Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to Cigarette racing and was looking to possibly purchase a late 70's 28ss. I have been studying Don Aronow and he is fascinating, I'd really enjoy owning something he designed. I was curious if there have been any manufacture weak areas that I should pay particular attention to during inspection (i.e. transom, stringer) that might have a shorter life. I know it depends on how the boat has been looked after but just looking for any issues that seem to always arise. Thanks for the help and time!

28's are pretty solid in the 1970's. I would recommend if you are not familiar with the boat you should hire a surveyer. it may save you a lot later on. Leaks could occur in the transom area if the plates rotted out. If you don't want to spend the bucks for a surveyor buy a moisture meter and take your chances if you cant visually see the area.

I own a 1979 28SS, good solid boat, no complaints

Getting a surveyor is definitely a good idea. Even though Cigarettes are very well built boats there can be may problems with a 40+ year old hull. Some of the problem areas can be the transom (soft from leaks), gelcoat blistering (if it was left in the water), stress cracks (spider cracking) in the gelcoat, weakened balsa core in the deck. A surveyor would find any of these and would give you a heads up on what your costs might be to fix any necessary repairs. If you find one that was well cared for you should have very little to do. They were built tough.

By the way, the hull was designed by a guy named Harry Scholl for Don Aronow a the Magnum 27/28 when he owned Magnum Marine. Aronow managed to end up with one of the molds when he sold Magnum and started Cigarette. This is one of the best hull designs ever. Magnum even used it's proportions and hull design to build their 60 footer. If you search for threads on OSO for stuff by "Brownie" you can find out lots of great first-hand information about the early days on Thunderboat Row.

Good hunting...