how big of water do you plan of running and at what speed are you targeting to enjoy most of the time?

How fast do you want to go and what kind of water do ride in? Rough? 80mph?

I like the bullet for the ride and the great ruff water boat they are. My buddy has one with 502 carbed motors, he runs 74 on GPS everyday. Pretty nice. I've seen the flat decks you are refering to but have never ridden in one, so no comment on those.

HE RIDES IN WATER THAT ARE LESS THEN 2 FOOT SWEELS IF THAT, BUT THAT FLAT DECK HAS BEEN AROUND FOR EVER THAT I'M SURE YA CAN STEAL IT

DONZ JR MIKE

I'd go with the flat deck. If the motors have good internal parts thats sounds like nice reliable Hp with out blowers and the drives shouldn't be to over worked. I'm not so sure the Cafe will out perform the 38. We need some other expert opinions from MrCIG, Fox Hunter, Russ and Crazyhorse on this one. I've seen these guys in action on Lake Michigan and there isn't much that will keep up with there flat decks in the rough stuff.

No matter what DON'T FORGET the marine survey for moisture in the transom and hull.

Cafe and Milfs... like a sore dick..can't beat it

I'm not sure what everybody is not reading in the ads??? Go back and look what the components are for the Flatdeck. Go try and buy what this boat has to offer for anywhere close to the sales price. The Cafe looks good but old cyclone 400's and trs's over 598's and #3's, Kevlar vs. Glass, stellings vs. ?????.. The 598''s will have a much better cruise speed, Cyclones you will have to beat on to keep up with today's cruise speeds. The only thing the Flatdeck needs is a flat hatch, Without blower motors there is no need for the blower hatches. Besides chicks would have a hard time laying out on those. Gary who is selling the 84' Flatdeck has a flat hatch he might sell ??.

I don't want to argue with TSG but I have yet to see a Cafe run better in the big stuff!!! As a matter of fact I have not seen much that can run as good as a 38 flatdeck in big water. Not that a Cafe won't do it but the little ladies will like the ride better in a FD. Trust me on this or you can ask my wife.

Clay
It's your money buy whatever turns your crank. Any of the Cigarettes are a great deal But the most bang for the buck is going to be the Flatdeck. If you do buy it please take care of it there are not many left.!!!!!

I saw that flat deck at the NYC poker run.
It seems well taken care of, but is an old race boat.
There is no cockpit liner.

An unbiased opinion from folks who have ridden in both but don't own either may be more effective in this case. Possibly someone who has owned both.

The bottom line is that he will probably want to sell this boat to upgrade someday.

The Cafe to the majority of buyers has the newest, most appealing look of the boats listed. The dash is more modern, the rigging, the equipment, etc. It's not going to go fast but you're not going to blow it up either. Everything is new so you can expect super clean.

You can dump all the money you want into a flatdeck and have a super nice boat, if you're going to keep it forever. Notice how the price has plummeted on the Flat Deck to a now OBO listing? I doubt Clay wants to be in that situation in a few years. It has 3's, not 3A's, there is a big difference in the two. The Flatdeck has no sunpad, so now Clay's girlfriends have nowhere to tan topless besides the deck, which has raised hatches as opposed to flush hatches on the Cafe. It has no swim platform, so again, Clay's party cove adventures endure another crushing blow. Even if it did you can't have people climbing over that fiberglass hump soaking wet without someone injuring themselves.

The Cafe is a more modern, more user friendly boat in every way. It has the same upgrades as the Flat Deck minus the motors, but has a few key features the 38 doesn't have. While I respect the Flat Deck and the work that's been done to it, it's just not a very practical buy for the kind of boating Clay does.

Finally, the Flat Deck and Cafe will BOTH pound the rough water. The Cafe is a more agile boat and will have more trim sensitivity than the Flat Deck, which helps greatly in snotty conditions. The lopsided power between the two would probably give the edge to the Flat Deck, but a Cafe with equal power should get the edge.

These are just some observations I would consider. Both are nice boats.

CAFE all the way! It never looks dated and you do small updates along the way. Most folks won't know if the boat is an 86 or 96

Cigarette Cafe Racer.......there Is No Substitue !!!! Its A Classy Ride All Around.