” said Myrick Coil, the company’s general manager. “Seems like outboards are the way to go.

The Maasen family of Poly-Lift Boat Lifts was among the fun run participants in its Renegade Powerboats center console.

“I know that we had around 70 boats registered,” he added. “But then there’s a lot of locals who just join in the fun.”

The fleet departed Performance Boat Center headquarters late Saturday morning and headed for The Cave Bar and Grill. For good separation on the water, the boats departed in two waves. The catamarans left first. They were followed by the center consoles and other outboard boats.

The outboard-centric happening attracted an array of powerboat brands.

The Cave is a signature stop for all of the dealership’s events. That makes perfect sense, and not just because the popular venue is the property of Mark Waddington, who co-owns Performance Boat Center with Brett Manire. The place was designed and built to handle big groups that arrive by water.

“The Cave was a hit as usual with its pools and nice new Sunset bar now open above the main patio,” said Michael Hall, one of Performance Boat Center’s key salesmen. “We stayed for a couple of hours.”

A staple stop for Performance Boat Center fun runs, The Cave Bar and Grill continues to add new features.

Participants had two options for the next stop, Hall added. They could head to Big Dick’s Halfway Inn or the Poly-Lift Boat Lifts “show-dock” in party cove for a raft-off complete with a DJ.

“Interesting, the group seemed to split in half,” Hall explained. “Most of the catamaran folks went to Big Dick’s, and most of the center console people went to the raft-off.”

Faces from the 2024 Performance Boat Center Outboard Fun Run.

The day wrapped up with a “red, white and blue” theme dinner back in the Performance Boat Center showroom.

“The dinners always bring out ‘boat talk’ from of all of us and getting to talk about the different stops was a hot topic,” said Hall. “After dinner, we did our awards. Mark (Waddington) took the lead and did something a little different. He had the entire sales team, plus Myrick, come up and he introduced each of us individually.

Members of the Performance Boat Center team took center stage for a few moments during last night’s dinner celebration.

“That was nice,” he added, then laughed. “It helps ‘humanize’ us salespeople”

As for the fireworks display after the dinner, that’s a Performance Boat Center tradition. It’s one that dates back to the earliest days of the dealership.

But it’s also a perfect way to cap off a red, white and blue party.