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North American Formula
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIKE HUNTER
ORMULA BOATS HAVE LONG BEEN A PART OF THE NEW ZEALAND MARINE
INDUSTRY.
Big,
well-styled launches with luxury interiors are generally popular with the
local and export markets.
The company's most recent launching from the Kumeu yard was La
Promessa, meaning The Promise. The 50-footer is the first Formula to be
drawn by the Senior Marine Design Group, headed by Grant Senior, who is
also Formula Boats' managing director.
The newly designed hull shape has a fine entry with a medium to deep
vee for'ard. The hull, described by the designer as distorted, runs back
to a deadrise of 10 degrees at the transom.
'The chines are the secret to that boat,' confides Senior. 'Under the
water the planing strakes are different from the conventional type of
boat. They are large and there are only two a side. The chines are
extremely wide to keep the boat dry and up on top.'
The sound proof engine room is home to 2 x 450hp Cummins
which drive 4 blade Tiger props through shafts set at nine
degrees.
The shaft, at an angle of nine
degrees, is almost parallel to the angle of the hull, which Senior says
improves efficiency through the water. The boat reaches planing speed of
11.3kts in about seven seconds and cruises at 20kts. The top speed is
27.4kts.
La Promessa was not to stay long in New Zealand, having been
built for a North American cardiologist owner. Her sea trial was the
delivery from Auckland to Tauranga, from where she would be shipped to
Portland, Oregon in time for Christmas, and an appearance at the Seattle
Boat Show later in January.
Shipping schedules had driven the construction time with the
boatbuilding team working through the night to have her ready for marine
surveyor Robin Williams, before her delivery to Tauranga.
Her new home was to be 120nm up the Colombia River from the Pacific
Ocean. Her boat show commitments would see her sailed back down the river
and up the coast to Seattle, a further 255nm. Senior, who has boated in
the area, will skipper La Promessa for the journey which will take two to
three days because of logs in the water at this time of the year,
mid-winter. He says he will appreciate La Promessa airconditioned heating,
and the protection of the hardtop.
Although the boat will be marketed as the Formula Icon 50 in New
Zealand, La Promessa will be marketed as the first Royal Pacific 50 to
reach North American waters. The boating there involves long distances
between anchorages, usually in sheltered water, so boats are finished to a
luxurious standard, but easily handled by two people.
Engines
The Formula's classy interior is
a formula well suited to the North Americans; another aspect was speed, in
the land where everything is big, including horsepower, 600hp a side is
considered normal for cruising speeds of around the 30kt mark in planing
launches. However, La Promessa has twin 450hp Cummins engines. They are
compact for their rating, at 1141.2 x 909.3 x 922mm and weigh just 856kg
each. Formula's dedication to keeping the boat's displacement low with
exotic construction methods and hull design makes best advantage of the
lighter, smaller engines which are able to achieve the same speeds as the
larger engines normally used in similarly sized American-made boats,
according to Senior. Being smaller, the engines also do the job more
efficiently.
An air strut assisted hatch in the cockpit sole lifts to reveal a
crawlthrough channel, which gives good access to either engine under the
saloon floor. The engines' small size means they fit easily under the
saloon, with enough room for maintenance and checking.
At the after end under the cockpit sole is th e 15kva Westerbeke genset
to provide on board 112V power, for the galley and entertainment
equipment. Most electronics, entertainment and navigation equipment are to
be fitted in oregon. Aft of the engines are the aluminium fuel and water
tanks gave La Promessa a cruising range of 620nm.
Construction
Although Formula worked to keep the boat
light, construction is solid where it needs to be. The bottom of the hull
is a solid 12 to 14mm fibreglass. Topsides are foam cored for insulation
and strength. The interior is all finished in a hardrock maple timber,
accompanied by light tan suede on the bulkheads. On the flybridge dash,
the Formula team wanted to create a durable finish which would blend
aesthetically with timber and leather décor. The answer came with a bucket
of sand from the West Coast beach of Muriwai which they blended with a
casting resin. The Corian-like finish achieved was clear coated. The
combination of the low shrinkage and hardness of the casting resin with a
clear coat mean that if a scratch appears it can be buffed up to get rid
of it.
All timber was hardrock maple with a teak and holly sole.
Accommodation
The owner's cabin is in the
vee of the bow with an ensuite to starboard, and walk-in wardrobe to port.
Aft of the wardrobe, still on the port side, is a guest's cabin with a
pull-out top bunk fitting across an athwartships double bed. The ship's
heads is on the starboard side down two steps from the main saloon with
its after galley and entertainment area.
Sea trial
We joined the delivery trip to
Tauranga which began with a blast down the Waitemata Harbour under the eye
of a photographic helicopter which pirouetted over the Formula, before
dipping her rotor in farewell. From Islington Bay, we set course for Cape
Colville which provided a decent rough water test.
At times the seas were two
and a half metres and initially all on board held on tight as La Promessa
moved through them at 20kts. We soon relaxed. Although the motion through
the seas was enough to send plenty of green water over the flybridge and
sluicing down the side decks, the landings were comfortable and Senior was
obviously pleased with his new underwater hull shape which kept the ride
surprisingly smooth. Some spray did come into the cockpit, but mainly from
overhead. Clear of Cape Colville the seas eased, making it easier to hold
course.
We reached Tauranga at a cruise speed of 22kts at 2,200rpm average for
the trip. Top speed was 27kts, with the boat fully laden with fuel. Her
sea kindliness was evident throughout the journey. Using her fine entry
and rounded underbody, the prominent flared chines peeled the water apart
in a flat smooth motion, which the designer and the crew enjoyed.
Alongside at the Tauranga Bridge Marina, the Formula team got to work
on a couple of teething problems which had cropped up through the trip and
by midday the next day La Promessa was safely on her way across to the
other side of the Pacific.
The ship's compass is at ankle height on the flybridge
helmstation.
The flybridge can be isolated from below with a drop
down hatch over the spiral
staircase.
Suppliers to La Promessa include:
Formula Cruisers Ltd: boatbuilding;
Grant Senior Design Group:
design;
MGM and Fairfit: stainless steel work;
Henley's: Tiger
four bladed propellers;
Cummins: engines; Westerbeke:
genset;
Morse: electronic engine controls;
Enertec: switchboard; Rolls:
batteries;
Lusty and Blundell: Rule pumps;
Electronic Navigation
Limited: Furuno
electronics: sounder, chartplotter,
radar, GPS
plotter, SSB, Icom radio;
Simpson Lawrence: winch; Delta:
anchor;
Murray Batger: Clarion sound system; Greg Kelly, Total
Trim:
upholstery; Awlcraft: paint.
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