I am debating the purchase of a 36' Cigarette Gladiator and wanted some input on the ride quality in choppy LOTO conditions and how the boat handles large rollers @ cruising speed and/or top end of 90 MPH. All feedback from current owners or OSO members who know the boat would be appreciated. I have only rode in a Gladiator during calm conditions. I would guess the boat handles fair in rough stuff as they originated for F2 but could be wrong. Thanks.

Buy a staggered boat. They will run great in the loto chop. I owned one for three years and it was great!

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Sent you a PM

Didnt send a pm.

So whats the recent love affair with the Gladiator & loto? Are they just dropping in value enough to where more obtainable by more people? Seems like over the last 3 months a lot of interest has been shown in them.

The pricing on glads have got real cheap

I was thinking the same thing

I'm not sure when $139k got cheap

I didn't send a pm either.

I have spent a little time in Red Bud's and must say the glad is like a sports car while a stand up boat like my Apache is more like Caddy. Personally, the glad is one of the funnest sit downs I have ridden in and really changed my opinions of sitdowns. As far as bumpy water I would say it can handle what ever loto could throw at it, however your back may not appreciate flying off waves for much more than an hour at time. In a heavy stand up boat your 3 year old can sleep on the back bench while you fly through that same slop (going 25-30mph slower of course). If your are looking for a "sports car" type boat the glad is a great boat at a great price but if you want a caddy ride you may not be as happy. Run one before you buy it and you will know right away.

Too me the Glad is perfect boat to add to the arsenal if you already have a cruiser or daytrip type boat. It is the sports car and your cruiser is your SUV sort of speak.

I can only afford one boat so I prefer the standup and a cabin but if I was looking for a "sportscar" type ride you don't get much more bank for the buck IMO.

As far as the recent interest:
1.) lots of bang/performance for the buck with legendary oval on the back
2.) Tow easily with a 3/4 pickup
3.) One guy buys one it makes another guy take a look.
4.) (same as #1) A lot of performance with reliable 525s a stagger and shorty ITS XRs hanging off the back for a little bit of change. My boat would need 850+ HP to run in the low to mid 90's

I think he meant to say the purchase prices.