05/03/2017
Win Farnsworth's LOW ALTITUDE comes out on top and retains "King of the Desert" honors at the 2016 Desert Storm Shootouts.
Lake Havasu City, AZ - In an epic battle between Win Farnsworth's 50' Mystic LOW ALTITUDE and Gary Smith's 40' Skater PREDATOR, that seemed more like a movie plot than real-life, the winner literally came down to the final minutes of this year's event.
Living up to its moniker of "Desert Storm," Saturday saw the runs cancelled shortly after they began due to winds, rain and lightning. It was announced that the speed passes would resume the following day.
The excitement began Sunday when PREDATOR, with Gary Smith and outdrive guru Vern Gilbert onboard, ran an impressive 175-mph shortly after the runs commenced.
Then Summer Richardson of Valencia, CA, running the stunning 388 Skater DIAL 911 quickly answered back, running 176-mph, taking the top speed and ultimately the title of "Queen of the Desert."
Not to be outdone, Smith returned to run PREDATOR up to 178-mph and top pass of the day.
Then out came the eagerly awaited appearance of the turbine powered LOW ALTITUDE, with the team of throttleman Chris Kissinger and driving duties by Robbie Willis of Elite Marine, with owner Win Farnsworth coaching the duo via onboard communications. Together, they recorded speeds of 175-mph, 172-mph and 177-mph, respectively.
Confident with his standing top speed of 178-mph, Smith returned PREDATOR to the ramp and put it back on trailer, only to have LOW ALTITUDE take the top number with 179-mph, shortly after. Hearing this on the race radio, Smith promptly re-launched the boat and alerted the staff that he'd be coming back out to run again.
However, while Smith was making his way back to the starting area, LOW ALTITUDE ran again bettering their previous number and claiming top pass at 183-mph.
With the Shootouts scheduled to close at high noon, there was approximately 10 minutes left for PREDATOR to beat the Mystic's top speed. The entire spectator fleet was cheering both teams as they idled around the course, not dissimilar to a heavyweight prize fight.
PREDATOR got up on plane and started his run down the course, as the crowd waited to hear what his speed would be.
181-mph! Two miles an hour shy of the course record.
But there was a little time left before the noon finish and the staff OK'ed one last run for Smith, now running solo, to try to top the 183-mph pass.
PREDATOR quickly returned to the start and ramped up for his final and hopefully the fastest run of the day. Breaths were being held as everyone awaited the speed from the radar boat.
175-mph!
It was over and Farnsworth's LOW ALTITUDE had secured back-to-back "King of the Desert" titles.
In a show of great sportsmanship, both Farnsworth and Smith congratulated each other on the race radios for the spectacle they had just rewarded the patient spectators with.
Speedboat Magazine would like to congratulate all teams that participated and especially to :
2016 KING OF THE DESERT - Win Farnsworth
2016 QUEEN OF THE DESERT - Summer Richardson
Image by Todd Taylor
