The boat kicking up the big spray, has just begun an attempt to reach it's top speed.
One of the key ingredients of the Desert Storm boating event, is the shoot out, which took place yesterday at the tip of the island, in front of Site Six. There's nothing complicated about the shoot out. A 2 mile course was set up, with a radar speed trap near the end of the liquid, 2 mile race track. There's only one goal for the participants, and that's to get their boat to it's top speed near the end of the course.
The race course was moved from last years congested waters of Thompson Bay, to the narrow part of the lake, at the western tip of the island. For spectators, this was a huge improvement, as folks like us could sit on the elevated hills overlooking the lake, with a much better view of the boats in action. Where Patty and I parked our chairs, we could see most of the 2 mile course, and we were joined by a lot of other people who were enjoying a 90+ degree day.
Last year the boat that claimed the "King of the Desert" title, reached a top speed of 180+ mph. Since we missed some of the earlier boats, I'm not sure who the top dog was this year. During the time we watched the boats accelerating through the course, the fastest boat reached a top speed of a little over 150 mph.
Today, this huge boating week comes to an end. Events like this are a big shot in the arm for the local economy, and from our perspective, it sure looked like this years Desert Storm was a tremendous success!
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