Robert....I am good, but I can't do the impossible!

357man,Nort and I are just kidding around,kind of an inside joke. Both hulls are good,the step hull hype got a little crazy over the years and we kid around a lot. There are some differences,some good,some bad,some that don't matter. Too long to explain here. Call me,I'll do my best to sort it out. 205-221-3072. Robert

Steps are great for getting down to my dock to ride my non-stepped boat.

I have an 89' 311 SR-1, non stepped hull. Love it. Not the fastest but handles like it's on rails.

I've ridden in several stepped hulls (different manufacturers) and just never felt completely comfortable that the stern of the boat was thorougly "planted" in the water, although I will say the Formula was definitely the best. The Fountain was the worst. Felt like it was riding on ice. A lot of things could have contributed to that: wrong drive height, wrong props, not trimmed correctly, the list is endless. Robert (MagicFloat) is definitely the guy to talk to. And don't listen to Norty, he has to stand on a stool in the drivers bolster just to see over the windshield....

Hey Formula Outlaw.... That is what I have heard alot of is that the handling in a turn is poor and you feel abit of vibration on accell till you plain out.I heard my neighbor talking about the slight vibration feel and he has owned many formulas.

Only you Nort

What!!!

A common mistake is that on a conventional V hull, when you make a tight turn you usually trim your drives in a bit, on a stepped hull you leave them trimmed out. Make that mistake and you can spin the boat.

I'd assume that once you get "seat time" in a stepped hull that it becomes second nature. I just feel VERY secure in the way my boat handles. I've cranked my boat over HARD at speed to avoid hitting debris in the water and like I said, back of the boat feels like it's on rails. I like that feeling.

Can't say I've noticed the vibration in getting up on plane but then I don't have THAT much time in stepped hulls.

I don't have much seat time in stepped hulls either. I did drive Axapowell's 353 though. Never noticed any of this vibration thing. It did blow-out just a little while planing but that was so minimal as to not even be an issue. When on plane, the hull has a little bit of an "ambiguous" feel to it. Kind of like its sliding around some. I know its not actually sliding around, just looser than I'm used to with my old 311 lead-sled. The real nice thing about the drive was how flat and level that boat rode, just beautiful, real light and easy. Turns were no issue but I didn't do anything stupid either. Axa was telling me to "give it to it" but I didn't want to mess around too much.

Bottom line: After driving Axa's boat, mine feels like a tug boat, period!

Oh, also, the adjustable foot rests were sweet. I was standing fully in the bolster with the foot rest down low just looking over the windshield. No wind, very comfy and secure. I liked that 353 very much.

[QUOTE=ThirdBird] Axa was telling me to "give it to it" but I didn't want to mess around too much.

.....No, it's a holiday, I aint gonna touch that one. Preface this by the fact that 3rd's idea of givin' it to it is about 5 mph above planing speed. (that is his WOT) If only AXA and I could have the time back in our lives waiting for him and the lead sled. (good thing he's a good guy) I'll take stepped hulls over conventional Vs everytime.