Cigarette Racing Team™ Launches The Fastest Cigarette
The conditions were clear and cold and the water was flat as Cigarette Racing Team set out to create a new V-hull Kilo Speed Record on Wednesday, February 8 near Mercury Racing’s “X-Site” testing facility in Panama City. Offshore Powerboat Racing Champion John Tomlinson worked with Cigarette and Mercury Racing on the set up of the boat and drove and throttled it in the run.
According to the onboard GPS, the boat attained speeds of 172 MPH. The two-way pass of the Kilo course averaged 163.759 MPH. “Cigarette Deep-Vees are recognized as the best running boat in rough water, but we wanted to prove that we can also achieve top speeds in smooth water,” said Neill Hernandez, Executive VP, “This was a very successful event—we now have the fastest Cigarette ever built and we have the research to build even better pleasure powerboats,” he added.
Skip Braver, CEO, asked Mercury Racing to build some experimental custom engines that would go beyond the speeds achieved with the 1075 SCi engines. He then worked with Douglas Marine’s Peter Hledin to add a cockpit and deck to the existing hull. A Cigarette 46’ mold was sent to Skater’s plant for lay-up and then returned to Cigarette for rigging, engine installation and testing. Braver added, “Performance is the heritage of the company, but we also wanted the boat to have a safe cockpit and Skater has the best expertise in that area.”
The run was anticipated for the fall of 2005, however, a heavy hurricane season played havoc with the testing and delayed the run until February. “This was a massive undertaking,” said Braver, “We have great respect for what it takes to achieve speed records, but we consider the run an example of what Cigarette can accomplish when we set our minds and resources to it. Our goal is to use the knowledge we gained to continue to build the best performing boats on the market.”
The speed run was a total team effort between Cigarette Racing Team, Skater, Mercury Racing and TNT Custom Marine, Tomlinson’s Miami-based shop. The Offshore Super Series (OSS) was invited to sanction the event, provide medical and safety crews and OSS Chief Referee, Bob Teague, attended to ensure the validity of the run.
Mercury Racing recruited the participation of Tyndall Air Force Base which provided a protected water channel for the test run. The base personnel also offered escorted access to the restricted area and extended a hospitable tour of its resident Raptor F-22 fighters.
“We were so appreciative of the reception provided by Vice Commander Col. Brian Dickerson and his staff,” praised Braver, “We were awed by the power that this base wields and were proud to be able to witness what our military is achieving in its efforts to fight terror. We were just conducting a speed run—they are protecting our country and they still made time to accommodate us in our efforts.”
Cigarette will display the 46’ at the Miami Boat Show, February 16-20 in booth B-23 of the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Re: Cigarette Racing Team™ Launches The Fastest Cigarette
Reggie doesn't need to bring anything on, although I am sure he will continue too. It would be nice to see Cigarette continue to bring it on, maybe they can catch up a little. Be nice to see more competition, which drives the industry and gives us all something to talk about. I've always liked the boat and love the graphics. Plus it's a well known fact that Cigarette owners are nicer people than OL owners.
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