Hi guys, I am looking for a well-maintained second-hand Cigarette Boat (38' +) with Mercury Engines capable of giving her a speed of 85 knots (100mph). The search is underway; this thread is not about that
The plan is to use her in the Maldives during yachting season (November - April). Does anyone have a similar experience of actually using these expensive powerboats and enlightening me on the costs of running and maintenance? Ignore petrol costs; that will depend on usage.
1) What is an approximate annual cost of maintenance, for engines, drives, hull, upholstery, miscellaneous equipment like A/C, toilets etc? Assuming the engines have 100 hours on them already.
2) Do these boats need continuous looking after, or is it enough to store them away for non-season months in an open storage area?
3) Are these machine more finicky than most sellers and brokers let on (read: hidden costs)? Or are they solid and robust for the most part for rough use?
4) Any alternate to Cigarette Boats you may suggest, for more durability and dependability?

Any inputs welcome.
Many thanks in advance.
Cheers.

A Cigarette ( go fast boat) is something that will require regular maintenance. Oil changes, drive fluid, impellers, drive service work on a regular basis of around 25-50 hours depending on type of usage. In the states that is around $2,000.00 if nothing is broken. I would recommend indoor storage whenever not in use. It is cheaper to keep it maintained and out of the elements than to go through costly repairs and because of lack of maintenance or damage from the sun or salt water. Storage can vary drastically so no way to give you a dollar amount on that. I believe that owning a Cigarette style boat is no more costly to operate or maintain than any other twin engine boat. With that said, these boats are usually driven harder and tend to break more frequently due to the stresses we put them under. This is where the big expense comes into play. Good luck with your search!

I would plan on spending aprox 10% of the value of the boat annually on maintenance. More if you tear something up.

Will a 38+ cig get to 100 mph with 700's?

If you want to see 100mph, you’ll need big power.

That means expensive to buy and plenty of maintenance even if you’re not using it much. Big power needs a lot of love (yes, finicky) and if you’re not experienced driving such a boat, it’s akin to putting your 18 year old son in a Ferrari. Not impossible but needs to be done very carefully.

Come back to a more modest 70mph and your cost will likely half, along with maintenance and tne experience needed to drive and enjoy. The difference between 70 and 100 on water is huge.

Do some searches on Mercury Racing engine maintenance, look through The classifieds at price differences between similar boats with different power. 500 ‘ish hp is considers very modest, custom build engines of 1,000 hp are not uncommon but they’re a lot more work. Hopefully someone will jump in with more details about maintenance.

Welcome to OSO and good luck.

RR

P.S. I hope I haven’t been ‘Darr’ed’. 🙂

yes my 2010 42x with 700s does

Stepped hull - Yes.

LOL. He first asked this on THT and was told to come ask here......so i doubt it. (but I don't know the guy)

Could definitely be a Darr situation. More information on Cigarette Speeds on OSO then most topics....just takes a search , Only topics with more info are Apache, What Kind of Oil to Run and 3/4 Race Cams.

100mph 10,000lb 2x700 HP 38' boat I guess