the Cigarette bubble deck on Ebay for $ 38,000 , here on OSO also , is my friends boat in LA , I was interested in buying too but i just can`t do it now , lets just say i wired a ton of money to him a few years ago on a sight unseen car purchase, + my car arrived as promised. He was a big help, good luck .

Not that familiar with the bubble deck Cig, but i'll tell you one thing, I've seen Copper Kettle win some races in big seas with that Bertram.

Boat collected...
 

Now the real story begins!
The 39' Cigarette Bubbledeck, was collected by Bob Oetringer yesterday and is currently en-route to Ft. Myers where it will undergo restoration to full Historic Race Spec. Hope to have photos and info. as the project develops.

Would be great to hear from anyone who has any history / photos of the Boat. It is the Ex-Popeys / Bounty / Hunter / Flava Shoes - hopefully we will be able to determine exact history for Paint / vin Nos. etc.

The previous owner, Kimuel Lee has been a great guy to deal with. If anyone has dealings with this guy - you are lucky to be dealing with someone who is honest and trustworthy.

Bob Oetringer has also been a great guy to deal with - his knowledge on historic Race Boats and sound advice is a god send.

Finally, I must pay a special thanks to David Wade of David Wade Marine. Without David none of this would have happened. He has been of immense value and help looking at the boat twice prior to purchase. Anyone who needs any Mechanical / Marine help in the Baton Rouge / Louisiana area please give him a call.

All these people make the World a better place - being based In Guernsey, Channel Islands, part of the United Kingdom I put my trust in them all and have been rewarded handsomely. Once again I send my thanks.

The story will continue...

awesome!!! can't wait to see this!

Congrats on your purchase.

Nice one Richard C, I am VERY jealous!! I have been watching that boat for months, willing and hoping that enough money would come my way to do the deal. Good luck with it my friend! Your not by chance the Richard C that would have powerboat connections with Poole are you?? I live there and had a bit to do with Bounty Hunter last year. By the way, in case you did not know, BH now resides in Poole and is in VERY good condition. Regarding the colour scheme/sponsorship – there were only 2 bubble decks made, BH and yours. BH was built for Billy Martin in 1978 and was delivered as ‘Bounty Hunter’. This boat was then sold to Michel Maynard the following year, who ran it as BH first and then ran it in the same colours but called it ‘Fayva Shoes’. I saw it being built at Cigarette in April ’78 and then saw it at a few UK based races over the next couple of years, such as Cowes, Needles Trophy, etc.. I have quite a lot of info/photos on this one but not yours. I do however know that your boat is allegedly the faster of the two. Instinct/logic tells me that if you are taking the boat to Fort Myers, then the same guy restoring yours, is the same guy that recently breathed on BH…..say no more! One thing is for sure though, he will be able to tell you all about the history of your boat and he does still know the original crew who built them in the first place, smart choice!

I know for a fact that BH was laid-up in red gelcoat and has remained that colour all her life. I’m not sure how your boat started life but I know that Al Copeland ran it as ‘Popeyes’ and it is the same boat that was/or became, Halter Racing. The give-away is the air scoops – BH has the more rounded ‘Moroso’ scoops, yours had the flatter style.

To answer your question; THE BOAT HAS TO BE REBUILT AS POPEYES!

I am very surprised about your comments regarding the price of the Bertram, this leads me to conclude there are two currently on the market since I’ve been drooling over one of them as well!!!

I would love to see your boat, both before and after the restoration and it will be totally awesome to see it alongside BH next year. Its fair to say that you appear to have beaten me to something I would have dearly loved to have done! I’ll be at Cowes in a couple of weeks if your going, maybe see you there………….

Here are the pics........you can see the plug for the hull and deck, taken at the factory in '78.

here is a pic taken of BH's hull at the same time........

Ratman72, do you have any more pictures of 188th St?
That 1st one brings back memories...

Sadly, only this one. I think I have a couple of the Magnum factory as well somewhere, since I visited both places on the same trip. I also recall a photo of a stretched bell jet ranger, which I assume was being use by Don Aronow at the time......I'll have a look to see what I can find.