larslindroth

Guten Tag Mike. My guess is that You'd like more speed, comfort and room than your Reinell 22. The 'cruiser hull' 255 has only a 14 degree transom and a Formula 233 for example has 24. Even a 233 or the same later model 242 hull would handle offshore conditions much better. Also sticking twin big block motors in the 255 cruiser is going to make that boat pretty darn heavy and gas in Germany is hardly affordable. The work involved is a handful and I bet You're capable to handle that, but with a family the off hours are almost too precious to go through a project like that. There are so many high performance boats available in Scandinavia right now, due to the expensive housing situation, that I would take a look at ads and find a more turn key object for reasonable money across the borders.

Link to the transom photos of the 255 Liberator(cruiser hull).
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...ml#post3658737

Strikemike

Lars,

the Reinell has a 22 degree transom and is a pretty good DayCruiser, even in choppy conditions. It goes with a SBC about 40-45.

I was thinking of the 255 for more performance and more safety plus more room inside. Gas isn't cheap over here, thats true. But normally we cruise around and anchor much with swimming an BBQ.

When i take a look at this 233, the 255 must be much more comfortable. Thats what i thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA-k2eatbTI

But maybe i have to take look at a other model of the old formulas.

larslindroth

Yes Mike, I advice You to stick with hulls with a 23-24 degree transom or more. This 272 Formula on Guernsey looks amazingly clean and the price is really reasonable. Running her back home up the English Channel to Hollands Diep would be a fantastic test If You want to spend more money and don't mind outboard motors, then a Flying Flipper would be the ideal boat for what You're after. I used to own one and with a 28 degree transom it will outrun pretty much anything in the rough. The early boats from the late 80's and early 90's are built bullet proof.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1991...m#.Vr7w9i6IbMK

http://www.blocket.se/stockholm/Flyi....htm?ca=12&w=3

sprink58

OK...here's what I have learned in restoring my 255 Liberator.

First of all...a 255 hull is a 24* dead-rise hull with a rounded keel at the transom. Liberators and Freedom Cruisers share the same hull from the rub rail to the keel...the differences are in the cabin, cockpit and deck. I suspect the FC is bit heavier than the Liberator (The Lib with twins is about 5650 dry with twin SBC's). I have found with my 255 the way it's set up that 3-5 ft. seas at about 30-35 mph is the top edge of what could be considered comfortable and that depends of course on the set and spacing. The 255 hull is typical of Formula's with twin IO's in that they are "Ass Heavy". They like to run a bit of bow up trim to put most of that deep keel in the water. Of all the Formula's I have had experience with the 255 hull has the deepest free-board that I have come across in an eight foot beam boat. Understanding that you face the reality that it takes a lot of power to move this hull as compared to most others. The 255 runs a very deep "X-dimension" and will never be as quick as most other set ups because of that.

Your options in powering these boats are about the same as others in this size and I would suspect that a 255 with BBC's and Bravo's would make a nice combination. As you may have read, I'm running 400+ HP Vortec SBC's through Bravo I's. Converting to Bravo Drives seems simple enough on the surface but is not with out it's challenges in these hulls. The biggest hurdle is that the newer style power steering ram set up will not fit on the starboard side of the bilge with the inner liner. Most 255's came with a double hull inner liner in the bilge that is very nice but it cuts down on some of the available space on the perimeter of the bilge at the transom. I worked around this issue by dedicating the Port engine as the Power Steering master and connected the inside tillers with a Mercruiser tie rod designed especially for this purpose. I also use a HEAVY Latham Tie Bar to externally tie the drives together. If you go with Big Blocks know this: BBC's require center-lines of 35" in order for them to sit side by side. Most boats set up for BBC's come from the factory set up this way. If your boat originally had Small Blocks you are set up on 32" centers requiring you to re work the transom to spread the centers to 35". There will be those that will respond to this with stories of "a friend of mine did it but had to have custom dry headers made", etc. OK....maybe...but its a PITA and not worth it. Unless you all ready have a pair of Big Blocks set up marine you're better off choosing modern LS Small Blocks that will nearly equal what you'll have with Big Blocks anyway...and will give you nicer balance in the boat. The LS motors will set up at 32" on center easily...with stock exhaust !! It's worth mentioning that both Liberators and Freedom Cruisers were available from the factory in the 70's with twin 454's on TRS Drives. If you find one of these set ups...grab it because you found something special. If you find it and don't want it...let me know!!

A better set up for what it sounds like you want to do would be a 29PC...but that I'm sure has it's own challenges.

In summary...the 255 is a timeless design and still turns heads after 35 years. The profile of the hull is classic "Off Shore". Keep in mind that despite all of the great things the 255 has going for it...it is still a 25'-5" hull with the inherent limitations associated with that. There have been many times I have been running mine in light seas at 60+ MPH thinking "This thing needs 10 more feet of hull" LOL

Strikemike

Thanks for all of your inputs.

I think i will take a look for Boats like the Formula 272 and 302s.

larslindroth

Dear sprink58, I really like Your fascination and justifiable enthusiasm for the Formula/Thunderbird boats. You were one of few that noticed that the 283 racing model was a stretched 233 for example. It's soon been 5 years I guess since You got Yourself the 255 LS and I picked up that You both owned a 242 and a 272 among other boats. You obviously enjoy the ride in Your 255 when thing get a little rough and I'm glad You enjoy it. The main reason You got a satisfactory ride is mainly the narrow beam in combination with twins. Since You had a 242 and a 272 I find it surprising that You keep repeating that the 255's have a 24 deadrise. Both the 242 and the 272 of course did, but these 255 hulls were never designed to run at race speed offshore, but were meant to cruise comfortable with plenty of folks onboard along the coast.

https://books.google.com/books?id=P_...ser%22&f=false

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boa...gns-54404.html