Inside SOTW Mag: Cigarette’s Next Chapter
During the 2017 Miami International Boat Show, Cigarette Racing Team owner Skip Braver called me into a small, discreet office in the Opa-Locka, Fla., company’s expansive dockside display. He swore me to secrecy on penalty of death, and then opened a laptop to reveal digital renderings of what appeared to be a massive center console.
With its vibrant new HyperLux series, Cigarette Racing Team is refreshing its venerable brand. Photo courtesy/copyright Cigarette Racing Team.
“So what do you think?” he asked. “What do you think we should call it?”
“How about super console?” I responded.
“That’s not bad right out of the gate,” he said, and then handed me a swatch of Italian leather from the famed Poltrona Frau producer. “But we’re going to be using materials like this. So it needs to be more.”
In the end, Braver and company settled on a more-exotic named for the boat. Dubbed the 59 Tirranna, it was unveiled two years later at the 2019 Miami event.
As with all new Cigarette models released under Braver’s leadership, the six-outboard- engine 59-footer was a product of progression and evolution. In 2018, the company debuted its Cigarette-AMG Project ONE 515 sportboat at the Miami show. The 51-footer didn’t merely expand on the existing Cigarette 50 Marauder, it heralded a new age for the company in “the intelligent use of composite materials and proprietary construction techniques.” The 515 was lighter, stronger and faster, with 30 percent more running surface, than its 50 Marauder predecessor. Those materials—Kevlar, carbon fiber and E-glass—and techniques were used extensively in the 59 Tirranna.
To enjoy the complete feature, sign up for a subscription to access the Speed On The Water digital magazine 2020 Issue No. 1 (as well as the previous issues).
and then