It's tuesday afternoon and for the most part the mass influx of people that came to Havasu for the event have gone home. I have been a spectator of the event for a decade, a vendor at the event for 4 or 5 years, and as said in a post on RDP heavily involved with some minor aspects of it, and completely separated from it in all others. I personally am in kind of a weird spot because I get to pull the curtain back just enough to see the nuts and bolts of the operation, but am far enough removed that I get to still have some fun while I'm working it. I can say in all the years that I have been around, in, and out of Desert Storm this was the first year that I truly realized the sheer magnitude of the event.
(Win Farnsworth running 180+ in his new boat Low Altitude)
The event itself evolves every year, and to be blunt everyone's experience at Desert Storm is going to be different. I have always called it "Our SuperBowl" and now more then ever I think that description if fitting. When the SuperBowl comes to town, a number of people are able to get tickets and attend the event. A number of people watch it on Television at the bars with like minded people. A number of people have house parties. Most are fans, some are just there to see friends, but ultimately all of them have come together in some fashion because of the event itself.
To expand on the Evolution of Desert Storm, and of course these are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt, the event has gone back to it's routes, but on a much much larger scale. Back in the mid to late 1990's there was a boat club called "Arizona Hot Boats" (AZHB), and it consisted of a bunch of friends and were performance boat enthusiasts. The club put on a Poker Run called "The Heat Wave" which was basically Desert Storm in it's beginnings. They would all meet up in early April, and the highlight of the event was the "Shot Gun Start."
(One of the Heat Wave Mass Starts heading down the lake, the fast guys have already pulled away from the slower ones)
A Shot Gun Start basically meant that every single person in the run would line up, they would drop a flag and they would all run down the lake at once. When the event grew to ridiculous portions they lined up all the boats in two rows, one would start, and then a few minutes later the second would start.
I was fortunate enough to bear witness to one of these in the second start, and I can tell you, unless you were in the "B" start for those couple of years, you will never hear a sound like that ever again in this world. 100 Boats all capable of running 100+ (Big HP) all mashing the sticks at one time in an effort to get out front. I don't care how cool you think you are, it raises the hair on the back of your neck, and your brain goes into an almost "primal" mode. The first time I saw it, it kind of startled me, and I grew up around motorsports my whole life. I'll never forget being in our boat, and Art was directly in front of me and he turned around and yelled "YEEEEEAAAAHHHHH." As if to say "You see what you have been missing?"
When our group launched it was a similar sound, but on a much reduced scale as we were in the slower group of sub 100 mph boats. None the less we mashed the throttles, and into the line up we went, bow to bow with the others. It was nothing short of the wild west, with sphincter clinching close calls, balls in your throat moments, that eventually settled into really, really rough water. It was chaos, and looking back on it, I'm amazed nobody was killed in either start. I have always believed though that the amount of fun something is, usually is proportionate to the inherent danger of the activity when it comes to motorsports.
To circle back to the evolution though, there was very little spectator boats back then, but there was 200+ entrants. It was about friends doing the run together. They would do the run, and half ass brag, half ass joke about coming in ahead of their other buddies. It was about the awards banquet, and mingling in the food line, and going table to table to see other groups of friends that they didn't get to see since last year. It was about raising money for a charity via the participants and nothing else.
At some point (at least for me?) some of that changed. Remember what I said earlier, that Desert Storm is what YOU make of it. My group of friends would come up from Parker, launch at the springs and run up a little bit just to watch the first flight go by. We would float for a few hours with other friends, make a run through the channel and then head home at the end of the day. I had zero interest in seeing the rest of the event. I know there was probably 1000 others on some similar program, only difference is they were coming out of Havasu.
(Spectator Fleet 2012 for shoot out)
(Spectator Fleet 2013 for shoot out)
It seemed the event started to "evolve" into a sort of "show" for the Spectators, and more about Card Stop 1, then the original intention of friends going boating and raising a little money. That "show" that went from a little bragging rights, more or less turned into a race (whether people like to admit it or not) that started at Pilot Rock, and didn't really have a finish line. Card Stop 1? First to the actual stop? First to the area? It didn't matter, the "ribbing" online in all the various facets, and behind the scenes, hyped it up even more. It gave the spectators a chance to participate on some level, and it gave the entrants almost a sense of "stardom." Who's going to be first this year? Gary Smith? Chip Romer? Tony C? Mike Bobbit? John Roth? (and a hand full of others) Will one of the East Coast guys show up and tackle the West Coast Team?
(2015 Spectator Fleet for shoot out)
I don't want to get side tracked here, but let's be honest.. There's about zero chance of that shit ever happening. West Coast owns the East Coast in the speed Department, for straight up Lake Races. <----- Did you see what I just did right there? About 10 guys in the East Coast just got phone calls saying "Did you hear what that fucking guy RiverDave just said?" The Buzz starts, and it's fun to predict who's coming out on top, who's gonna be the fastest loser, and who's gonna break, and ruffle a few feathers along the way.
Before I get back to the evolution of Desert Storm, while I was joking in that post above... I meant it, I'll put cold hard cash on the West Coast Team coming out of Vern's shop @ West Coast Drives in Lake Havasu City against anything that shows up out of the East Coast. Lake Havasu IS THE FASTEST LAKE IN THE COUNTRY SUCKAS.
Next up Part II - The Race to Card Stop 1.
RD
(Win Farnsworth running 180+ in his new boat Low Altitude)
The event itself evolves every year, and to be blunt everyone's experience at Desert Storm is going to be different. I have always called it "Our SuperBowl" and now more then ever I think that description if fitting. When the SuperBowl comes to town, a number of people are able to get tickets and attend the event. A number of people watch it on Television at the bars with like minded people. A number of people have house parties. Most are fans, some are just there to see friends, but ultimately all of them have come together in some fashion because of the event itself.
To expand on the Evolution of Desert Storm, and of course these are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt, the event has gone back to it's routes, but on a much much larger scale. Back in the mid to late 1990's there was a boat club called "Arizona Hot Boats" (AZHB), and it consisted of a bunch of friends and were performance boat enthusiasts. The club put on a Poker Run called "The Heat Wave" which was basically Desert Storm in it's beginnings. They would all meet up in early April, and the highlight of the event was the "Shot Gun Start."
(One of the Heat Wave Mass Starts heading down the lake, the fast guys have already pulled away from the slower ones)
A Shot Gun Start basically meant that every single person in the run would line up, they would drop a flag and they would all run down the lake at once. When the event grew to ridiculous portions they lined up all the boats in two rows, one would start, and then a few minutes later the second would start.
I was fortunate enough to bear witness to one of these in the second start, and I can tell you, unless you were in the "B" start for those couple of years, you will never hear a sound like that ever again in this world. 100 Boats all capable of running 100+ (Big HP) all mashing the sticks at one time in an effort to get out front. I don't care how cool you think you are, it raises the hair on the back of your neck, and your brain goes into an almost "primal" mode. The first time I saw it, it kind of startled me, and I grew up around motorsports my whole life. I'll never forget being in our boat, and Art was directly in front of me and he turned around and yelled "YEEEEEAAAAHHHHH." As if to say "You see what you have been missing?"
When our group launched it was a similar sound, but on a much reduced scale as we were in the slower group of sub 100 mph boats. None the less we mashed the throttles, and into the line up we went, bow to bow with the others. It was nothing short of the wild west, with sphincter clinching close calls, balls in your throat moments, that eventually settled into really, really rough water. It was chaos, and looking back on it, I'm amazed nobody was killed in either start. I have always believed though that the amount of fun something is, usually is proportionate to the inherent danger of the activity when it comes to motorsports.
To circle back to the evolution though, there was very little spectator boats back then, but there was 200+ entrants. It was about friends doing the run together. They would do the run, and half ass brag, half ass joke about coming in ahead of their other buddies. It was about the awards banquet, and mingling in the food line, and going table to table to see other groups of friends that they didn't get to see since last year. It was about raising money for a charity via the participants and nothing else.
At some point (at least for me?) some of that changed. Remember what I said earlier, that Desert Storm is what YOU make of it. My group of friends would come up from Parker, launch at the springs and run up a little bit just to watch the first flight go by. We would float for a few hours with other friends, make a run through the channel and then head home at the end of the day. I had zero interest in seeing the rest of the event. I know there was probably 1000 others on some similar program, only difference is they were coming out of Havasu.
(Spectator Fleet 2012 for shoot out)
(Spectator Fleet 2013 for shoot out)
It seemed the event started to "evolve" into a sort of "show" for the Spectators, and more about Card Stop 1, then the original intention of friends going boating and raising a little money. That "show" that went from a little bragging rights, more or less turned into a race (whether people like to admit it or not) that started at Pilot Rock, and didn't really have a finish line. Card Stop 1? First to the actual stop? First to the area? It didn't matter, the "ribbing" online in all the various facets, and behind the scenes, hyped it up even more. It gave the spectators a chance to participate on some level, and it gave the entrants almost a sense of "stardom." Who's going to be first this year? Gary Smith? Chip Romer? Tony C? Mike Bobbit? John Roth? (and a hand full of others) Will one of the East Coast guys show up and tackle the West Coast Team?
(2015 Spectator Fleet for shoot out)
I don't want to get side tracked here, but let's be honest.. There's about zero chance of that shit ever happening. West Coast owns the East Coast in the speed Department, for straight up Lake Races. <----- Did you see what I just did right there? About 10 guys in the East Coast just got phone calls saying "Did you hear what that fucking guy RiverDave just said?" The Buzz starts, and it's fun to predict who's coming out on top, who's gonna be the fastest loser, and who's gonna break, and ruffle a few feathers along the way.
Before I get back to the evolution of Desert Storm, while I was joking in that post above... I meant it, I'll put cold hard cash on the West Coast Team coming out of Vern's shop @ West Coast Drives in Lake Havasu City against anything that shows up out of the East Coast. Lake Havasu IS THE FASTEST LAKE IN THE COUNTRY SUCKAS.
Next up Part II - The Race to Card Stop 1.
RD
