Formula 457 Center Console Fish: Grand Plans
The Formula 457 Center Console Fish takes luxury angling to a new level.
Some boaters want a center console fishing machine, some want a walkaround appropriate for weekending, some want a luxury cruiser, and some want a high performance boat. Those of us who want all of the above will need to buy and maintain a fleet—or opt for a boat like the new Formula 457 Center Console Fish.
No, wait a sec. We take that back, because there really aren’t any other boats like the 457 Center Console Fish. The closest is the 457 Sport, a non-angling version of the same model. You say there aren’t any truly unique production boats out there? You want evidence? Here’s the proof.
Formula 457 Center Console Fish Design
While the layout is based on the center console fishing boat’s premise of delivering 360-degree fishability around a centered steering station, the boat’s sheer size makes it possible to also incorporate a surprisingly large cabin inside the console. That’s what adds in weekending capabilities, thanks to a forward berth that converts into a dinette, a galley, and a full stand-up head compartment. As with all boats sharing a similar layout, incorporating a cabin console this large does take up some abovedeck space in the bow, but again thanks to sheer size you’ll never so much as notice. The cabin top is capped with a huge doublewide lounger, and there’s still plenty of room forward of it to include a full bow cockpit with plenty of casting space or, if you put up the cocktail table, a half-dozen people to kick back and kibbitz.
The helmdeck includes double-row seating for six and a dash that’s nothing short of dazzling. It has room to house not one, not two, but three 22” MFD displays in glass bridge form. Additional electronics and joystick controls are on a lower level, while engine monitors, the VHF, and Seakeeper monitor are overhead and integrated into the hard top.
The stern cockpit is, as one might expect, designed around offshore fishing. As such it’s kept mostly open although additional aft-facing seating is incorporated into the tackle station behind the helm deck. That doesn’t necessarily eat into cockpit space, however as the adjustable lower section can be recessed back under the tackle drawers and hidden away. The transom maximizes cockpit space as well. Rather than designing in a straight-across transom Formula opted to utilize a centered bump-out for the livewell, adding in additional stowage in the transom to its port (under an electric grill, no less) and a transom door to the swim platform on the starboard side.
Below the waterline the 457 carries Formula’s proven FAS3Tech hull design, riding on a 22-degree transom deadrise. Construction incorporates a foam-filled grid bonded to the hull with Plexus, and a layup including computer-cut bi- and tri-axial glass and Coremat with AME 5001 resin.
Formula 457 Center Console Fish Luxury Features
When it comes to luxury: This. Boat. Is. Sick. Where to begin? Naturally it’s bolstered all the way around, so anywhere you lean it’s cushioned. Naturally the deck is covered in ReFlex foam padding, so everywhere you stand it’s padded. And naturally, the 36-ounce vinyls are buttery smooth, stitched in Tenara thread, and surround DriFast foam seat cushions, so everywhere you sit you’ll be enveloped in comfort. In both rows of helm deck seating you’ll enjoy cool air blasting from air conditioning vents and another cool breeze blowing in from behind the seatbacks. All of those seats also enjoy their own individual cell phone holders with inductive charging, personal stowage areas in the deck, footrests, and easy to reach cupholders. Press a button and a sunshade extends out of the hard top overhang to shade the cockpit. And everyone aboard will be bathed by tunes via a Rockford Fosgate stereo system.
Inside the cabin the first thing you’ll note is that there’s a lot more elbow room than one might expect, and a whopping 6’6” of headroom. Yes, this part of the boat is air conditioned too, and it also gets more natural light than usual thanks to ports on the sides and a skylight of sorts in the front. The head is a highlight as well, designed across the beam instead of being tucked into a corner, with a separate stall shower, a vanity, and plenty of extra stowage space.
Formula 457 Center Console Fish Fishing Features
While the 457 Center Console Fish has a lot more glitz and glam than your average fishboat, it still has the goods where it counts for anglers. That unit at the transom? It houses a pair of 50-gallon pressurized livewells. The tackle station behind the helmdeck? It’s a monstrous affair with huge pull-out drawers and multiple interior sections and pull-outs, amounting to enough stowage space for everything an angler could want to haul. The transom and gunwales are lined with rodholders, the 280-gallon fishbox can be turned into a chilled compartment with an optional freezer plate or ice maker, and you can have four electric reel outlets wired into the inwales.
Once offshore you’ll be gazing at the horizon from an upper station complete with a full electronics suite and seating for several additional fish-spotters. Two-level rails, meanwhile, support a grand total of 16 rocket launchers aft. Oh, and there’s a second-station hard-top, too, so you’ll have cover from the sun.
Formula 457 Center Console Fish Specifications
- Length Overall: 45’7”
- Beam: 13’9”
- Weight: 32,100 lbs.
- Draft (minimum): 4’6”
- Transom Deadrise: 22 degrees
- Max HP: 1,800
- Water Capacity: 90 gal.
- Fuel Capacity: 700 gal.
The 457 Center Console Fish comes rigged with triple Mercury Verado V12 600-hp outboards, the latest, greatest, biggest outboards in production today. That power provides a cruise in the upper 40s and a top-end over 60 mph. So yes, the Formula passes muster as a high-performance boat, too. You think you need a fleet of boats? Think again.
See Formula 457 Center Console Fish boats for sale on boats.com.
