Lake of the Ozarks Shootout celebrates 30 years of fast times on the water
Four years ago, the Middle Eastern country of Qatar laid down $22 million for Sheikh Hassan Al Thani to gather a top racing team and construct the fastest high-performance boat that money could buy.
The reason? To set the highest recorded speed in history at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, which celebrates 30 years of operation Aug. 18-26 at Captain Ron’s Bar and Grill in Sunrise Beach, Mo.
Propelled by dual helicopter engines, the Spirit of Qatar accomplished the speed goal by hitting 244 mph.
Today, the annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout sees nearly 100 boats of all shapes, sizes and colors run the 3/4-mile course — any craft 22 feet or longer can take part in the race, making the Shootout a bucket-list item for boating enthusiasts from around the world.
This month, an estimated 7,000 boats carrying 50,000 spectators will once again tie up in lines totaling 3 1/2 miles to watch everything from pontoons to high-dollar “go-fast boats” try their luck on the water at mile marker 34.5.
With competitors racing against nothing but a radar gun and no exchange of prize money, the Shootout is one of a kind. It is billed as the largest unsanctioned boat race in the nation.
Fran Steingrubey, 83, shakes his head in disbelief at the event he helped launch more than three decades ago. The former professional drag-boat racer and friend Bill Seebold began racing each other for bragging rights in a Lake of the Ozarks cove in 1985.
“Back in the day, we were just messing around, having fun, and never dreaming that it would turn out to be the largest unsanctioned boat race in the country,” Steingrubey said.
It took the help of former Osage Beach Police chief John Page, members of the Missouri Water Patrol and a number of local fire fighters to stage the first Shootout at Steingrueby’s lakefront establishment, Shooters 21, in the summer of 1988.
“It really did take everyone working together from the very beginning to turn this race into what it is today,” said former Shootout chairman and Osage Beach fire chief Jeff Dorhauer.
Local fire protection districts once ran their own entries the Shootout, but the growth of the lake area made it nearly impossible for them to keep up. Things really began to change in 1998, when racers like David Scott and sponsors Budweiser and Power Boat Magazine helped spread word of the race.
“Power Boat guaranteed us one magazine cover per year with our Top Gun winner, and that’s what caught the attention of a lot of high-performance boat racers from all around the United States, South America, Canada, England and Austrailia,” Dorhauer said.
The event’s headquarters moved to Captain Ron’s in 2008. Owner Ron Duggan turned the Shootout into a nine-day fundraising effort to benefit 28 local fire districts and charities. Some 700 volunteers representing various charitable organizations man the events and have split over $1.1 million in just the past decade.
Tim Jacobsen of the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that more than 100,000 visitors will spend $7 million during this year’s edition of the week-long Shootout.
“My favorite part of the event is not only getting to know some great people and great racers, but being able to give back so much to so many lake charities,” Duggan said.