Captain's Report

If Looks Could Kill...

As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and as first impressions go, the FX6 has little to worry about. Formula pulled out all the stops on this line and it shows at every turn. They couldn't just "do" anything, but they had to do it to the Nth degree throughout. Simple upholstery is out in favor of thicker vinyl protected from stains, and it surrounds flow-through padding that won't hold water. All seat frames are composite material that allows the water to drain and resist rotting. And then to top it off, the upholstery is custom embroidered with the FX logo, just to add frosting on the cake. Even the carpeting is custom embroidered. And there's so much more. It’s an interesting mix of retro-class and contemporary flair, all in one boat.

Highlights of Features

Suffice it to say that there’s too much on this boat to write about, but let’s go over some of the notables. First, is the construction. Formula uses a chemical bond to join the hull and deck together and it joins the two as one. The hull is finished to perfection in Imron paint. This is something very few builders in class even attempt. The reason is that it is costly, time-consuming, it must be done in environmentally-correct paint booths, and the people applying the polyurethane paint must be specially trained. Where gel coat is good enough for most builders, Formula wants a high-gloss finish that only polyurethane can produce. It also needs far less maintenance and its luster will last longer than gel coat.

Buff and Fluff

After the painstaking Imron process is applied, the boat is sent for detailing. Here a team goes over the hull with compound to remove any indication of orange peeling that may be present. Then it's on to the waxing and buffing and waxing and buffing... over and over again. My last visit to the Formula plant showed a team of four spending 8 hours each on this buffing process alone. Lights are shined at all angles to show the slightest defects, of which I found none, but that didn't stop the crew from smearing even more wax on and buffing it all over again. I doubt that any premium coach maker such as Bentley or Maybach does anything remotely close to Formula. The cockpit is a continuous molded liner with more of the high gloss Imron paint that we saw on the exterior being used to cover detail items all over the interior. Imron painted interior? Look for that on other boats and tell me what you find. You'd be hard pressd to find any paint at all.

Rest assured as the Formula FX6 nears completion and launch, we'll be bringing you a full report with specs and prices. But for now, you can only be in the same boat as us -- looking at this FX6 from across the water and dreaming about being in that one instead.

Standard and Optional Features