Review of Formula 242 LS

Basic specs.

The Formula 242 LS is a small motorboat designed in the late eighties. The Formula 242 LS is built by the American yard Thunderbird.

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of hand laid fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of hand laid fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Both the hull and the deck is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.

Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with one cabin, 2-4 berths, a galley, 19.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

Keel

Unknown keel type

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.85 - 0.95 meter (2.79 - 3.09 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Formula 242 LS may be equipped with an inboard MerCruiser engine at 330 hp (245 kW). The speed is 70.0 knots.

The transmission is a Z-drive aka sterndrive.

The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 394.0 liters (104 US gallons, 86 imperial gallons).

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Formula 242 LS is about 110 kg/cm, alternatively 617 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 110 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 617 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Formula 242 LS is 3.28.

Compared with other similar motor boats it is slimmer than 98% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design. This type of design is also referred to as 'needle'.

Curiosities

Powerboat?

In Denmark, you are required to have achieved a 'powerboat driving license' in order to sail a powerboat.
In this context a boat is considered a powerboat if:

Danish definition of a powerboat

According to this definition this boat is categorized as a Powerboat.

Maintenance

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Formula 242 LS it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.