Why a cig boat and not a cruiser?
 

Ok I'm new to this site and I'm always looking and intrigued by the boats and the discussions. I uses to race superbikes professionally and worked for a Huge NHRA drag racing engine builder when I was a kid. So i have always been around speed and love running 200MPH at Daytona. So what is the addiction to going fast on water? I don't think I could do it. I feel to responsible with peoples lives in my hands that I couldn't run 125MPH on the water. The boats are gorgeous. Just curious I have a 310 Sundancer and I'm moving up in spring. Just curious that's all just open to hearing peoples reasoning.Don't ban me,I can help anyone out with hi end stereos and Im a Raymarine Dealer installer. Thanks Guys!!

Welcome aboard.

Bikes you need 3 - 4
cruiser
Rocket
Bar hopper panhead
and maybe a dirt

Boat same way
Cruiser
Power Boat
Center console.

We all want a stable full, some here have the funds and do keep them full, others myself included get what they want the most and that they can afford. And some have friends with cruisers and they all gather up and enjoy each others rides.

you catch the bug just like anything else. top fuel, sprints, bikes, snowmobiles or planes, once you get bit you're infected for life. there aren't many going 125 on the water in a v bottom or a cat but the one's that are doing it have been boating for many many years (most). in general the more seat time you have the better, more responsible and safe you become. there are always a few "weapons" out there and you will find that in any sport. to sum it up (imo) once you hit the century mark, the more you want to do it. try it out, you may just like it

I went from a Cigarette, to a Fountain, now a cruiser. Just keeps better with each step. :D


Actually, my boating style has changed over last 10 yrs. Spend all day at the docks or just tied up with the others. The comforts of the cruiser are just hard to pass up, plus booze cruises on a cruiser with a dozen of your buddies,GF's and wives can't be beat! Still have the Fountain for the Need for Speed thing. It's just not as important anymore. It's been lucky to see water 5 times in the last 4 yrs.

I had a cruiser but it sank. I was so happy until they told me I had to pay to recover it off the bottom of the lake.

You are right about catching the bug. What is a good first cig type boat? I'm on Lake Erie.I guess i need to go out on one. I have no problems running 80mph on a ski. Love it, so I would probably flip a boat as well.Thanks for your input

I just ordered a sticker for my cat trailer " On this trailer lies a disease for which there is no cure " I love fast everything but the challenge of being fast on the water can't be beat . It's not for everyone , only the mentally deranged will do it . :lolhit: It is a very tight knit group of individuals that tend to have each others backs .
(Jim?)

My thoughts as well.

where you located?

I love the rush of running 60+ mph in 4-6 footers, great fun! and the sound of 2 BBC@5500 rpm is bad azz, my dad has a cruiser, tops out at 32 mph, I wanna stab my eyes out when on it!!

Your name says it all.... Mr. TOPGUN

I think there is a big misconception of speed on the water. Mine is not fast by no means as it tops out at 68, but I cruise with the kids at 50-55. Now having grown up on the water in S La., we didn't have any friends with go fast, but 60-70mph in a flat bottom skiff with a 200 merc or a 17' bass boat running same speed was fast and could be scary if you had any kind of rough water.

That said, cruising 50 thru 1-2's my kids (5 & 8) can walk back and forth from cuddy to bench while we cruise along doesn't bother thm at all and very smooth. Now, the skiff or bass boat, your hanging on watching for anything that coukd throw you out!

Would also like a cruiser too as mentioned... amenities are a big plus!

I grew up fishing bass tournaments and running 80 on those types of boats. Married early 20's and bought a number of express cruisers (had 6 Sundancers from 27-35). By the time I was in my early 30's we had traveled and seen most everything around us within 4 hour runs. Invited and ran a poker run on a buddies 38 Fountain and even my wife was hooked.

Within 6 weeks we sold the cruiser and bought a 31 Formula. Not so much for the thrill/speed but for the ability to extend our destinations. A destination we regularly visited in a 33 Sundancer that took 4 hours to get to now took 1:45 min. We later built motors in a 38 Formula and cruised 60-70, even circled the entire Chesapeake Bay twice. I never really ran the Formulas for speed and even propped them for optimal mid-range at the expense of top end (still ran 98 when I wanted). I remember running along the ocean front one day doing 72mph (fast cruise) and my wife was sitting beside me reading a magazine......some (not all) of these boats are incredible stable at speed and getting over 100-120 mph is not as common as it may appear.

Today we have a 21 ft center console and water-sport with the kids. For thrills I now have a mustang built for road racing and compete wheel-2-wheel at several regional tracks :)

I'm in Catawba Island over by Port Clinton if you are familiar with it.I guess i need to try it out, love speed but i love beer and loud music with lots of woman !!!

So have you ever ran VIR with your mustang? Fun track ove turn 1 and the climb up the hill, on a bike though.

very familiar, I am there every weekend from April-Nov.... I am at KI every weekend....

Only a dozen + weekends, that is my "home" track :). I started "HPDE" 2.5 years ago and got my competition license last summer. I run with NASA in CMC. Basically low budget mustang/camaros with 5 other faster classes on track with us (kind of like Grand Am). Last race I finished poorly on Sat (5th of 9) but won in the rain on Sunday.

At 3,300lbs and 260 RWhp we come under the bridge and never lift going up the esses at about 110-115.......I'm sure your running much faster on a bike though. Our Feb race has been postponed because they repaved the track 2 weeks ago and want it to sit til March before getting abused. I've seen track maps showing where they have widened it in some areas and everyone expects track records to fall come spring.

He said 80 on a ski, funny guy welcome aboard

Started at 14 with my dads 19' wellcraft cc fishing. Started drag racing cars at 16 and was hooked on the rumble of the go fast boats tearing up the tickfaw river. Fast foward 12 years. On My second go fast, part owner of the tickfaw 200 poker run. Have a alum 22' cc for coastal finishing a go devil for the swamp and dad now has a 40' alantic trawler. Oh and one is always broke lol
For me it's the thrill of the boat, the look,sound, all the things you did do make it yours friends, trips etc. can't beat 2 540s with dry exhoust cranking up at the docks.

I like most boats, I have owned 12 boats as someone pointed out earlier in the thread every boat has it's pro's and con's and if you can afford a couple of boats you would have the best of both worlds. I have had 4 run about\ski type boats to pull the kids around, I have also had 4 express cruisers mixed with 4 go fast type boats. I always liked the go fasts but my ex-wife liked the cruisers. I don't run real fast my boat tops out at 68 but it cruises pretty good at 50. What I like to tell people about why I like the go fasts over an express is the experience of driving a go fast compared to a cruiser is like comparing driving a corvette to driving a motor home. The go fast cuts the water better, runs almost effortlessly across the water where as the cruiser more or less lumbers along seeming to need almost full throttle to just stay on plane, with the sounds of cabinet doors and dishes banging around every time you hit a wave.

It's all about having fun on a boat !! Racing, poker runs, cruising. There's a boat for everything :) know your boat and get some seat time in it before haul azz !! V bottom or a cat!!

Plant your a$$ in a seat of a performance boat for an afternoon and then ask that question.

Call me - I'll help you.

I love running 85 up the lake and topping out over a 100 but its the super chargers screaming i love the most

Some guys get it and some don't.

Hi jim

If you have to ask, I don't think it's in you. I don't mean it disrespectfully at all, but how do you explain to someone who doesn't ride a motorcycle, why?

It's in you, it's a part of you. It's not a tattoo, hat or a t-shirt, it's in your soul.

Couldn't agree more...My 38 Fountain topped out in the high 80's and we cruised effortlessly in the high 50's / low 60's. We get to places we want to go in half the time or less than our friends with the "cruisers"... now, we didn't have the full size bed or stand up shower, but in reality, the number of times we would use that stuff is minimal and my wife loves that we can go anywhere we want quickly.. if it took hours to get places, she'd never go out...

plus the real bonus... nothing beats a badass boat when you have teenage kids.. my 18 year old son is glued to me in the summer... can't put a price tag on that... we're making memories that will last forever...

Having said all that, my wife did say that she would be happier with some more amenities so I compromised..... I traded up to a 47 Fountain that has air conditioning...LOL... same speed, smoother ride, lots more room and some amenities... can't see ever needing anything else...

Look, sound and feel hooked me. My boating "group" consists of acouple cruisers, jet skis, bass boats and a ski natiuque; I see value in all of them but to me it's just like driving around on the roads, I'll always be that guy in the supped up something even if I am just driving to the corner market.

Wife and I tried the cruiser thing for 2 years to try to be closer to our friends (all cruiser owners). We didn't get it. all people do is sit around at the dock all weekend....that's not boating! Cruisers it's all about the destination, go-fast it's all about the thrill of the journey.

lol

Welcome Aboard!

There is a guy at LOTO (Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri) that you should meet. He has a Sundancer and an awesome Skater, best of both worlds. He takes clients around the coves in the Searay, proposing multimillion dollar marinas, homes, condos along the way but when he really wants to show them a good time he fires up the 44 Skater! Now it wasn't always a 44, he built his own bustle to make it one of a kind and the envy of all! He can clearly see how jealous everyone is through his patented polycarbonic race fairing windshield. NASA was hiring him to do the contract work on the Space Shuttle windshields until that program got put on hold!
He has tons of friends, everyone knows him and even was trying to run the school board despite not even having kids and no background in that field but hey that is just splitting hairs.

He posts on tons of boating websites but has a lot of different screen names but they always have "banned" written below them so you can readily identify him! :D

In my 20's I had a ball on my Baja, In my 30's spent every weekend on my Sea Ray. Now at 40 my kids are in there teens and we are loving our old 32' Black Thunder. Someone said it before but the ride is as important and fun as the destination. In 10 years of owning my cruiser we generally stayed in a 20 square mile area. Now 3 years with the BT we have towed it all over the state and another country. My kids always want to come with us and there friends campaign all week to be asked to come along. The kids literally fight over who is going up on the bow to attach fenders and lines. Not to mention pulling up to a dock with 2 Big blocks barking feels pretty cool too. Someone always says "sweet boat or nice ride". I am not going to lie, I like that! I am sure sometime in my boating career I will own another cruiser, but for now I am feeling like a rockstar with my go fast.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Bf5KwNkwPMk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I guess this summer i will get on a boat that can move. I always had HP on a track, I would never try it on a street. I'm wild and our saying" was don't stop till she pops "!! So that's why I cant ride a cruiser on the street. Its an adrenaline that nobody can match so why even mess around or try it. So I guess I need to try it out. Guess I will look for some people around Lake Erie. Does the Coast Guard mess with you guys? I just don't want any trouble!!

That sentence should get him banned immedeately. :lolhit:

I can respect that! So what is the the correct definition or wording?

Where do you keep your boat? There's lot's of us in that area! And a handful of us in central Ohio. We spend the weekends we don't make it north at Buckeye.

I used to go to Buckeye Lake every weekend. Especially July 3 weekend. My buddy lived out there on the Lake and have lots of friends at Woodys. My boat is kept at Lake Erie. So im up there every weekend. Maybe if Buckeye stays frozen I will get to ride some bikes on the Ice. Lots of Fun, its a trip being on the ice and looking at the shore. But I live in Columbus.

I sure we've met then! Spend lots of time at woodys. Have an all white 24' cigarette, and just sold a 30' formula. We take the 382 out there as well. My dad had a 330Ss that was always at woodys.

How is the water out there? Any bacteria or whatever they were talking about like St Marys? I need to get out there this year. Nice boat! Can you open it up in the morning?

I used to race the open class in AMA pro racing too. Did you race ama or overseas? Who are you? :D

The reason we like our high perf boats is beacause.., They don't put through the transome exhaust on a cruiser . :lolhit: