For the third year in a row, Performance Boat Center hosted the annual Cigarette Owners Rendezvous on the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. And for the third year in a row, the event attracted the most Cigarette Racing Team sportboats and performance center consoles in one place at the same time—for a total count of 78 boats—at last weekend’s gathering.
Last year’s Cigarette Owners Rendezvous drew 66 boats.
Cigarette owners with new and vintage models flocked to the third-annual rendezvous hosted by Performance Boat Center. Photos courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“That’s the power of the Cigarette brand,” said Skip Braver, the owner and chief executive officer of the Opa-Locka, Fla., boat company, who was joined by longtime Cigarette production manager Bud Lorow at the event. “This is so much more than a killer rendezvous. It’s the celebration of Cigarette and everything the brand represents—the brand is just so strong. Everyone was so happy to be there—it was just a great group of people having a great time.
“Honestly, the Cigarette Owners Rendezvous has become something we never dreamed of,” he continued. “Brett (Manire) and Mark (Waddington) at Performance Boat Center do such a great job taking care of their customers. They make sure everything is perfect. My phone has not stopped ringing with people who came saying thank you since I got back to Florida.”
Said Manire, “We had 78 boats officially registered but with the handful of Cigarettes that didn’t register but were there we probably had more than 80 boats.”
Check out the slideshow above for more images from the third annual Cigarette Owners Rendezvous.
The event started with a fun run and a casual reception at Performance Boat Center and the Lakeside Bar and Grill on Friday. Saturday’s fun run took the group from the Performance Boat Center docks to lunch at Coconuts waterside restaurant with Cigarette offerings from the late 1980s to the current model year on hand.
The festitivies wrapped up with a dinner and party in the Performance Boat Center showroom that evening.
“I have a drone shot of all the boats at Coconuts,” said Braver. “Old Cigarettes that are immaculate, new Cigarettes that are perfect, and everyone with their families, just having a great time. It’s incredible.”
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