Serious News
What's Happening
by Nathan Bechtold, Lake Expo
The Shootout began as a boat race between friends. And after more than a quarter-century of growth and change, the Lake of the Ozarks’ biggest on-water event now encompasses 12 days of activities. Many of those can be found on the Shootout schedule (published in this Official Shootout Program Guide). But some of them are “parallel” events, drawing various groups of boaters who make their annual pilgrimage to the Lake for the epic race—giving them another place to reunite with friends and bringing even more diversity to Shootout week.
One of those events is Super Cat Fest. Performance boating enthusiast Alvin Heathman conceived of the event and launched it in 2010 as Skaterfest. He explains the eventual name change: “Guys that had Skaters had friends that had other cats… MTIs, Mystics, Nortecs, Eliminators… and just opened it up to where it’d be bigger and better.”
The term “Super Cat” eludes specific definition.
“It’s a big catamaran with big horsepower,” Heathman began. “What defines ‘big’ nowadays… it’s hard to! I remember back in the ‘80s, a 24-foot Skater with twin outboards was big in those days. I thought I’d never seen such a big boat in my life! Today, though, you look at a 50-foot Mystic or a 46 Skater or a 52-foot MTI, and those are big… ‘Super Cat’ is a blanket to cover all cats.”
While Super Cat Fest does have some official activities, much of the event is informal—an opportunity for a close-knit group of high-performance boaters to hang out and enjoy the Lake.
“You don’t group these guys together at one time very well,” Heathman said. “They’re very independent. They have their friends; they want to go in their directions.”
The event doesn’t even have an official start date: “A lot of guys start coming in on Wednesday,” Heathman said, adding the main Super Cat Fest events occur on Friday and Saturday evenings. Those range from cocktail parties to fireworks displays to a fun run. From Thursday through Sunday, Super Cat boaters cruise the Lake, mingle at the resort, come-and-go, and show off their go-fast machines.
Heathman says Camden on the Lake is the perfect venue for the event. “These guys got nice rooms. They can look out the balcony and see their boats from there. They can eat, drink, do whatever they want… and they don’t have to get in their car and go anywhere. Everything is right there for them.”
“These guys” — Heathman says Super Cat Fest draws the “elite of the powerboat world… you’re talking about a very small percent of performance boats out there.”
The event features live entertainment, and also offers Super Cat owners the chance to meet and mingle with the geniuses who give the performance boating world its substance: “I bring the manufacturers in there… MTI, Pete from Skater, John Cosker from Mystic… a lot of people notice what we’re doing, and they’re enjoying it.”
“[Super Cat Fest] was always to complement the [Shootout],” Heathman explained. Official Shootout-sanctioned events add to the enjoyment: specifically the Stereo Shootout. The Shootout’s audio competition at Camden on the Lake offers another activity with more eye- and ear-candy for Super Cat Fest attendees.
Many will join the flotilla of Shootout spectators on Saturday or Sunday, as they all share a common love for performance boating.
For Heathman, helping organize the OSS Lake Race for the last two years and annually coordinating Super Cat Fest is truly a labor of love.
He summed it up: “It’s a passion… I love the Lake of the Ozarks.”
http://lakeexpo.com/boating/the_lak...cle_63c2270a-5fed-11e6-b752-23f54edcacb9.html
The Shootout began as a boat race between friends. And after more than a quarter-century of growth and change, the Lake of the Ozarks’ biggest on-water event now encompasses 12 days of activities. Many of those can be found on the Shootout schedule (published in this Official Shootout Program Guide). But some of them are “parallel” events, drawing various groups of boaters who make their annual pilgrimage to the Lake for the epic race—giving them another place to reunite with friends and bringing even more diversity to Shootout week.
One of those events is Super Cat Fest. Performance boating enthusiast Alvin Heathman conceived of the event and launched it in 2010 as Skaterfest. He explains the eventual name change: “Guys that had Skaters had friends that had other cats… MTIs, Mystics, Nortecs, Eliminators… and just opened it up to where it’d be bigger and better.”
The term “Super Cat” eludes specific definition.
“It’s a big catamaran with big horsepower,” Heathman began. “What defines ‘big’ nowadays… it’s hard to! I remember back in the ‘80s, a 24-foot Skater with twin outboards was big in those days. I thought I’d never seen such a big boat in my life! Today, though, you look at a 50-foot Mystic or a 46 Skater or a 52-foot MTI, and those are big… ‘Super Cat’ is a blanket to cover all cats.”
While Super Cat Fest does have some official activities, much of the event is informal—an opportunity for a close-knit group of high-performance boaters to hang out and enjoy the Lake.
“You don’t group these guys together at one time very well,” Heathman said. “They’re very independent. They have their friends; they want to go in their directions.”
The event doesn’t even have an official start date: “A lot of guys start coming in on Wednesday,” Heathman said, adding the main Super Cat Fest events occur on Friday and Saturday evenings. Those range from cocktail parties to fireworks displays to a fun run. From Thursday through Sunday, Super Cat boaters cruise the Lake, mingle at the resort, come-and-go, and show off their go-fast machines.
Heathman says Camden on the Lake is the perfect venue for the event. “These guys got nice rooms. They can look out the balcony and see their boats from there. They can eat, drink, do whatever they want… and they don’t have to get in their car and go anywhere. Everything is right there for them.”
“These guys” — Heathman says Super Cat Fest draws the “elite of the powerboat world… you’re talking about a very small percent of performance boats out there.”
The event features live entertainment, and also offers Super Cat owners the chance to meet and mingle with the geniuses who give the performance boating world its substance: “I bring the manufacturers in there… MTI, Pete from Skater, John Cosker from Mystic… a lot of people notice what we’re doing, and they’re enjoying it.”
“[Super Cat Fest] was always to complement the [Shootout],” Heathman explained. Official Shootout-sanctioned events add to the enjoyment: specifically the Stereo Shootout. The Shootout’s audio competition at Camden on the Lake offers another activity with more eye- and ear-candy for Super Cat Fest attendees.
Many will join the flotilla of Shootout spectators on Saturday or Sunday, as they all share a common love for performance boating.
For Heathman, helping organize the OSS Lake Race for the last two years and annually coordinating Super Cat Fest is truly a labor of love.
He summed it up: “It’s a passion… I love the Lake of the Ozarks.”
http://lakeexpo.com/boating/the_lak...cle_63c2270a-5fed-11e6-b752-23f54edcacb9.html
