Though the market for traditional high-performance V-bottoms and catamarans cratered in 2008, the implosion had been a long time coming. With a few exceptions, unit sales in those segments had been steadily declined for years. The recession of 2008 and the sub-prime home-loan debacle merely accelerated the pace. Suddenly, production-line go-fast boat-building was extinct and dealership “floor-planning” became a thing of the past. Long standard in the custom power world, build-to-order became the norm for the entire high-performance segment.
But what to build that would actually sell? To blame the recession for the decline in go-fast V-bottom and catamaran popularity is to deny, at least for those paying attention at the time, that demand for such boats had been plummeting for years. More enthusiasts were aging out of the performance-boating world than were entering it. Something had to give.
Formula Boats of Decatur, Ind., was among the former “traditional” go-fast V-bottom facing this challenge. But the Porter family, which owns the 60-plus-year-old brand, had been paying attention to the decline long before the 2008 recession got everyone’s attention.
The Porters realized that go-fast boats themselves were contributing to their own demise. Existing clients wanted something more useable for their growing families. New clients simply didn’t care—for the most part—about speed on the water.
Out of this honest assessment came Formula’s Sun Sport, Super Sport and Crossover Bowrider powerboat lines. The company started building those versatile, family/group friendly offerings before 2008. So while Formula has added center consoles to its product line during the past few years, it didn’t have to hop on that now-super-competitive bandwagon to survive. The company had already planned for life beyond go-fast boats, so to speak. It owned and still owns a thriving segment none of it competitors had touched.
Like the rest of its former competitors in the go-fast powerboat world, Formula had to embrace the outboard engine power trend. Anything else would have been business suicide. But the company did retain stern-drive engine power options for a number of models, the most recent being the new 360 CBR model introduced today.
Maybe the Formula folks are onto something by offering both power options for the 36-footer. They’ve been ahead of the curve before. Only a fool would bet against them.