My first ride in a Cigarette Racing Team 41 SD center-console-console some years ago during a Cigarette Owners Rendezvous at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri terrified me. The twin Mercury Racing 1100-hp engine-powered 41-footer would have been just fine in the hands of a driver who respected both the power in his hand and the passengers in his charge.
But our driver respected neither. So I exited the boat a little rattled and a lot pissed off after the first stop.
If you’ve never had one of those rides, good. You don’t want to. If you have, you know the feeling. Fortunately for everyone, the driver—who will remain nameless—is out of the go-fast boating world.
My most recent ride in a 2024 model-year Cigarette Racing Team 41 SD center console, this one last Thursday ahead of the 21st annual Thunder In The City Poker Run in Chesapeake City, Md., was delightful. The property of Ed and Barbara Stella, who live in Brigantine, N.J., the 41-footer was piloted by Florida Powerboat Club marine operations manager John Wittenberg. His girlfriend, Natalie Smith of Wozencraft Marine Insurance, was with us.
The Chesapeake Bay was calm, but a storm full of rain and lightning was on its way so we had no time to waste getting to the Chesapeake Inn Restaurant and Marine, the host-venue for the event. An experienced and responsible driver, Wittenberg ran the boat to 90 mph at one point and it was reassuringly stable at that speed. But we mostly stayed at a cool 80 mph.
Cooler still was the whistle of the turbocharged engines and the roar behind them. I’m no outboard-engine-hater, far from it in fact as I know the high-performance marine market would be extinct or close to it without them. But today’s outboards are remarkably quiet. By design, they don’t make music to the ears.
Though quieter than the supercharged counterparts, turbocharged stern-drive engines do. And it’s the kind of music I don’t get to hear often enough but still love.