Speed On The Water

About six months ago, Cigarette Racing Team made a big-splash with its AMG-inspired 46-footer powered by twin 1,350-hp turbocharged engines from Mercury Racing at the Miami International Boat Show. But since then, the boat has fallen off radar.

So where it is now?

“It’s right below me,” said Skip Braver, owner and chief executive officer of Cigarette Racing Team in Opa-Locka, Fla., whose office has a picture window that looks into the main plant. “I’ve been driving the heck out of it. We have over 100 hours on it. The boat is running like a dream. It handles like a 525 (Mercury Racing 525EFI engine) boat around the docks.”

The bigger question: How fast is it?

“I won’t give you that number,” said Braver. “But it goes faster than any production Cigarette has ever gone.”

According to a closely placed source, the public will get its first look at the Cigarette AMG in action today as part of the Mercedes-Benz AMG Fashion Week event.

Movement of one person or another within the high-performance powerboat industry doesn’t usually qualify as news for the average go-fast boat enthusiast. But when someone who is as well known outside the industry as he is inside it makes a change, it’s worth reporting.

That’s the case with Vic Spellberg, the former director of sponsor promotions for Formula Boats/Thunderbird Products who has joined Cigarette Racing Team as director of sales and promotion. Based in Opa-Locka, Fla., Cigarette Racing Team is a short drive—brutal South Florida traffic notwithstanding—from Spellberg's home in Fort Lauderdale

“Loving the ‘performance’ side of the business, I see Cigarette as a brand, epitomizing that lifestyle,” said Spellberg in a press release from Cigarette, “With my experience in racing and my long affiliation with such a variety of boats in the industry, I think I’m in a good position to help prospective Cigarette customers assess their needs and boating styles.  That’s a key to finding the right boat for the right person.”

Like Skip Braver, the chief operating officer and owner of Cigarette Racing Team, Spellberg is from Chicago and cut his high-performance boat teeth on the waters of Lake Michigan. Unlike Braver, Spellberg is a former offshore racer who teamed up with Scott Porter, the chief executive officer of Formula, to run a 30-foot Formula in the late 1970s. Spellberg continued to race through the mid-1980s, winning back-to-back Southeast Divisional Championships in 1985 and 1986

“As Cigarette’s customer base and business broadens, we need someone who can be the liaison between the factory, customers and dealers,” said Braver in the release. “We need someone who not only knows boating, but also the importance of top-quality customer service.  We think that is where Vic is going to be very valuable to Cigarette.  We work as a team here and he has those teamwork qualities.”

“We have a simple goal here—build the best-running, most reliable, safe and well-designed performance boat on the market,” Braver added. “We work at that every day and look forward to Vic’s contribution to that goal.”

Just checked in with Mike Fiore of Outerlimits Offshore Boats in Bristol, R.I. Earlier today, Fiore agreed to bring and pilot a boat at the July 17 Shore Dreams for Kids event in Seaside Heights, N.J.

“I’m bringing a 44-footer down there,” said Fiore. “I think it’s the second or third time I’ve done it. It’s a wonderful event.”

That’s good news for the annual charitable event, which provides a day of boat rides for mentally and physically challenged children and adults, because the organizers—most notably the New Jersey Performance Powerboat Club—are a little short on boats this year.

In related—but equally good—news, Tony Frisina, the owner of Spectre Powerboats and Chris Cestaro of Ocean Performance, are teaming up to provide rides in several Spectre models at Shore Dreams.

“We are still looking for boats,” said Dave Patnaude, NJPPC president.

Just got off the phone with John Cunningham of Spectre Powerboats, who said that the company’s new SV300 V-bottom is being laid up and should be ready by October. Base price for the 30-footer, which will ride on a 24-degree single-step hull, with an 8.2-litre engine will be $164,352.

“We’ve taken all the fat out of the pricing,” said Cunningham. “We understand where the economy is and we understand it will be a couple of years before it comes back.”

Cunningham described the 30-footer as ‘family sport boat”—with a full cabin and a V-berth—designed and built for running on lakes and bays. The boat will be offered with a single big-block engine, twin small-block engines or twin big-block engines. Although custom paint will be available, Spectre currently is designing a standard graphics package for the new model.

In a larger sense, the new 30-footer represents a move by Spectre, which made its name on high-performance catamarans, to expand its product line.

“What we’re trying to do is build a boat company for everyone,” Cunningham explained. “It’s very hard to just build cats and survive in this market.

“Our 260 Roadster center console is very popular,” he added. “It’s really selling.”

Future model releases for Spectre reportedly include a 40-foot V-bottom as well as 36- and 43-foot catamarans.