My wife and I attended the 3rd annual Firefighter Regatta June 13 and 14, 2003, as guests of Brad and Angie Davis. Brad is a Fire Captain/Paramedic at the Central Yavapai Fire Department in Prescott Valley, AZ.
The
Regatta was staged by Fireman’s Promotion Company and held in Lake Havasu City,
AZ. Fireman’s Promotions Company is the brainchild of Tony and Tanya Rivello.
Besides being an Engineer with the Lake Havasu City Fire Department, Tony has
been running his DJ and Promotions business for about 10 years. Knowing that all
firemen seem to share a certain brotherhood he figured what better way to
combine all three jobs and have some fun at the same time.
The first Firefighter Regatta was held in 2001 and had 8 boats participating while at the second one there was about 15 boats. The expenses for these first two events were essentially paid for out of the Rivello’s own pockets. This year they had help from Sylvia Clark Reality, Tilley’s Marine, First Cabin Club and Sleekcraft Boats. This year there were 30 boats and about 130 participants.
The event kicked off with a Fire Fighters Appreciation night at Mudsharks Brewery for socializing with fellow boaters and fireman. We had the run of the entire patio which was set up with an open bar serving some of Mudsharks own Micro-brewed beers and a dinner buffet.
Saturday was filled with events that were based at the Nautical Inn, including a poker run, Bucket Brigade and a boat parade through the London Bridge channel. After the poker run we returned to the Nautical Inn and turned in the poker chips gathered at each stop. The chips showed we made each stop on the lake and then we were dealt 5 cards from the deck. All of the card hands were posted on a huge sign that had all the participant’s names on it. This was a great way of keeping track of who had the best hand at the time. Alas, we only had a pair of fives! The winning hand turned out to be three 9’s.
Two of the popker run stations out on Lake Havasu.
Each participants poker hand was placed on the wall next to their name. Really look UP at the wall!
Brad
and Angie turn in their chips and get their poker hand.
We spent a portion of the afternoon on the beach at Park Moabi after a run north through beautiful Topock Gorge. Park Moabi is a great place to hang out if you want to get out of the Colorado River’s current and be able to wander the beach checking out all of the assembled boats that congregate there. We ran into Greg Faulkner and his 32’ Skater, which is considered one of the faster boats that inhabits the local waterways. We also met Matt, who’s Hot Boat forums name is Skullinator and his 25’ Talon. Look for more info on this boat coming up soon! This hull is considered by many to be the original basis for a lot of the fast mid size tunnel hull boats that haunt the lakes and rivers across the country.
A few of the sites from Park Moabi.
Skullinators Talon and Greg Faulkners 32 Skater.
Saturday evening everyone met at the Aquatic Center. There was more than just dinner on the schedule that night. The evening started with an open bar, music and a huge miniature racecar track. These were not ordinary slotcars. These cars are a lot bigger and each was controlled with a steering wheel and a forward/reverse shifter. Now the real fun part was that there were no slots to guide the cars. You had the whole track at your disposal. Needless to say there was a lot of mayhem on the track that night!
There was a table full of prizes to be given away.
A little entertainment before dinner!
After dinner we had Monte Carlo style gambling .
After an excellent Prime Rib and chicken dinner, each guest was invited to several tables set up for Monte Carlo style gambling. Everyone was given some “funny money” when they checked in that night. Then they tried to increase their loot on either the Blackjack tables or the Roulette Wheels! This money was used to bid on some great gifts during the awards ceremony.
Tony
(on the left) presents one of the wakeboards to a lucky dinner guest.
Here's Tanya and Tony Rivello, the two responsible for putting on this event.
Finally the raffle began, there were a lot of prizes donated by the sponsors. I think just about every couple there walked out with something! Our boating host, Brad Davis was fortunate enough to be the first person to register for this year’s event and was awarded with a free admission to next year’s event!
More coverage of all three of the firefighter events can be found at www.firefighterevents.com
