It's impossible to crash a 12 year old thread. Just an FYI.

best thread EVER...

This is a 32ft bow to transom Carbon Epoxy cat with a 9' 6" beam weighing 2100LBS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04OsKbtoTUY

My 31 SVL in Viynlester/S glass weighs in at 4675LBS and this is with an extremely stout canopy and deflecter system. After working up a layup schedule in carbon/epoxy, neary 600lbs were scrubbed off the weight of the VE boat.

ttt in honor or T2x's award, certainly rankled a few feathers when first posted!!!!

Time for the Phoenix to rise from the ashes...

Somebody fill in the blanks!

ttt Is T2x still here? I love this thread!

almost 20 years since this thread began, I guess you can say when stepped hulls across all manufacturers were relatively a new concept. The 38 Top Gun hull has remained unchanged since 2002 (unless I am mistaken) and has 2 steps. Every boat has steps now. Back when this thread started in 2001, I think Cig was just starting to transition to 1 step and was coming out with twin step Top Guns.

All these years later, would the OG's of the boating world such as T2x still prefer a non-stepped hull? If Cigarette called and said you can have a 1998 38 Top Gun non stepped with new merc 565's or a 2008 38 Top Gun T/S with new merc 565's for free, but you can never sell it, which one would you take?

Boating type would be some cruising around 50-60mph, occasional WOT. Barnegat Bay and some NJ Atlantic Ocean rough stuff, not a dedicated race boat. Which would you pick? Is the Twin Step more efficient at cruising speeds? Or do the majority of the builders/racers that have been around for a while still maintain the steps do nothing except make the marketing dept's lives easier?

Having had many Cigarette’s. I can hands down say, I would take the step all day. Yes, more efficient, glides through the water, faster, flies level. Cruise speed is much better, gas efficiency. I had almost 1000hp a side in a straight bottom gun, dialed in with props, x dimension, voodoo. It would run upper 90. Had a twin step playboy 35. It ran 95. With about 640hp a side. Easy decision. Just have to respect the step and know how to operate. There is a reason for the newer technology. Just my 2 cents.

plus on the playboy, I could stay on plane around 3300-3500 RPM and cruise at 50mph with 5 blades.

cigrocket thanks for chiming in! You listed a whole lot of advantages that go towards the T/S, which is a 2002 hull design, so not really new technology, I guess it kinda is for the marine world. Do you think the newer boats were just built better, materials wise, foam instead of wood, vacuum bagging instead of 'old resin buckets'. and the possibility that it flies level is because they focused more on the center of gravity to change those characteristics? I wonder what the weight difference of the final straight bottom 38 top gun vs the first T/S top gun. If the weight is relatively the same between both, then maybe the T/S hull is actually more efficient? If the old guns were way heavier and more out of balance that might not be an apples to apples comparison. Ive always been under the impression that stepped hulls are faster, and yes, be careful in the turns. Reading this thread going back to 2001, even through the end which was around 2017. Some builders/racers maintained that steps do nothing and are just marketing and when the boat is WOT, the back few inches/feet are in the water and the steps are not so them being there or not makes no difference at top end, I can see that argument to a degree. Ive been boating for 30 years, cats, vee's , steps, no steps, the whole thing, but never had the same hull with and w/o steps to really compare. Did you have a Cafe Racer prior to the playboy?

Side note - the playboy with the black sides, mahogany floors and silver accents is probably my favorite boat of all time.

Old tread wrong post