This weekend’s Cigarette Rendezvous on Lake of the Ozarks is expected to attract more than 100 boats to celebrate the iconic boat brand.
Owners of Cigarette Racing boats from across the country are slated to attend the event, which is organized by Performance Boat Center. The Rendezvous started Thursday night with a meet and greet with fun runs slated for Friday and Saturday. An awards dinner is Saturday night and the festivities wrap up with a pool rehab party on Father’s Day.
“We’ve got probably well over 100 Cigarettes on the lake, so we expect a good showing,” said Brett Manire, owner of Performance Boat Center. “We’ve got boats and people from all over the country to celebrate the brand.”
Performance Boat Center, which is a Cigarette Racing dealer, relaunched Cigarette Rendezvous five years ago. Manire approached Cigarette Racing owner Skip Braver for permission to bring the event back.
Photos: Jim Davis 
“It had been tabled for many, many years,” Manire said. “I asked Skip that if we didn’t make a profit and promoted the brand, would he allow it.”
The first Cigarette Rendezvous attracted 50 boats and has grown steadily with the 2018 Rendezvous topping out at 85 boats. With this year’s Rendezvous attracting a record 100 boats, Manire said the event is getting close to capacity.
Performance Boat Center is hosting the events, including the Thursday night pizza party and the catered dinner on Saturday night. There is no entry fee as the Osage Beach, Missouri, dealership is paying for event.
Manire said the Cigarette Rendezvous is good branding and provides networking opportunities for the dealership, which is one of the largest high-performance dealerships in the world.
“We’re going to have lots of boats and lots of people,” Manire said. “It should be a fun.”
