Hello everyone.

I'm not sure if there's any current 402SR1 owners out there, but I was looking for some impressions and feedback on this model.

After I bought new my '79 Special Edition 302, I think they came out with the 402 in '82 or '83. Although I liked the style, I had heard some negative comments about the boat, and I ended up going another direction.

The issue I heard was the boat was known to have stringer problems and had too much flex, resulting in poor rough water handling. Further, the boat was off balance and would not fly level. Lastly, the boat was very heavy, and with the stock available power at the time, under powered which only exaspirated the above issues.

Frankly, I've never drove one and can't confirm any of the above, but the reality is, Formula did indeed drop the boat after only a couple of year run, which tends to reinforce the perception that something wasn't quite kosher.

Anyone out there with any insight? Boilerdaddy, the young whippersnapper says this boat was long before his time.

TIA

I have one and am quite happy with it. Ride and handling are fine, but it is HEAVY. Best quess is my motors make 450-475 HP each, and with full fuel (260 gallons) and all my normal stuff on board it will just reach 60 on GPS. You can see some photos on my web page.

Check through the Apace thread as another member (Boot I believe) had one previously, which he seemed to also like. Not as nice as an Apache, but a lot more affordable.

-Greg

Powerboat did a test on the 402 when new, and sent me a reprint. Just call and ask them.

-Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your reply. I have already swapped emails with our resident Boilerdaddy and was told they don't have any info on this boat. He even tried to contact a mfg guy for feedback, but this was before his time too.

Do you recall the contact who got you the Powerboat reprint?

Thanks again.

I just called the PB mag office and asked if they had ever done a test on one. She said they had, and offered to FAX me a copy. I still have it at home, could fax you a copy if PB doesn't. It's before their new extensive test format, so is a single article on 4 or so boats. If I remember correctly the F402 was selected offshore boat of the year for 1985(??).

"Someone" on the old rec.boats board actually rigged the 402's when new. I talked with him a little about them when I bought my boat several years ago, but have long since forgotten his name. He did say the KAAMA boats were about 7-10 mph faster than the TRS (like mine). He said they had one KAAMA boat sink during testing when the bolts holding the drive on (a bad set) broke off. I think part of the reason for the short production run may have been the problems with the KAAMA motors (as mentioned by several people on the general discussion board).

It's not surprising that the factory has little info on them, they didn't even have a record that mine was built when we called to verify the serial number. I bought it from the original owner, who saved EVERYTHING from the boat. As a result I have the original factory QA punchlist for the boat, original sales brochure, and price lists and sales sheet.

-Greg

Thanks alot Greg,

I'll call PB and see what they can send.

Speaking of the lack of archiving at Formula, I too found that somewhat strange for a firm with such a rich history.

I've got a ton of old stuff like, original promo's featuring Betty Cook's Formula cat, and that of a racing version of the 302. I know I've got the original 402SR1 4 page brochure and I think the original '79 302 Special Edition Binder with the fabric samples somewhere too. I also have the original slide from the 82/83 Formula brochure of the black 402 anchored in the sunset with the bikini babe on the deck. Many years ago, I had that blown up and framed in a 3' x 4' that's still on my office wall.

Yep, I sure hope that my 'collection' doesn't dwarf that of the factory's!

Speaking of collections, I should check my boxes of old Powerboat magazines. I've been saving them since the mid 70's, so although I did remember them doing a test, I might get lucky and find the original 402 write up.

Thanks again!