I'm guessing it's a carbon fiber lay up. Is the name sake "Carbon 70" special for only Cafe Racers? I've seen two Cafe's with this designation. I didn't realize they made Carbon fiber Cafes. Thought it was only guns w/Carbon fiber. What's the deal? And is the Carbon fiber boats lighter, stronger or both? How much do Carbon fiber boats weigh compared to normal lay up? Ok, enough Q's for now.

Tank

Yes, its designates carbon fiber lay-up. The "Carbon 70" means that the boat would run 70 mph with a pair of 502 Mags and Bravo's. My carbon fiber '91 Cafe' that is now owned by board member "CAFE" ran 84 mph in fresh water with warm SC600's and Bravo's.

A carbon fiber Cafe is about 400 pounds lighter than a normal FG Cafe' ( according to Craig Barrie ), and about 600 pounds lighter in a TG. Carbon fiber is better at taking sudden, large isolated blows or impacts whereas Kevlar is not as strong as carbon fiber but better at taking repeated, more rapid blows / impacts.

- Jamie

Well, that pretty much sums it up for me then. Thanks for the response. I guess I could just call Craig about all of this but I hate to bug him w/all these q's. You guys do just as good of a job!

I asked Craig, and here's what he said,


"It was 70 MPH. They were a little lighter, all were supercharged. The Guns were easier to run as they all went about 72mph. Those Cafe were stuborn to get 70mph." Craig

What, are you sitting next to Craig? Tell him to get back to work!

Hmmm, I wonder what SC motor's they were putting in them in the early 90's?
well thanks for the reply. I guess they were fairly rare since you don't see many around.

Ok,

I can't hold back any longer!!!!

I don't want to get in a huff with anyone BUT, Cigarette said my carbon 70 Top Gun weighed 9200 lbs with 1/2 tank of fuel. "Cash Bar", on the board, has a 96 fiberglass Top Gun and the owner said it weighed 11,000 lbs dry. 11,000 - 9,200=1,800.

You can go up to the side of my boat and push it in with your thumb, and it moves back and forth. Try that on a fiberglass Gun. . Most of the early 90s Top Guns were backed by Hawk blower motors.

If you want a 70+ MPH boat with very mild power you need to go Carbon Fiber. We have 6-7 MPH over the Fiberglass Top Guns with same power. We have owned a lot of Cigarettes over the years (8 to be exact) this BY FAR is the best.

Here are some facts comparing Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, and Fiberglass:

Below are some property values for the three materials. Keep in mind these values are at optimum resin ratios.

Modulus of elasticity(stiffness)
Glass: 2,600,000psi
Kevlar: 3,100,000psi
Carbon: 8,700,000psi

You can see how much stiffer Carbin is than the other two.

Here are ultimate strengths for bi-directional woven fabrics:

Glass: 25,000psi
Kevlar: 51,900psi
Carbon: 87,900psi

Now, here's how they compare in terms of weight:
Glass: 0.072 lb/in^3
Kevlar: 0.061 lb/in^3
Carbon: 0.054 lb/in^3

Here are the strength to weight ratios:
Glass: 333,333
Kevlar: 850,819
Carbon: 1,627,777

You can see that Kevlar is about 2.5 times as strong per pound of glass and Carbon is about 5 times as strong per pound.

I hope this answers some of your questions.

LS JR.

Anyone have any idea how much my boat weighs? 97 TG kevlar w/ covergirl cabin. Runs a solid 80+ mph w/ 600's & bravos.

LS, you should be working at the factory!

So basically Carbon fiber is stronger AND lighter than anything else.


A glass Cafe weighs right around 9500 dry right? so a carbon should be around 9,000? and you get 7 more mph out of 4-500 pounds lighter? That's a large difference.

Yes, it is basically all around better.

I think GLH said his '94 Cafe weighed 9800 lbs dry. IMO, I think there is a lot more difference in weight in a Fiberglass Gun compared to a Carbon Fiber Gun, more than 5-600 lbs. You can feel the difference in the way the two ride.

My $.02

LS JR.

My bad, I stand corrected. Hey, its only 2 hundred horsepower difference, what do you mean ??