Feb 25

Feb 25 Cigarette 35 Outboard Conversion: Back in Business

Personally, I love an ambitious boat project. When it comes to boats, the sky’s the limit if you have the imagination. In this case, Jim Bridge was on the hunt for a 30’ single Vee hull. But, as destiny would have it, Jim’s buddy, Brendan Stamps, found a boat that he thought would be an amazing project. A 1985 Cigarette 35’ flat deck. Jim and Brendan shared an affinity for fast boats and Brendan is a custom boat builder, building custom aluminum boats at One3 Powerboats.

The proposition was big, take a very neglected but original 1985 Cigarette 35’, and convert it to triple outboards. Since the boat was originally a twin engine with TRS drives, and left outside for so long. Brendan removed everything and ended up rebuilding the transom using composite material. He also added a solid fiberglass bar across the engine box which doubled as a mounting point for rigging and accessories.

A custom bracket was fitted to the new transom.

One aspect of any conversion is how to utilize a bracket to mount the outboards. Standard or semi custom brackets are very common but in this case, Brendan is a custom metal worker, so a custom bracket was fabricated. Jim and Brendan painted the bracket with Awlgrip. This integrated bracket looks pretty slick.

Another critical part of the build was to remove and replace the fuel tanks. Since there was now room in the stern, new 100 gallon tanks were placed in the former engine compartment. Larger knees and extended stringers offer more structural support and the storage area was finished off with fresh gelcoat.

You can see the new tanks and rigging for the oil tanks and batteries in the former engine compartment.

The 35 Cigarette hulls are notorious for being great offshore hulls, they are known for their balance in big water, they run flat and so changing the center of gravity and repowering with outboards is a project that takes great care. Additionally, the older Cigarettes and in particular the 35’ are not known for being really fast, they need big power to get going.

Outboards are more efficient and obviously weigh less and it’s interesting to see those differences. Even though you are changing the CG, you are also removing a lot of weight, and moving some of it further aft. In some cases, overall performance is improved as weight is less and distribution is better. As an example, most MerCruiser or Merc Racing big blocks weigh around 1,200 lbs. A big outboard is around 550 lbs, so even 3 outboards are only slightly heavier than just one big block.

The old Yamahas fit nicely on the bracket.

Jim and Brendan wanted to use Lenco Auto Glide tabs to help level the boat but because of the aluminum bracket and the stainless plates, they had to rethink that. The solution was custom alloy plates at 30” and dual rams. The bracket has notched pockets for the horizontally mounted tabs. The Auto Glide also allows less holes to be drilled through the transom.

30” custom alloy tabs with Lenco rams. Horizontally mounted, they tuck up beside the bracket.

Brendan also did some work on the helm, removing the old assembly and replacing the dash and throttle placement, making more room in the cockpit at the same time. SeaStar tilt helm with electric steering was used to steer the Yamaha OX66 250 HP Yamahas. Driving the boat has been a breeze, no porpoise and the old Cig jumps on plane. This goes to show a little imagination and some hard work can really create a modern take on a classic offshore hull. I love outside the box thinking.

The re purposed helm with starboard mounted shift / throttle and a new dash.

Jim reports speeds in the mid 60s with some more testing to do. You might see Jim in the 35’ Cigarette cruising Block Island Sound, he loves the boat.