Center Steer 39 Top Gun
 

I just bought this 39 Top Gun Unlimited with the rare center steer option. My last boat was a 37 Active Thunder (great boat), and it of course had side by side seating. Once you have a boat set up like this, it's so hard going back to split seating. So when looking for a replacement to the AT, I was mostly looking at Outerlimits as they mostly the seating set up the same way. When I saw this 39 on the market, it made my day, as I really liked the 39 Top Guns, but really wanted the huge dash and side by side seats, the center steer option was. bonus.

I think most of you are familiar with this boat. From what I've been told is the boat originally sold in '07 at Lake Cumberland Marine, and then went over to Italy, which is where it's been since. It only has 270 hours on it, 600 SCI engines, converted to 700s, new drives, TAOD paint, and of course all the billet bling. It's truly a gorgeous boat in person. The electronics are going to get an update as soon as I get it to Michigan, but overall it's a really nice boat.
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A++++ love it

Stunning !!!

Congratulations! Such a beautiful boat! hope you get out in it soon. I would love to see it one day.
Enjoy!

That's amazing. Congrats!

Congrats man, sweet boat!

Awesome boat! I drooled over the add once or twice. Love the paint.

Nice!

Congrats! It looks like its in amazing shape!

Thanks. It's in really nice shape. There are a some nicks in the paint the will need to be touched up in the fall, but overall its in really good shape.

Awesome! They only made 4 I think. I dig them. Really like the cabin set up. Thank god you took the wrap off. Lol

I don't think this boat ever had a wrap. There is another one in Turkey for sale with a nasty wrap, are you thinking about that one?

yes!!! Hideous. Lol.

congrats again. I dig em.

For those curious about the Center steer in Turkey...and yes, the wrap is that bad (IMHO)

https://www.approvedboats.com/co-bro...urkey-7317786/

Lol- bad taste doesn’t even begin to explain that wrap!

Congrats. Hope to see you out on the lake this year with it!!!! I’ll look for it.

it's so smoking hot - it's LAVA....?... you are 100% correct, no accounting for taste.

Your boat on the other hand will look stunning on the trailer, tied off at a dock or running hard. Definitely a beauty to behold - Congrat's and enjoy!

Someone should be kicked in the nuts.......

OP - cool boat, congrats!

Welcome to the center steer Top Gun club. Beautiful boat! Congratulations!!

Thanks- So you have the pirate center steer, that is a very cool boat as well.

So cool!

I do. Like you, I had another center steer boat before this Cigarette. When I found this boat I knew that it was a perfect fit. I got it in April of 2008 and have never had any regrets.

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Great looking boat!

Interesting cockpit colors - they definitely compliment each other and the exterior paint scheme.

If you two keep touting the CS, everybody will want one....

Kinda funny because these center steer 39’s were the first 39’s built and it was cigs plan to continue building them that way but the blowback from the public on the design was not favorable. As I recall many called it a derogatory Name when referring to it. So, after the first 4 were built they went back to traditional seating and never made any more. Then throughout the years when they would pop up for sale they’d always be under market compared to the traditional seating 39’s.

I always liked them and it seems the set up has grown on people, especially with OL and AT and the like using the same set up.

What is comical about the seating, is you are no closer to the other person, then you are it you are in a cat, or Maximus or Gladiator. Every single person that hung out in my Active Thunder, always commented on how much they liked the side entry cabin, and seating layout.

It's really too bad that Cigarette stopped making the center steer boats, but if the buyers rejected the idea, then what can you do?

i remember that sentiment when they came out also. I thought it was awesome but I always felt there was one mistake made. Not having the slide in third bolster like OL...

You are spot on with no third bolster. That should have been included.

100% agree!!

i don’t think it’d be difficult to have a shop make one.

The center steer Cigs also have a real head/shower if I remember correctly??? That in itself makes it a better layout in my opinion.

Your totally right, I forgot about that also...

So have you run your new 39 yet? Looking back at old threads, you were initially looking at OUTERLIMITS 42 ? Just wondering if you are happy with your choice still. wondering the difference in the 39 Cig and the 42 OL if you have been in both.

Kreed,

I looked at Legacys, 42Xs, a Dragon, and 39 OL, and considered but didn't look at a 39 GTX. All of them are great boats but way different.

The first thing you will notice is the Cigarette is very cramped! The 42x is also the same way, it just has a deeper cockpit. In either boats, doesn't matter if you are in the cabin or in the cockpit- cramped. There just isn't a lot of room anywhere; however, for me I'm fine with that. For this reason, I like the side entry, which both OLs also had. It gives you an area with a lot of room. I really liked the center steer option of this boat, and the dash and dash layout. My boat is the Billet Edition, and they only made one, so it's actually a very rare boat, which I also like. The cabin is small and cramped, the head is small and cramped, but my primary importance was rough water handling, stability & build quality. I've never read anything negative about the handling of 39 Cigarette. I don't think they have changed anything from hull number one until today, which says something.

The 39 OL and 42 OL are bigger in every way to the Cigarette. The biggest reason I didn't go with a 42 was the ones on the market all have paint and interiors that I just can't deal with. Grand Sport had one with 700's and NXTs but I just hated everything about it, as far as the colors went. It did have a much bigger cockpit, way bigger cabin, way bigger head. It was a lot like my Active Thunder, just bigger and staggered engines. The 42s seem to have great reviews for handling other than a stiff ride due to the epoxy layup. The 39 OL is similar to the 42 in that it feels huge inside, but the ride of the 39's seem to be very questionable. There are just way too many posts about them not handling well. I really liked Phils GTX, however that hull (both 39s) just scared me. Supposedly the SSM 6 boats handled better and both Phils GTX and the Quattro both had 6 drives, but still that really took both of those boats out of the running for me. One other thing about Outerlimits is they used a foam core laminate in the hull. Both 39's I looked at had hull damage. Phils was repaired and the Quattro was still damaged. The 39 Quattro had major damage and had to go back to OL to get repaired. The quattro was caused by fork lifts and rack storage. I talked to Glass Dave about this, and he explained how this happens. Basically IMO it is not a good idea to lift a foam core boat with a fork lift, you will eventually delaminate the hull. The Cigarette is a balsa core, which has way better shear strength over foam. To be honest, I don't know if Cigarette uses a solid layup on the running surface or if it is a cored layup. I’ll have to shoot Dave a text about that, as now I’m curious.

The 42s, most come with 1075 engines. 1075's were an absolute no go for me. These boats require enough constant maintenance, and dealing with a 1075 and the constant rebuilds was an instant no go. Many of the newer boats have the 700/ NXT combo, but the ones available were just ugly in my opinion. The last reason is a HUGE reason for my not buying an OL. None of the boats have an NADA book value, this makes them almost impossible to finance. Outerlimits seems to be able to get financing on the used boats they sell, but I had more than one broker tell me, they are hard to get financing for, and my experience agreed with that.


Now the one thing that Outerlimits exceeds at over any other boat manufacture is customer service. Up until recently I would have put Formula at the #1 slot. They always answer your questions and do it quickly, they would answer questions on my old Formula 292 SR-1 when I had that. Active Thunder has the absolute worst customer service! I've never dealt with anyone like them- ever. Cigarette is okay, they get back to you, but usually don't answer the question, so lately I just call Lipship and buy what I need from them. Phil has been great to deal with. Outerlimits on the other had was absolutely FANTASTIC when I had questions. They would email me build sheets on the boat I was looking at, answered questions about fuel tank replacement (39s had issues with the bladder tanks). They really made you feel like you were part of a family. I cannot say how important customer service is to me.

I know this was a long answer. When it came down to it, the 39 Cigarette was the right boat at the right time. The paint, interior colors, full staggered engines, side by side seating, and yes even the center steer I really liked. I also really like the styling on the 39, for me it is my favorite Cigarette cosmetically. The only thing I don't like are the Bravo drives! Now that I’ve had it out, am I happy with it, yes! It rides way better than the Active Thunder, yes it gives up some things to the Outerlimits boats, but I am fine with that. If you are looking at both, ask me again mid-summer, when I get more seat time. For now though, I am very happy with it.

Well put, glad you were able to find what worked best for you.
as for the 39 ol ride, anyone that doubts it can come for a ride in mine. You do have to make adjustments more often to the trim and tabs, but if you space the drives down it becomes set of and forget it like the cigarette, you just give up some top end in trade.

That is good to hear, and I forgot you had a 39 when I was typing this up. My thoughts on it was, how many of the people complaining about handling, or a loose feeling, just didn't know how to drive a boat? That is why I really wanted to take La Habenara for a sea trial. I'm glad to hear a set up tweak and learning to trim solves any issues. Ha, you kind of need to know how to trim anyway!

endeavor... not judging in any ways, but i was always surprised, or intrigued, by the road you took to get to this 39... i read your post comparing differents boats you looked at, comparing to other boats you had. They are all quite big money boats, with quality and technology hulls, from your active thunder and so on... i just don't get why you, in all that boat road you went thru, at one point bought that project scarab!!! :) after a nice active thunder!
i know you sold the scarab, then bought that 39. what made you choose that scarab? not speed, not technology, not a light hull...

I am just curious ! I just don't get it !

Enjoy your 39 anyways! :)

LOL- You and me both why I ever bought that 43 Scarab, but the Active Thunder was after the 43 Scarab. Here is the story.

Honestly I bought it for the drives, at the time I wanted some SSM 5 drives, and it was cheaper to just buy the entire boat. I thought I would buy the Scarab, part it out, and keep the drives. At the time, SSM 5 stuff was still getting good money. Then when I got the boat home, I thought, "you know, this is kind of a cool boat, with the right power, new paint, staggered twins, it might be actually fun."

Everything in the transom was rock solid, I never thought the cabin could be rotted out- WRONG! Then I had the wise idea of repairing the rot. When I found out it never ended, I got so mad, I told myself, "I'm done with this POS, I'm buying a modern stepped boat!" So I went home and totaled up all the parts I had accumulated for the 38 and the 43 Scarab. My eyes popped out of my head when I saw the total. $200k! That is no lie. At that point I was like, only a fool is going to dump $200k into a boat that is worth maybe $80k when done. Plus tons of time, and it would still need $30k in paint.

Two weekends later I put a deposit on the 37 AT. Then I spent the next year and a half selling all the parts I had bought. I felt like Gordon with all the parts I had. I'm now down to the Eickert engines, then everything from that dumb idea is gone.

So that is the story behind the 43 Scarab! It was one of my dumber moves, and glad it is long behind me.

which scarab? any pics?

i get it! Tough learning!

Ha, Here you go. Worst boat purchase of my life. 43 Scarab, Triple 600 SCs with SSM 5 drives.

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