Just a few hours ago during the Street Fair at Desert Storm in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., I sat in the Pier 57 trailer/convertible lounge with the Council, Tenn., go-fast boat dealership’s proprietor David Woods, Skip Braver, the owner of Cigarette Racing Team, Derek Wachob, the owner of the all-carbon-fiber 48f-foot Marine Technology, Inc., Corvette-themed catamaran and former offshore racing championship-winning driver Hugh Fuller. In short, it was a collection of go-fast boat world notables from east of the Mississippi—a very long way from home. Together, we watched the West Coast performance-boat-loving world stroll by.

“It’s kind of like Pier 57, Cigarette and MTI ‘storm’ Desert Storm,” said Braver, whose company is based in Opa-Lock, Fla. “I can’t tell you how glad we are to be here.”

Woods echoed his sentiments. “Look at this,” he said as he watched the elbow-to-elbow crowd ogle the Pier 57 boats on display including Wachob’s second Corvette-themed MTI, Albert Haynesworth’s former Hellraiser and current Terminator MTI cats and a Cigarette 39’ Top Fish. “The traffic here, the number of people walking by and just the exposure—it’s incredible.”

That’s not to say that the West Coast custom go-fast boat, engine and product displays didn’t draw serious traffic during the event, which ran from mid-afternoon till 9 p.m. But when it came to attracting the biggest crowds, the performance-boat lines at the Pier 57 display, commanded big-time attention.