- Joined
- May 11, 2010
- Location
- Albuquerque New Mexico
On August 29, speed freaks from across the country made their annual pilgrimage to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. While drivers like Dave Scott aboard Nauti-Marine, which has won Top Gun honors three consecutive times, were running as fast as 208 mph (with twin 2600 hp turbines), the most spirited battle was being waged in the pontoon division. Considering the previous record was 91 mph, the quantum leap in speed made this year was amazing. The first serious run was by Ken Gouty aboard the Little Putt-Putt, which reached 97 mph running a three-tube PlayCraft 2700 with a single, Whipple supercharged engine built by Mason Aron of Skunkworks Marine that puts out around 1,200 horsepower. Gouty made pontooning history on the next run by being the first ever to hit 100 miles per hour. Immediately after the run, I got a phone call from Jim Dorris, the owner of PlayCraft, who was really excited about reaching this long sought-after milestone.
The next day of the two-day competition, a South Bay 925 pontoon named Tooned In, driven by Brad Rowland, showed up packing three Mercury Pro Max 300 hp outboards. Gouty and Roland tangled last year when both reached a top speed of 91 miles per hour for a tie in the pontoon division. Rowland’s first run this year was 97 mph. Then he had two consecutive runs of 99 mph, much to the dismay of his group of followers, who were hoping he could top 100. I interviewed him just after his first run and he told me he has had Tooned In up to 107 mph before.
The wind kept rising and whitecaps started forming, but both pontoons handled the rough conditions beautifully. Gouty reeled off another 100 mph run, followed by Rowland finally hitting 100 mph and tying the record. Gouty hit 100 mph one more time and the tension was palpable as these two gunslingers were locked at the top trading shots.
With five minutes to go, both lined up for one last run. Rowland aboard his South Bay started well but the officials waved the red flag, aborting his run because another boat had broken down and they hadn’t cleared him from the mile-long run yet. With two minutes to go there was one boat ahead of Gouty, so he didn’t have a chance to go for the win. It seemed fitting to end in a tie, with both drivers winning their respective pontoon divisions. For the second consecutive year these two drivers failed to resolve the question of which is faster: sterndrive or outboard power. Next year’s battle should be incredible.
The Playcraft 2800 I was riding around on was no slouch either, owned by Dean and Flora Bowen, who traveled from Minnesota to attend the Shootout. Powered by twin Mercury Pro XS 300 outboards, it is capable of 80 mph plus. Although not competing this year, Bowen made some thrilling runs on a really rough Lake of the Ozarks, which was churned up by the wakes of several thousand boats attending the Shootout, which was estimated to have had 70,000 spectators.
Jim Dorris, the owner of Playcraft, and his wife Carolyn both won their divisions with pontoon runs of 88 and 58 mph, respectively
"From Alan Jones, Boating World Magazine"
Compliments of : "Boating World Magazine"
The next day of the two-day competition, a South Bay 925 pontoon named Tooned In, driven by Brad Rowland, showed up packing three Mercury Pro Max 300 hp outboards. Gouty and Roland tangled last year when both reached a top speed of 91 miles per hour for a tie in the pontoon division. Rowland’s first run this year was 97 mph. Then he had two consecutive runs of 99 mph, much to the dismay of his group of followers, who were hoping he could top 100. I interviewed him just after his first run and he told me he has had Tooned In up to 107 mph before.
The wind kept rising and whitecaps started forming, but both pontoons handled the rough conditions beautifully. Gouty reeled off another 100 mph run, followed by Rowland finally hitting 100 mph and tying the record. Gouty hit 100 mph one more time and the tension was palpable as these two gunslingers were locked at the top trading shots.
With five minutes to go, both lined up for one last run. Rowland aboard his South Bay started well but the officials waved the red flag, aborting his run because another boat had broken down and they hadn’t cleared him from the mile-long run yet. With two minutes to go there was one boat ahead of Gouty, so he didn’t have a chance to go for the win. It seemed fitting to end in a tie, with both drivers winning their respective pontoon divisions. For the second consecutive year these two drivers failed to resolve the question of which is faster: sterndrive or outboard power. Next year’s battle should be incredible.
The Playcraft 2800 I was riding around on was no slouch either, owned by Dean and Flora Bowen, who traveled from Minnesota to attend the Shootout. Powered by twin Mercury Pro XS 300 outboards, it is capable of 80 mph plus. Although not competing this year, Bowen made some thrilling runs on a really rough Lake of the Ozarks, which was churned up by the wakes of several thousand boats attending the Shootout, which was estimated to have had 70,000 spectators.
Jim Dorris, the owner of Playcraft, and his wife Carolyn both won their divisions with pontoon runs of 88 and 58 mph, respectively
"From Alan Jones, Boating World Magazine"
Compliments of : "Boating World Magazine"
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