1999 Formula 312

[tomswift]

I am looking at a 1999 Formula 312 Fastech with 150 hours on the hull and 50 hours on a complete engine/outdrive swap. The boat has twin 540 engines with whipple chargers and IMCO outdrives. The boat comes with the original trailer. This boat has been surveyed and is professionally built. My main questions is how safe the formula stepped hull is. I had a 1997 31'6 scarab last year with 525 sc engines that ran 81-83. Thanks for any input.

[t500hps]

Sounds sweet. I just bought a 98 312/ 502 this winter. Wish I could give you some handling feedback, but I have only put a few hours on it so far. I get 73-74 out of it and was able to over trim it and get it to chine walk, but that was driver error. With the single step it should be OK as it is only 1 1/2 tall. Sounds like a low 90's boat that must be selling around 75-80k.
Good Luck
Russ C.

[ThirdBird]

I wouldn't worry about Formula steps. However,,,,, I would worry about a boat with "brand new 540s, Whipples and IMCO drives."

You gotta ask yourself why after pouring at least 25k into this boat is the guy selling after only 50 hours of use.

Call me a skeptic,,,,,,,,, but hey,,,,,,, I'm a skeptic

[tomswift]

He's poured significantly more than that in this boat. I believe the wife has told him to get rid of it to get a more family friendly boat because they have kids. I guess that will be my responsibility to inspect the boat, test drive it, review his receipts and the recent survey. I think sometimes these boats that have "aftermarket" engines/drives are tougher to sell than stock setups. I wanted the opinion of formula owners' regarding the stability of the 312 fastech, especially running 75-90 mph. thanks for your input.

[tomswift]

what do you mean when you say chine walked. Do you mean a side-to-side walk or that fast front end bounce you get sometimes in rough water. I'm concerend this boat has almost too much power for the hull size. The seller says he has hit 101 on GPS in calm water on a fresh water lake. My scarab had no stepped hull and I could run 77-81 throught pretty rough water, but would occasionaly get a hard side roll when I hit waves that came toward the side of the boat. thanks.

[t500hps]

Chine walk starts as a "bounce" from side to side. It gets violent quickly and will result in a spin-out or hook the boat hard left/right which will likely get someone hurt/ killed at those speeds. My boat was set-up with the props turned in and I changed them back out. This seems to have helped some but I'm curious which way Troutly's props turned when he had his 312...
Sounds like the boat could handle it, but beware of it's trim limits. Running with the tabs all the way up and over trimming the drives for that last MPH is when this is likely to occur. (when you don't have much hull in the water)

[tomswift]

I would guess it would be the safest to have the planes or trim tabs at least 1/2 way down and trim up to max of 6 or 7 when running above 80. This would probably keep the front down and prevent the back of the boat that is in the water from getting loose. It would reduce speed but give stability. Appreciate the advice.

[tomswift]

Glad you pulled out of it! That would be a scary feeling. The things we do (and money we spend) for the thrill of speed!!!!!!!

[formuladude312]

Tomswift, I have a 01 312/w 502 mags and i have experianced the "Dance" as troutly and t500hps have, It is a violent side to side and very scary, my props spin outward and it was done while trying to fully trim the drives up and no tabs,

I would be skeptical with that much power in that hull but if left trimmed in i think it would be your best bet, I am curious to know if the handling of the single step hull in the formula 312 was the reason they discontinued them and went to the dbbl steps in the 292?? Maybe somebody knows the answer, Maybe Robert from Nelems can chime in here.

[tomswift]

how fast were you going when you experienced the "walk" in your 01 312 with 502's?