Offshoreonly.com - Babys Formula!

I was pretty surpriced today when I went to my local Formula dealer and looked at the 38'3" Fastech Offshore. It is a really huge boat compared to some of the other "38's" I have looked at. I can see why it is a tad bit slower because it's bigger then say a Fountain...my buddie saw a 38' Formula next to a Fountain and it was substantially bigger. The front of the boat is very cigarette like...if it had farings it would be very similiar in looks...it's an Aronow design I believe so that makes sense.

The fit finish and construction are up there with the best and the price is between Fountain and Cigarette...I could get into a 38' with 525's for around 300k and top speed is around 82 or so in fresh water...it is kind of nice having a windshield in Michgan since our weather can be pretty chilly during the season. If I were in Florida I would opt for a boat with possibly no windscreen.

SO I have been focusing looking at Cigarette's, OL's, and Formulas. It would take a 42' Fountain to equal the size of this boat...like it is probably equal in size to something between a 35' and 38' Cig. because of the swim platform.

For me Cig is #1 then I would go Formula and then probably OL just because of personal pref's. and $$

I am sorry to here about all the folks on here who have had problems with Fountain's that were not addressed. I am a little leary of Cig and getting parts form what some have said too....Formula is tight with their customer service and that is a huge factor when you spend near a half million for a boat. If you had a cracked hull on warranty they come and pick the boat up...fix it and return it and the turn around is a couple weeks...sometimes they even have loaners if it takes longer...

In speaking to a tech at Thunderbird products they were going to cut the back step a bit more for the extra 3-4 mph Fountain has but they wanted the boat to behave as if it were non-stepped in handling. Apparently from their testing you reach a point where staggered engines is a must if you cut enough geometry out of the back pad. The boat dosen't respond as quickly and recovery from a large wave is comprimised and you can feel the boat pound and rattle back and forth more...so they went for speed and comfort. They cut out some "frufras" like huge gauge clusters in exchange for a more appointed cabin and cockpit. the McLeod's are great bolsters along with electric footrests which seems to be a great combo. Who really needs or watches all those gauges at speed anyways? and Merc has alarms built in anyways for extreme conditions.

SO after a lot of looking and comparing this boat has a winning combo....maybe it's not everybody's favorite..but it is one of the more respected boats by what folks on this site have commented. You get a boat that dosen't cut corners...you can put a bimini top on it, the silent thunder transom is a novel idea and sound control is enforced in my area and the boat looks great. They said they would work with me on Paint schemes and some modification is possible and you can always delet the imron paint job and have it done yourself at a custom shop...they will even ship it there and get involved if you like....so at about 150-200k less than a Cig and the same price as a Fountain it looks great...38' . Looked at Powerquest too....only thing is it that looks a bit too much like a runabout to me...the Formula has all the lines of a cig but with a windshield...

....Also, if you want custom power you can buy the boat without mototrs ...and do it yourself...so a custom Job is possible...my buddy has a 38' custom paint and 1050hp sterlings ...paid about 450k....it does around 120+ on GPS....so not a bad way to go if you want something unique...I am going 575's with superchillers...and 95+ will work for me! Total cost for custom paint and the big motors is around 375k.

SO here is a boat that you can do up custom and maybe get a little more for your money in the process too...