Cigarette Boat

The Characteristics of A Cigarette Boat

Boats are built for certain purposes. Some boats are designed for speed. One of boats is the go-fast boat or the cigarette boat.

The cigarette boat is a high performance boat of a sleek design. This is a very fast boat that is used for racing.

The cigarette boat was invented by Don Aronow. In the early 1960s, he joined the sport of power boat endurance racing. He called his boat “The Cigarette,” a narrow 32 foot long powerboat of his design. The Cigarette used powerful MerCruiser engines which gave it a speed of over 60 knots. After retiring from racing in 1977, Aronow formed the Cigarette Racing Team and continued to construct offshore endurance boats similar to The Cigarette. The design was adapted by many other boat manufacturers who named the boat cigarettes.

A cigarette boat is made out of fiberglass with a deep V offshore racing hull. These boats can vary from 30 feet to 50 feet. They are narrow in beam and are powered by two or more powerful engine. Combined, the engines produce an incredible output of 1000 horsepower.

Due to the power of these engines and the design of their hull, cigarette boats can travel over water at speeds of over 80 knots or 150 kilometers per hour in calm waters. In rough seas, they can travel at 50 knots or 90 kilometers per hour. If the waves are high, they can maintain an average speed of 25 knots or 47 kilometers per hour. Although they are made out of fiberglass, they are strong enough to overcome waves higher than 7 feet.

Cigarette boats can accommodate a maximum of five passengers. Most have some sort of cabin under its spacious foredeck, although the cabin is tinier than a regular motor yacht of about same dimension. Many people buy cigarette boats for their mystique, great power and high speeds which make them flamboyant displays of wealth.

However, cigarette boats have a darker purpose. They are used by smugglers to illegally bring drugs to a country.

For smugglers, these are the ideal boats of choice. They are hard to be monitored by radar except on calm seas or at close range. The combination of their stealth, speed and seaworthiness makes it difficult for the US Coast Guard or the DEA to intercept them. Thus, the US Coast Guard generated their exclusive high speed boat such as the rigid hulled inflatable boat which is equipped with radar and powerful engines to pursue cigarette boats. They may also use helicopters to track down these cigarette boats.