Oct 20

Oct 20 Does Formula Boats Still Have the Winning Formula?

The Formula boat brand has enjoyed having an incredibly long lasting reputation for quality and design in luxury performance boats. For several years, the Formula Boats brand has steered more toward luxury and away from performance. Legend has it that when Formula Marine was started in 1962 it was determined that Don Aronow, Walt Walters and Jim Wynn were the “winning formula” and that is where the name came from. Like most of Aronow’s companies, he only owned it briefly, then sold it. Vic Porter purchased Thunderbird Formula in 1976 from Fuqua Industries after a very complicated existence. The Porter family who run Formula Thunderbird are great operators and have been very successful for decades. But, with the changing tide of modern boating is Formula still a leader?

One of the most well known Formula hulls of all time is the 233, the one that started it all. Some claim it is the most copied hull of all time. Formula really built their reputations around not only performance but versatility and quality. The Porter family era brought to market some exceptional hulls over the years; the SR line and the FasTech boats came to define the brand for a time.

The FasTech boats were the quintessential Formula, with the large curved windshield but narrow and sleek offshore design, they really defined the look of the brand.

With a massive production facility in Indiana and global sales Formula is a substantial builder. Formula always had a performance line but not anymore. The Sun Sport is a luxury line that’s lacking in performance. Formula has also had a line of cruisers for a long time. Here are some thoughts on the current lineup and how Formula could improve.

Two years ago, the FasTech line was dropped and the smaller Sun Sport boats became bowriders only. For a time, the 240 Sun Sport and 270 were staples in the lineup. Now, the smallest closed bow boat is the 310 Sun Sport. That’s not a good thing. Formula has fallen victim to the “trends” leading their design, dictating that bowriders are the way to go. And, Formula interiors are a disaster too. With U shaped lounges and side facing seats, they are one of the worst offenders of bad interior layouts. But who is to argue with sales and it seems like sales must be strong for Formula, presumably.

U shaped lounges belong in nightclubs and bad pontoon boats, not luxury boats. Nobody likes to sit sideways, the corner seats are useless and it is a bad design from a safety standpoint.

Having said that, the competition these days is abysmal, Formula is still the leader in the luxury sport boat market in the 24 to 31’ range partly for that reason. Cobalt at one time might have been considered a competitor but about 6 years ago changed their whole design philosophy with high freeboards and square windshields reminiscent of old Bayliners. The old Cobalts were nice looking but in this segment, Formula is quite unique which is great for them.

As much as I hate bowriders, at least some of the Formulas look good. the 270 is a great looking boat, they don’t perform that well but for a family boat it’s decent. You see many with ridiculous wake boat towers and the fact it is bowrider only is a horrible decision. Instead of following trends, market leaders set them and Formula should lead with performance and safety in mind. The Bowrider and Sun Sport line is definitely lacking in performance, a recent boat test of the 310 OB had it running a top speed of 49 MPH with twin 350 Verados.

The Formula 270 BR used to come as a Sun Sport closed deck. A nice looking boat overall.

Formula has recently been adding more outboards to their Bowrider, Super Sport Crossover and Sport Crossover boats, in 31’, 38’, 40’ and 43’ length. The execution is not the best with the hulls incorporating brackets underneath the swim platform, to make for a little bit of an unfinished look that you wouldn’t expect from a higher end builder. But the Crossover cabin / bowriders from Formula are a strange mix of cruiser and bowrider, making for a very ugly looking boat. If it’s a competition to see how many seats you can fit and how many moveable tables you can have, then I guess it works but the competition is fierce in that size range. The 310 is a nice outboard option and available in the Sun Sport closed bow version.

Formula uses Armstrong brackets to incorporate outboards to their existing hulls but a molded transom would look and function much better. Brackets are best on flat transoms.

To me, the existing 310 and 350 Sun Sport closed bow are the most compelling boats in the lineup and represent what Formula is about. The aesthetics of Formula Sun Sport boats has been consistent and they have always had a high standard of quality and finish. Imron paint for color and graphics is used on their boats.

If Formula went back to more closed deck models starting with the 240 and 270, got rid of the bowriders, re-designed the outboard crossovers to incorporated the the outboards better, it would be a good start and be a step forward for the storied brand. Re-thinking their interior layouts across the board would be another great idea for Formula. Forget about how many people you can squeeze into the boat, focus on functional, safe seating. Formula is in a great spot to grow as a market leader if they get back to more functional design.