scarabman

Do tell. You are a Formula owner, no?

Dave M

Is that paint or vinyl on the Pantera? Nothing dates a boat like certain graphics. Going off looks alone, I think the Formula looks ancient, and the Pantera is timeless minus those graphics.

TomZ

Yep, I sure am. The OP has two threads going for this subject; one here and the other in the Formula sub-forum. I posted the opinion on his Formula thread.

With that said… the Formula’s have both been butchered in my opinion. They’re way too heavy to run off a single engine with any kind of acceptable results. The Pantera is also a couple thousand pounds lighter hence getting away with being able to run a single engine.

Details on my reasoning are in his other thread.

cheech

We need some sort of more in depth criteria to put the half price in perspective.
If those Formula's are asking $15K and the Pantera is $30K.
You should already have the Pantera.

Now if the Formula's are asking $50K and the Pantera $100K, the debate is sort of valid.

Scarab Viking

Hard to make a good comparison to your currency: The boats are all in Europe, and since the currency in question is weak compared to even the rest of the European market - not to mention the US dollar - it is more or less as if the US equivalents of the asking prices come close to your last suggestion, so yes; at least to me the debate is kind of valid.
The Formula has a hull which is almost identical to the Pantera - in terms of measurements (length, width, height, deadrise) and design (strakes and hullsides), hence my question regarding whether there is a huge difference or not. The greatest outside difference seems to be the notch on the Pantera transom. The difference seems to be more of an inside thing, where the Formulas are not glassed together, and might be lacking some of the structural integrity which the Panteras have according to their reputation... If what you guys are saying about the weight is true, then that is a good argument for leaning towards the Pantera too, but it is still a lot of money for me, especially considering I could spend half a fortune on one of these Formulas and still have money left compared to buying the Pantera. On the other hand, the Formulas might never really get me to the level of rough water performance of the Pantera, no matter how much I spend on them...