Super Cat Fest West raises huge money for Arizona’s Lake Havasu charities.
Story by Gregg Mansfield
Photos by Erick Byner/fastloudphotography.com
Nearly every weekend there is a charitable boating event to benefit a nonprofit. For most boaters, it involves paying the entry fee, participating in the event, and maybe bidding on a couple of auction items.
In the end, most participants never know how much money was raised and what money was actually given to the charities.
While charity was at the top of the list when organizers started Super Cat Fest West in Lake Havasu, Ariz., the greater drive was to make an impact in the desert community and get the money to the people who need it.
“Anytime you have a bigger boat or you’re around the boating community, you get asked to do a lot of things, a sponsorship here, a sponsorship there,” said Bryan Houtchens, who owns an MTI V50. “One of the things that we look at is where’s that money going? If we’re donating, does the money actually get out to the charity and the local people that need it?
“For myself, it’s very important that if I’m donating to something, I want to make sure that it’s going to a good cause.”
It’s one of the reasons why boaters on the West Coast have gotten behind Super Cat Fest West, which raised $301,000 in April with the money going directly to charities that benefit the Lake Havasu community. Super Cat Fest is the brainchild of Alvin Heathman, who started the concept at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri nearly 15 years ago.
Heathman partnered with Dave Johnson of River Daves Place in 2023 to create the desert version. But for Johnson to get involved, he wanted to make sure the event would help the community in addition to filling hotel rooms.
“A 100 percent of it goes to charity and we actually make sure it goes to things that are worthwhile,” Johnson said. “If you raise money for charities and you give it to one of these giant organizations, they have X amount of administrative fees and they have X amount of this and X amount of that and you know only about half the money on a good day actually goes to the cause.
Money raised from the 2024 event went to HAVAdopt provides clothing, shoes and gifts/toys to children up to age 18 during the holiday season in Lake Havasu. In addition, the group cleared $18,000 in student lunch debt at a local high school, money that would have come out of resources for the teachers. In 2023, money raised from Super Cat Fest West was used to build a playground for Faith and Grace House that offers shelter to women and children fleeing domestic violence.
For Austin Carver, seeing the direct impact in the Lake Havasu community is why he supports the event. Through his company, The R.J. Noble Co. and its family foundation, Carver matched up to $100,000 from an auction as part of the Super Cat Fest West event. Carver made a similar pledge in 2023 when he partnered with Speed on the Water for a live auction that raised over $200,000 for Samuel’s House during the Key West Championship.
“The reason why I’m getting so involved with these charity events in the boating community is it seems like every boat that all these guys are buying these days is no less than a million bucks,” Carver said. “So, if you can go out and afford a million-dollar boat for six people to be on all day long, you can give a little bit of money to these kids that are barely able to afford food on their tables.”
Super Cat Fest West attracted about 120 boats for the event, which took place the week before the annual Desert Storm Poker Run. Boaters started moving into the Havasu Riviera Marina on Wednesday ahead of the Thursday afternoon Street Scene event.
Friday night featured a dock party with the catamarans lit up, live music and a party that drew thousands of Lake Havasu residents to the marina. On Saturday, there was a Fun Run to Pirates Cove for lunch, but the real action happend Saturday night.
That’s when the charity auction hosted by Horizon Motorsports took place. Among the items up for auction was a custom bench seat made from headers, a motorcycle and a sought-after Pit-B-Que barbecue.
Super Cat Fest originally started as a gathering of Skater owners and expanded to include other performance catamaran builders and V-bottoms. This year’s Super Cat Fest West even included a pontoon-boat section.
Johnson said Super Cat Fest West is successful because of its simplicity.
“I think a lot of the people that put on events forget the fact that it’s supposed to be fun and for charity,” Johnson said. “I think they’re making it like a job, dude. You’ve got to be up at 7 in the morning to go to a driver’s meeting, then the helicopter climbs at 9, then you’ve got a card to turn. You’re always rushing to something.
“Super Cat Fest is really laid back. People can come and go as they please.”
Mauricio Vivanco brought his open-bow M44 Widebody catamaran from DCB Performance Marine to Super Cat Fest West. Vivanco has attended both the Lake of the Ozarks and Lake Havasu Super Cat events. Vivanco appreciates the restaurant and bar hopping Lake of the Ozarks offers, while the events on Lake Havasu are close by. When asked to pick a favorite, Vivanco joked it was like picking a favorite child.
“The atmosphere (in Lake of the Ozarks) is a lot different than the atmosphere in Lake Havasu,” Vivanco said. “I love both events and I continue doing them both.”
Vivanco agrees with Carver and Houtchens that charity is the main reason he’s a sponsor through his California-based DLA Investments.
“I think it’s a great thing what we’re doing, it’s helping out a lot of people,” Vivanco said. “We get to put faces to things and people behind the scenes that people don’t see or hear about. This event in Havasu is making a big impact in the city and in the community.”
Johnson wants to expand the 2025 event but will have to add help beyond Johnson and his wife, Stacy, Jake Littman, Noah Sanchez and Heathman to organize and stage Super Cat Fest West. One of the concepts that Johnson is working on is a nonaccredited trade school where high students in Lake Havasu can learn to install a stereo system or do basic service on an engine, for example. Most companies in Lake Havasu don’t have the resources or time for vocational training.
“We’re a small town and you have a shop with two techs, and you hire a brand-new kid that knows nothing, one of your techs is stuck with that kid teaching them and it slows the whole shop down,” Johnson said. “Eventually, it becomes not worth the price of admission and it’s a barrier to entry.”
Houtchens said making a difference in the desert community capped off a great week at Super Cat Fest West.
“I know that we raised a lot of money and being in Havasu, I got to see how that money helped the community and it really did help the community, going to places where it can actually be used,” Houtchens said. “That’s one of things that I’m very proud of.”
