Cigarette Boats
Discussion
1)Very expensive to run on a per hour basis.
2)Support required is extensive.
3)Petrol & boats is a historically terrible combination as everything required to keep a boat watertight allows fuel vapor to pool low down with attendant risk of explosion.
4)Pretty pointless given most port speed limits are 6-10kts and if you go fast outside port limits with any kind of chop you get the kind of spinal compression that gives Martin-Baker seat designers sleepless nights.
5)90% of other port users will think you are a prat (not as bad as jet skis, but about there).
6)They are called cigarette boats because they are long & slim, expensive, addictive & bad for your health.
The thing is, they do look awfully good fun!
Watching with interest!
2)Support required is extensive.
3)Petrol & boats is a historically terrible combination as everything required to keep a boat watertight allows fuel vapor to pool low down with attendant risk of explosion.
4)Pretty pointless given most port speed limits are 6-10kts and if you go fast outside port limits with any kind of chop you get the kind of spinal compression that gives Martin-Baker seat designers sleepless nights.
5)90% of other port users will think you are a prat (not as bad as jet skis, but about there).
6)They are called cigarette boats because they are long & slim, expensive, addictive & bad for your health.
The thing is, they do look awfully good fun!
Watching with interest!
Edited by Stick Legs on Monday 29th November 10:58
One Amp Andy said:
elms said:
I know its a stupid idea but I have been looking at these, they seem to start at reasonable price points although 95% of them are in the USA.
Has anyone here owned or ran one in the UK?
It's a terrible idea. I have also been looking at them. Buy one.Has anyone here owned or ran one in the UK?
A long list of NO and no actual reason to buy one, so basically a must buy
I had the chance to have my parents' boat moored alongside one for a couple of years and been out a few times as a passenger. I think the best part is working on it, I don't think it has been used more than for 30 minutes sorties as it becomes soon tiresome: as you're off the coast it requires a high level of attention, you can't see much around and it's bloody noisy.
But all those chromy and shiny bits in the engines bay
elms said:
popeyewhite said:
Not terribly glamorous running one of these off the UK coast I'd have thought. Day trip to the IOM is hardly crossing the Florida straits... .
True, but no fun or glamour in not owning something otherwise My mates and I seriously considered a similar type of powerboat – Fountain Fever 33 that was available in the USA. The idea was for the 4 of us to share at it. This is not the actual boat, but it was identical to this :-
It was cheap enough in the US, but import duty, VAT, recreational craft directive, shipping, and insurance, for starters, meant the bills just kept coming. If you buy one already here, much of this disappears.
One mate went to the US to have a look at it in Oct’19. He said it looked and sounded amazing.
The seller said at 60 knots, it went through a gallon every 53 seconds, although he told him you probably won’t have any teeth left after about 5 minutes.
I’m wondering how many Americans are thinking of diesels or selling them with the gas price increases. Or do they not care?
You might as well buy one - all of us want you to, how much of a reason do you need?
It was cheap enough in the US, but import duty, VAT, recreational craft directive, shipping, and insurance, for starters, meant the bills just kept coming. If you buy one already here, much of this disappears.
One mate went to the US to have a look at it in Oct’19. He said it looked and sounded amazing.
The seller said at 60 knots, it went through a gallon every 53 seconds, although he told him you probably won’t have any teeth left after about 5 minutes.
I’m wondering how many Americans are thinking of diesels or selling them with the gas price increases. Or do they not care?
You might as well buy one - all of us want you to, how much of a reason do you need?
Used to see them when offshore racing was bigger, Dad would take us down and the sound was incredible. If you are going to buy one (and you should!) then it has to have internal V8 petrol engines, not outboards. The other make to consider is Donzi, which might be slightly cheaper, but look similar and have similar (if not better) racing pedigree.
aeropilot said:
bucksmanuk said:
The seller said at 60 knots, it went through a gallon every 53 seconds
A US gal is smaller than an Imperial one, so you should be able to get an Imperial gallon to last just over the minute mark, so that's OK then in the world of sensible man maths 
See if you can pick up a second hand Dai Fei from Hong Kong. 80 knots on the plane, usually with a BMW or Mercedes in the back, having been pinched to order to take back to mainland China.
Not sure whether the smuggling still goes on now it all under Chinese control, but there were hundreds of them back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Not sure whether the smuggling still goes on now it all under Chinese control, but there were hundreds of them back in the late 80s and early 90s.
andy97 said:
See if you can pick up a second hand Dai Fei from Hong Kong. 80 knots on the plane, usually with a BMW or Mercedes in the back, having been pinched to order to take back to mainland China.
Not sure whether the smuggling still goes on now it all under Chinese control, but there were hundreds of them back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Wow, fascinating stuff Andy.. none left now bar the below one:Not sure whether the smuggling still goes on now it all under Chinese control, but there were hundreds of them back in the late 80s and early 90s.
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=191360049377891&am...
Used to use my distant cousins on Lake Huron out of Detroit region. A Checkmate,
Pick up truck, wheels, trailer, all matching and rather cool.
Went like stink on the lakes and a few of their pals had them so four abreast at 75mph was a spectacle and a noise.
Very hard to drink a can of beer at 75mph on water I recall.
Pick up truck, wheels, trailer, all matching and rather cool.
Went like stink on the lakes and a few of their pals had them so four abreast at 75mph was a spectacle and a noise.
Very hard to drink a can of beer at 75mph on water I recall.
Really can't think about cigarette's without a reference to this, when it all goes wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvEE3_mBzi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvEE3_mBzi8
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