1978 Cigarette 20’

[JV1]

On the round keel, let’s remember that both my twin OB 24’ Sonics had them too as that hull started life as a single IO 55 mph Donzi.

I had been watching them a while when talking to a Sonic dealer who told me “they are a drivers boat”.

That was all I needed to hear!

As you can see, it (and my second one) ran fairly well (80).

Great picture!!

Round keel & short inner strakes too… that’s interesting

Does your dual counter rotating outboard setup tame that “loose” tendency common on these round bottom hulls?

[matt83]

On the round keel, let’s remember that both my twin OB 24’ Sonics had them too as that hull started life as a single IO 55 mph Donzi.

I had been watching them a while when talking to a Sonic dealer who told me “they are a drivers boat”.

That was all I needed to hear!

As you can see, it (and my second one) ran fairly well (80).

Is that in the Livingstone channel ?

[matt83]

Its easier to just pull the deck to do all that work instead of cutting the floor. The boat will run ok with an outboard. If your happy with 65 maybe 70ish it should do that with a 300. There has been an outboard 22 donzi before. The really high HP cig 20s had 380 k planes, high x dimensions and quite a bit of setup and money into them. Nothing wrong with what I see ya doing, hope to see it complete.

[Jim Speros]

Joe has a great idea. I have no argument on any of it. It will be expensive.
I had a friend with an 80 MPH TRS 20 cig in the late '80's. A great running boat. Another friend at the same time had one with a stern power jacked to the moon. Went faster until it pitched him out of it bad one day.
Donzi's and Sonics had round bottoms and run ok. I like a pad boat for speed but, some ride so hard they rattle your teeth.
On the tank location, a properly located tank is centered over the CG. Where the the CG was as a Big Block TRS boat was what I would aim for. The more you set the engine back off transom the more weight forward will be necessary.
Some hunt for every last mile an hour. Some savor a good handling, nice ride. It is difficult and expensive to have it all.

SO you have a lot to mull over.

[JV1]

Joe has a great idea. I have no argument on any of it. It will be expensive.
I had a friend with an 80 MPH TRS 20 cig in the late '80's. A great running boat. Another friend at the same time had one with a stern power jacked to the moon. Went faster until it pitched him out of it bad one day.
Donzi's and Sonics had round bottoms and run ok. I like a pad boat for speed but, some ride so hard they rattle your teeth.
On the tank location, a properly located tank is centered over the CG. Where the the CG was as a Big Block TRS boat was what I would aim for. The more you set the engine back off transom the more weight forward will be necessary.
Some hunt for every last mile an hour. Some savor a good handling, nice ride. It is difficult and expensive to have it all.

SO you have a lot to mull over.

I’m still trying to figure this out and appreciate all inputs.

My thoughts so far are to try to set it up similar to my 17’ Formula, with a few modifications to the hull. Them being to extend the inner strakes to end at the transom and possibly sharpen the keel. A pad might reduce rough water comfort, but I’m still considering it too.

As far as the engine, I’m pretty much set on mounting it on the transom and fabricating a nice splash well. Final fuel tank location would have to be determined, but placement will probably start where the big block was, but once again that would probably be depending how it sits in the water with the engine in place.

If anyone has any ideas where the stock CG for the Cigarette 20’, that would be welcome too.
Thanks fellas!!

[JV1]

Just found this, does anyone recognize it?

[Greg G]

Yes, it is a 1993 18 Classic that was converted over to OB. Last I heard it was owned by a guy named Ron and for sale back around 2020. There was also a one off factory 22 Classic OB that never ran right but was used for V8 OB testing years back.

[JV1]

Yes, it is a 1993 18 Classic that was converted over to OB. Last I heard it was owned by a guy named Ron and for sale back around 2020. There was also a one off factory 22 Classic OB that never ran right but was used for V8 OB testing years back.

Thanks!
Any word on the performance & handling verdict of this particular conversion?

[JV1]

Been talking with a guy that actually had a 20’ Cigarette (looks like a “Son of a Gun” or a “splash” of one) converted to outboard. Said it ran pretty good in rough water at close to 60 mph with a 225 Optimax; which is about what could be expected, considering how heavy duty they’re constructed.



This conversion has a bracket, which is definitely something I’ll seriously look into.

[JV1]

Here’s a quick YouTube video of it.



https://youtube.com/shorts/hAqFfTndYn0?feature=share

[skialot2]

As far as the engine, I’m pretty much set on mounting it on the transom and fabricating a nice splash well.

I like the idea of a splash well. But I would think about mounting it on a small 4" bracket just for the adjustability.