well its official...top banana aint no wussie
12-24-2005, 07:24 AM
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well its official...top banana aint no wussie
had the pleasure of taking the top banana charlie mcarthey out for a run in my mistress (he has the 35ft cig mistress, 28cig and 24banana/cig molds and is gonna start building these awsome boats with more modern layups) charlie is the man. i learned more about running my boat and the history of the cigarette company and the 35 mistress/awesome in an afternoon than i thought possible. he came by the house, parked his harley and we were off. dipped the boat in clearwater and headed out. as soon as we got out in the gulf (beautiful day sunny mid 70's..[how are things up north] with 3 to 4's i got her up on plane an ran it a bit, then i stepped aside and let charlie run the boat, as soon as he was nestled in the bolster he pinned the sticks and we were flying. charlie showed me some cool chit, he showed me how to slide the azz end around the corners and really shared everything he learned the hard way with me. i will remember the day for years to come, the only thing that could have topped it was if don came back from the dead and ran the boat with me himself. i can't wait for charlie to get geared up and start building the best straight bottom boats made. if you wont to really learn to run you boat talk charlie into running you boat with you for a day you will learn alot, thx again charlie. ratman
12-24-2005, 07:51 AM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
Ratman,
It sounds like you really picked up some info even for a guy that has been at it for years.
Charlie,
How bout passing on some knowledge to a newbie, PM when you get a chance?
Regards,
itilldo
It sounds like you really picked up some info even for a guy that has been at it for years.
Charlie,
How bout passing on some knowledge to a newbie, PM when you get a chance?
Regards,
itilldo
12-24-2005, 09:24 AM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
Sounds like one heck of a day, one most of us will never experience with a someone like that. Those lessons don't come often.
12-24-2005, 06:04 PM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
it really was an interesting day. he was there in the offshore heyday, had planty of cool stories about some of the wild azz things that went on in the day. i hope he gets things in gear and starts building the 35cig again. its where it all started. will be interesting with modern layup.
12-26-2005, 05:20 AM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
Rat - that had to be a great day.
It was a blast running in your boat last month.
Musta been a good time running with Charlie.
I hope he starts (re)-Building the 35 Mistress - your's is an awesome ride.
We would've made Don proud that day!
She didn't buckle or flex, ate up the waves.
It was one helluva day for me.
It was a blast running in your boat last month.
Musta been a good time running with Charlie.
I hope he starts (re)-Building the 35 Mistress - your's is an awesome ride.
We would've made Don proud that day!
She didn't buckle or flex, ate up the waves.
It was one helluva day for me.
12-26-2005, 05:45 PM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
A big THANK YOU, to Ratman for allowing me to operate his boat....he told me that he had never done that before with anyone.
He has a beautiful boat with some pretty powerful mills pushing it around too. And he has a nice natural touch to the helm that won't get him in trouble.
As we will be making this very 35 foot boat again in a new format, I was curious as to what an original Mistress would handle like, and didn't want to rely on my memory....he very graciously allowed me to come with him for the day and we had a lot of fun out there.
One of the things that I hope to be able to do, is to spend some time with each new owner of our banana boats, to just run through some of the handling characteristics of these boats in ocean conditions.
The more relaxed we can make an owner feel, the more fun he will be getting out of the boat. Guys like Ratman are a perfect example, you tell them and then show them once...they get it.
Heading off to South Florida now, where I hope to get my own lesson from Lucky Strike on running twin steps. Be back in the cold north in one week, hard to believe, but true.
He has a beautiful boat with some pretty powerful mills pushing it around too. And he has a nice natural touch to the helm that won't get him in trouble.
As we will be making this very 35 foot boat again in a new format, I was curious as to what an original Mistress would handle like, and didn't want to rely on my memory....he very graciously allowed me to come with him for the day and we had a lot of fun out there.
One of the things that I hope to be able to do, is to spend some time with each new owner of our banana boats, to just run through some of the handling characteristics of these boats in ocean conditions.
The more relaxed we can make an owner feel, the more fun he will be getting out of the boat. Guys like Ratman are a perfect example, you tell them and then show them once...they get it.
Heading off to South Florida now, where I hope to get my own lesson from Lucky Strike on running twin steps. Be back in the cold north in one week, hard to believe, but true.
12-26-2005, 06:24 PM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
Originally Posted by Top Banana
A big THANK YOU, to Ratman for allowing me to operate his boat....he told me that he had never done that before with anyone.
He has a beautiful boat with some pretty powerful mills pushing it around too. And he has a nice natural touch to the helm that won't get him in trouble.
As we will be making this very 35 foot boat again in a new format, I was curious as to what an original Mistress would handle like, and didn't want to rely on my memory....he very graciously allowed me to come with him for the day and we had a lot of fun out there.
One of the things that I hope to be able to do, is to spend some time with each new owner of our banana boats, to just run through some of the handling characteristics of these boats in ocean conditions.
The more relaxed we can make an owner feel, the more fun he will be getting out of the boat. Guys like Ratman are a perfect example, you tell them and then show them once...they get it.
Heading off to South Florida now, where I hope to get my own lesson from Lucky Strike on running twin steps. Be back in the cold north in one week, hard to believe, but true.
He has a beautiful boat with some pretty powerful mills pushing it around too. And he has a nice natural touch to the helm that won't get him in trouble.
As we will be making this very 35 foot boat again in a new format, I was curious as to what an original Mistress would handle like, and didn't want to rely on my memory....he very graciously allowed me to come with him for the day and we had a lot of fun out there.
One of the things that I hope to be able to do, is to spend some time with each new owner of our banana boats, to just run through some of the handling characteristics of these boats in ocean conditions.
The more relaxed we can make an owner feel, the more fun he will be getting out of the boat. Guys like Ratman are a perfect example, you tell them and then show them once...they get it.
Heading off to South Florida now, where I hope to get my own lesson from Lucky Strike on running twin steps. Be back in the cold north in one week, hard to believe, but true.
12-26-2005, 07:24 PM
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Re: well its official...top banana aint no wussie
Originally Posted by blastersbro
someone ask Lightspeed about his 24 banana experience 
In 1979 I licensed a company to build the 24 footer under a royalty agreement. I gave them the layup that Don Aronow had given me when I bought the molds from him at Cigarette. Sometime between 1979 and the time they went out of business in 1995 or so, they changed the layup to something they came up with.
Lightspeed bought one of those new layup boats from them. I think the bottom lasted about 20 minutes and gave away....after much legal wrangling they had to give him another boat ...the second boat had a bottom that lasted about 10 minutes.
The 24's are now broken into three separate generations... ....first generation...these are the ones that I made from '76 to '79 .....and then second generation, the ones that were made by the company in Rhode Island that Lightspeed bought his from...and now, 2006, we are making third generation boats...made by my son and me using the original molds from Cigarette and the old layup from Don.
I understand Lightspeed now has a new Kryptonite boat that will be outstanding and super fast. We are very sorry to hear of any of thse stories from that era, but we were not building the boats then....and we never collected the royalties due either.
Last edited by Top Banana; 12-26-2005 at 07:28 PM.
