How much offshore is a 255 FC?
 

I want to rebuild an 80s 255 Freedom Cruiser as a lightweight Raceboat with two BBC/Bravos. And i asking my self how offshore ist that 255 really? Can you go out at mid high to high waves under WOT?

Are you talking about the 255 Sportsman from 1980? I've never heard of a Formula Freedom Cruiser. Also two words that do not belong together are Formula and lightweight. If you are thinking about taking an old Formula and repurposing it, into something it is not, I would save your money. Even if you have the boat or its free, you are going to have an easy $25-30K into this project before you are done!

Last what is a mid high and high wave. Depending on where you boat, a large wave can vary from 3 feet of chop to an 8 foot swell and there is quite a difference between the two. Also if your boat is at WTO goes 63 its going to be different than if you go 80. It's also going to be different if you are using stock steering vs hydraulic steering. As you can see, there are lots of variables.

Its like a Formula Liberator 255.

Maybe about 6 foot waves.


I am just interesting about how good the boat is at very choppy conditions at WOT. Most people told me there will be not much, what is better. And i like the Look of the old Liberators. Thinking of hydraulic steering, 454s (have some already), and Bravos.

I have a little daughter and my wife like some comfort and also the look of the old boats. so i think the Liberator will be a very good boat. we have often choppy conditions.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...or-update.html

This thread has a ton of info on this, and Sprink is around so he may chime in if he sees it.

i know Sprink's thread, i only miss the offshore thing.

I don't know the 255 you are talking about but 6' waves with a little daughter and your wife is no place for a 25' boat at wot. If you're in 2-3' waves and it gets very choppy, like 6' waves, you should be able to get home safely but it won't be comfortable and you can forget going fast.

Sorry Mike but you are talking about pretty rough conditions and you need a lot of waterline length to handle it. Leave the big waves for 40'+ boats.

RR

I spent many days seeking out big waves in my Formula 242LS. It hurt. Many threads on here say it is a "wave crusher", but over 3' waves was a problem. The hype/stories are far bigger than the reality. When the family was in the boat, we had to slow way down to prevent screaming and dirty looks from crashing down hard.

Thank you! Thats what i won't to know. Normally we have 1-2' Waves.

6 foot rollers 200 feet apart might be fun

I doesnt matter if you are the ghost of Don A. reincarnated running a custom 25 Apache hand built by Bobby and Ben (after Chuck Norris breaks him out of prison) You are NOT going WFO in a 25 foot boat powered by twin 454;s in true 6 footers with the wife riding shotgun and the kids in the back seat.

It would be a good boat for lake chop, It could go offshore in the right conditions very easily. Twins add a layer of safety/dependability. If you really want to run in bigger water, weight is your friend not your enemy.

I realize you are probably not from the states by the wording of your posts so some things may get lost in translation, but I can tell you want to enjoy boating and have fun. Nothiing is going to ruin your boating adventure faster than making the wife fear for her childs safety as the kid bounces around in the back seat.

You take the boat out on the right sunny day with the wind blowing thru your wifes hair and your daughter in the back seat throwing her arms up going "wheeeee!!!" Well my friend, your life is going to be better than you ever imagined,

So it will be great for the family in 1 to 3s, fun for you and the guys in 3 to 4s and not much fun in anything legitimately bigger except maybe long laid down ocean swells//

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

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.

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

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

Thanks for all of your inputs. :ernaehrung004:

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

Formula 255 FC and LS hulls got 14 degree transom deadrise.
 

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