Modern Marvel: Cigarette’s 49 Grand Sport takes luxury and performance to a new level.

When you check out Cigarette Racing’s 49 Grand Sport at the docks, it’s easy to see the evolution of the company. Cigarette has grown up from the days when its sole focus was just purpose-built offshore boats.

Like its clientele, the company has matured to offer an array of models including a center-console fish boat, a yacht and now the next-generation offshore boat. The 49 Grand Sport is the latest creation for the Miami-based company, and stays true to Cigarette’s philosophy of delivering performance and speed.

Skip Braver, president of Cigarette Racing, said it’s difficult to categorize the new boat. It performs and looks like an offshore boat but offers the amenities often found in performance cruisers.

“You have a whole new generation of baby boomers and my job as CEO of Cigarette is to get new people into boating, and not necessarily just people who have been performance freaks their whole life,” Braver said. “This is a kinder, maybe gentler Cigarette that will give you an amazing ride.”

Performance

Getting a boat that weighs 17,500 pounds dry required some serious horsepower, that’s why Cigarette enlisted a pair of 850-horsepower engines from Mercury Racing. In fact, the builder only uses Mercury Racing engines in its boats. The partnership started when Braver took over the company several years ago.

The substantial horsepower was channel through beefy No. 6 drives that were turning lab-finished Mercury CNC 31"-pitch propellers. With the propulsion package, the 49 Grand Sport had a top speed of 82.2 mph at 5,700 rpm. That’s an impressive speed for a boat that boasts a 10-foot beam.

With the Mercury Racing 380S K-Planes down, the 49-footer got on plane in 5.5 seconds and was running 48.5 mph in 10 seconds. Ten seconds later it was traveling at 72.7 mph with the engines turning 5,000 rpm.

Midrange acceleration was fairly snappy for a boat that checks in at 49 feet. Both the 30-to-50-mph drill and 40-to-60-mph test took 5 seconds. Going from 40 to 70 mph needed 9 seconds.

Buyers who want more power can go with twin Mercury Racing HP1075SCi engines, or the 49 Grand Sport can be configured for a triple-engine setup thanks to the spacious engine compartment.

Because the boat was so large, the 49-footer mashed all of the swells we came across in the Gulf of Mexico. Running better than 70 mph, we encountered some wakes from a construction barge, and the Grand Sport ran straight and smooth. Test driver John Tomlinson put the V-bottom in sharp turns at various speeds, and it didn’t hop or skip.

Workmanship

To design the boat, Braver partnered with Peter Hledin at Douglas Marine. The concept was to create a boat that could hold more people and have a full-size cabin with a spacious head compartment.

The result of the two-year project was the 49 Grand Sport, which is clearly targeted at the upper-end buyer. Priced at $989,000, customers will have high expectations and Cigarette more than delivers.

The boat’s long hullsides were smooth and the dark paint was expertly applied. A sturdy stainless-steel rubrail protected the work.

To keep the boat tied up at the docks, Cigarette provided several pull-up cleats, including two on the bow. The builder also included mushroom-style cleats for holding fenders.

Mechanics will be lining up to do routine maintenance on the boat because there is so much room in the engine compartment. The Mercury engines were installed side-by-side, proving ample room on the sides and in front of the motors.

In the engine compartment, Cigarette put on a rigging clinic. Highlights included custom-painted oil tanks and breathers for the dry-sump system. Batteries were set in boxes that had the Cigarette logo, and the bilge was finished in a smooth white epoxy. Various billet racks were installed to hold fenders. A neat touch was the custom billet hinges to support the sizable hatch cover.

The wiring was gathered neatly in looms and properly supported. The back wall of the engine compartment had a panel painted with the Cigarette logo that was held in place with stringer washers and fasteners.

Cigarette also designed a custom exhaust system that directed the sound at the water. One of our Test team members commented how quiet the boat was around the docks. And to make it easy to dock, the boat came with bow thrusters.

Interior

Cigarette’s billet handiwork carried over to the deep cockpit, where the builder created unique step plates and floor plates at the driver and observer positions. Even the heavy-duty acrylic windshield had custom stainless brackets.

Mounted on billet stands, the two bolsters up front had electric dropout bottoms that were controlled with push buttons. A rear bench—which could seat four people—was set up as a pair of loveseats.

Highlights at the helm include a Garmin GPS map, a Zeiger tilt helm, Latham Marine throttles and Livorsi Marine gauges set on blue carbon-fiber panels. SmartCraft SystemView screens were provided at the driver and observer spots. (The observer also had a second GPS screen.)

Our favorite spot had to be the cabin, which offered 6 feet of headroom. Unlike many V-bottoms that feel cramped, the 49-footer was spacious and offered everything you’d want in an offshore boat.

The enclosed head locker had a VacuFlush head and sink, along with a separate shower stall. That’s a feature not found on many boats.

The galley came with Corian countertops and an integrated sink with instant hot water. An Isotherm refrigerator is a must in a boat this nice and the cabinets were finished in bird’s-eye maple. Lest we forget the 20-inch Sharp flat-screen television.

Cigarette supplied custom bedding for the V-berth and hanging out on the facing lounges got a lot more comfortable thanks to the 110-volt air conditioning system.

OVERALL

The 49 Grand Sport should have major appeal in the United States and abroad. The majestic V-bottom is a substantial offshore boat that hardly sacrifices performance. Call it a kinder and gentler Cigarette that stays true to the company’s legendary performance.

Click to enlarge.