All
about the Cobra Terminator Cat
If
you came here looking for a Ford Mustang, you made a wrong
turn.
Cobra
Terminator describes a high performance racing catamaran that
was produced quite a while before Ford thought about calling
their high performance Mustang a Cobra Terminator.
Bruce Grout and Joe Celello raced this 36ft Cobra (right).
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Bruce and Joe also raced this 30ft Cobra Terminator(right).
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Later
it was offered for sale (below).
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Stripped
of the sponsors logo, this Cobra Terminator sat for
sale in a New Jersey boat yard.
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Twin
Mercury outboards provide reliable power.
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Full instrumentation.
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A wide beam provides stable handling.
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A high performance package.
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The
Cobra Terminator was originaly designed to be a single engine
'bay blaster' or a twin outboard 'rocket'. Created in 1990
by Peter Casini, these "hulls of the future" featured Kevlar
and E-Glass with balsa coring and high density foams for light
weight and strength. Out of these designs came Casini's first
race boat, aptly named the 30' Cobra Terminator.
The
Cobra Terminator was the test boat for the Mercruiser Blackhawk
Outdrive. In a 30ft Cobra with a completely stock 454 Blackhawk
(that put out maybe 385 hp), full cockpit interior, full cabin
interior, K planes, and tons of options, Peter Casini hit
74.9 mph. All this with 3/4 load of fuel, three fat guys on
a warm, humid day on Lake X, which of course is 2-4 mph slower
than salt water. Plus, humidity knocked down the HP by over
15-20 percent! There was an article done on this boat by Boating
magazine around 1994.
In
1992 the Terminator Cat won the first of Cobra Boat's numerous
regional, national, and world offshore racing championships.
Then Cobra went into production and for three years, this
hull was available to the general public. Typival powqer options
included single Mercruiser outdrive, twin Mercury outboards,
or triple Mercury racing outboard motors. Not satisfied with
Offshore Racing World Championships, Peter Casini next took
the hull of the Terminator and created a sport fishing boat.
The fuel efficient and incredibly maneuverable 30' Cobra Predator
reaches speeds of over 90mph.
Peter
Casini's most recent adventure as head of Top Cat Marine Security
built the high-speed Cobra
Predator Patrol Boat for law enforcement assault teams.
Donald
owns this beautiful Cobra Terminator 30 foot Cat. As
the third owner, he described how this boat was originally
given away at a raffle by a Coca-Cola distributor. Decorated
in Coca-Cola colors, it also had a large Coca-Cola emblem
on it that was later removed.
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I
believe this red is the original base-color of these
boats (the stripes were added by the customer specifically
for the Coca-Cola promotion) as my hull originally had
this same color under the white gel-coat.
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Eddy Rodriguez
runs this 1996 30ft Cobra Terminator in south Florida.
Twin Mercury 250 EFI outboards push this hull 84+ mph (right).
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Here's
the same hull with triple Mercs (right) running at 100+
mph.
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It
was originally raced APBA by Skip Funk in the Baltimore
area.
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Early
Race Days of the Cobra Terminator
Produced
using the 'open mold' fiberglass process with only the best
materials: Kevlar cloth, epoxy resin, and E-glass, this hull
is extremely rigid and light weight.
Most
Catamaran hulls will break up when run like this. The
Cobra Terminator takes it all and finishes the race.
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Pancrecarb
race team flying high with triple Mercs.
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The
'Great Adventure' D5 (right) featured enclosed canopies
and four mercury outboards.
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As
you can see in these photos: this is a hull that takes all
the abuse you can throw at it, and it still finishes the race
. . amazing!
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The
'Great Adventure' S7 (left) airborne during a race
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The S15 race team
(right) ran with enclosed canopies.
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Most
fiberglass Cats in this size weigh around 5500 to 6000 Lbs,
yet the 30 foot Cobra Terminator only weighs 2455 Lbs.
Cobra
Here's a video of a twin O/B powered Cobra.
The
Cobra Terminator for pleasure cruising
That
same Offshore Race Boat performance is available for pleasure
cruising.
If you can provide any details about any of these photos please
contact
me
I'm
trying to identify this boat (photo 11 right)
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I'm
also trying to identify this boat (photo 12 right)
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The
Cobra Terminator was produced with multiple outboards and
single outdrive power.
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Johnny
Venomous on the Hudson River in NY (right).
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'Never
Enough' is a very rare Cobra as it's fitted with twin
Mercruiser outdrives (right).
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I'm
always interested in learning more about the early race days
of the Cobra Terminator.
If you have any information or photos relating to the history
of the Cobra Terminator please contact me
Thanks
to all those folks who have provided historical information
and personal photos of their Cobra Terminator.
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