At the Miami Boat Show, held February 15-19 at Miami Marine Stadium, a manufacturer of racing supercars Mercedes-AMG and speedboat specialist Cigarette Racing showed for the first time a collaborative product, the Project One 515 racing boat, inspired by a hybrid supercar of the same name. With a cost of $2 million and a length of 15.6 m, the boat has no less than 3,100 horsepower under the hood and can reach speeds up to 140 miles per hour (225 km/h).
Tamara Warren from The Verge wasn't afraid to test it. a speed car and described her impressions in the author's column. Test drive, however, was not at maximum speed - accelerated «only» to 191 km / h - but it was enough:
On Thursday morning, I sat down in the new Cigarette Racing 515 Project ONE and was the first person outside the shipyard to try out the full potential of Formula 1 technology on water. This boat is capable of speeds up to an insane 140 miles per hour and will stun you at 3100 horsepower. I can still feel the wind burn on my face.
We took our time out on the open sea. As soon as we got to the big water, the skipper pressed the gas.
I felt a mixture of euphoria, tension and anxiety as we accelerated, cutting through the waves. I looked down at Garmin's 24-inch screen and saw that we were going at 119 miles an hour. The skipper later told me that he'd decided to slow down because of a little excitement at sea.
By the way, there are no seat belts in the powerboats.
This boat is criminally fast. You will understand why, if you remember the history of the Cigarette brand. These speedbots used to be called rum-ranners. They were used to smuggle liquor and allowed you to get away from any police chase. Powerboat enthusiast Don Aronov founded Cigarette Racing in 1969.
In 1987, Aronov was executed on Miami Street, shot at point-blank range. The case has not yet been solved; it is believed that the Mafia is involved.
In 2002, Skip Braver bought out the bankrupt Cigarette Racing, reviving the legendary brand. The former successful Nintendo spokesman sold the company and looked for ways to do more. He was always interested in exotic cars and boats, but he knew nothing about the powerboat industry. Despite his difficult past at Cigarette Racing, Braver found good people working there and was willing to learn from them. It has been 16 years and Braver is now the face of Cigarette Racing. There are 68 people under him, and his son, an engineer by profession, heads the engineering department.
The Miami Boat Show is a big event for Miami. Because of the show, the city has been in traffic since Thursday. Braver here is a big star. Everyone says hello to him, shake his hand and congratulate him on the premiere of Project One. He is a rather recognizable character: his hair «is a hedgehog», his eyes are bright blue and his tan is strong, indicating that his owner is often in the sun. Braver is an excellent storyteller - he behaves at ease and lacks snobbism. I first met him two years ago and he remembers me.
The Miami Boat Show is a little bit like the Billionaire Men's Club, and Braver's company has the most outstanding booth here. The Mercedes AMG Project One, a F1-inspired hypercar, is proudly exhibited in front of the six and seven-digit price tag boats produced by Cigarette. Both the boat and the Project One car are painted the same matte black and silver.
Cigarette Racing has an 11-year history of partnership with AMG division specializing in high-performance supercars at Daimler - Benz. Gorden Wagener, chief designer at Mercedes-Benz, worked with Braver on the design of the flagship model Cigarette. She has the same fast and minimalistic interior, hinting at perfect aerodynamics as the AMG cars.
As Braver says, the composite solutions used by the shipyard to build Project One will revolutionize the industry. Its hull was built using a light alloy of carbon fiber, Kevlar and aluminosilicate glass E Glass. The boat is 10 feet longer than the Cigarette 41' SD GT3 and 5,000 pounds lighter. The large sunroof covering the powerful motors is covered with strong carbon, making it possible to place a large sunbed there. However, you can only use it in the parking lot.
Beneath the sun lounger, the Mercury Racing 1 350/1 550 Quad Cam 4 Valve with M8 tilting and tilting speakers. The power level of the dual-calibrated engines can be switched with the electronic key fob. In racing mode, when the engine power is used to its maximum, racing fuel is required. In racing mode, power is limited to 1350 hp, and a diesel with an octane number of 91 is enough. The configuration of the engines in chess order helps to lower the centre of gravity and to position the engines closer to each other and deeper inside the boat, which has a good effect on its dynamics and stability.
Cigarette is not going to rest on its laurels: the company has already started work on a new model, which will be presented next year.»
