Marco,
I too have thought that there could have been a link between the unidentified (at the time) photo I had and Jacques Mezanotti's Maxim's. After all, there can't have been many 36' Cigarette modified to carry 6 outboard engines. You'll noticed that I am referring to Maxim's being a 36' as this is the length that was always mentioned in conjunction with the boat. Now, the photo I found was from the 1971 season and Mezanotti got his Cigarette hull in 1984, a 13 years void in the boat history (assuming it is the same one). Also, Jacques Mezanotti was notorious for racing on a shoe-string budget so he could have started racing with a 13 year old hull as it would probably be fairly low cost to purchase.
Finally, although the boat was unreliable due to its configuration, Mezanotti replaced his Cigarette hull with an aluminium cat powered this time not by 6 but 7 Mercury outboards(!)

Phil

Yes, probably not the prettiest examples of air scoop. My guess is that they were inspired by the one used by the Ligier F1 team. Pironi had been driving for Ligier before he joined Ferrari and he must have made some contacts while there. Maybe the air scoops were even designed by the same person. As the 38' Cigarette EST was prepared by Pironi's Leader team, I suppose that he equipped it with the same air scoops. Why?, I am not sure. but surely not for pleasing the eye of onlookers.

Phil

The Pironi's teammate was J.C Guenard an ex Formula one mechanics and they put the air scoop to get more air to feed the V12 lambo's engines installed in the cigarette and the Colibri.
The Cigarette hull is now in Switzerland.
Patrick.

Phil,
The suspect in me came some time ago when comparing two images of that boats(Jersey Devil III and Maxim's) I noted that the 34' of Sims had the deck in white and the sides in yellow and Maxim's had the deck in white and under the repainting in white part of the sides there where the same yellow.
It's too much little to affirm that were the same boat but togheter the fact that there were very few Cig. 34' outboards around the world the suspect could be founded.


image taken from a Mercury outboards brochure of 1972.

Patrick,
I remember well those Ligier F1 when they appeared in 1976.
Very original and beautiful design.
That air-scopes were too big maybe but the performances of the cars immediately impressed. Then those scopes were cut soon because of the change of the rules.
Maybe you are perhaps right saying that the V12s Lambo had to breathe well as the old V12s Matra.
At least it was an attempt.