Force F22 performance skiboat test

The F22 is a 30th anniversary model for Force, a boutique boatbuilder that has tallied numerous world ski racing championships, along with the full suite of national titles.

Since ski racing is currently paused in Australia due to safety investigations, the new speed machine is designed for social/recreational use rather than being a stripped-out competition demon.

For starters, the F22’s dashboard sports a central 12in Simrad screen for engine and nav data, ably supported by two analogue gauges. There’s even drink holders and a phone charger forward.

The custom upholstery, done off site, is plush and stylishly stitched. The front passenger seat swivels for a skiing observer, while Rod specified a double rear lounge with central icebox (a three-seater is optional).

So as not to rudely interrupt the aesthetics, there’s no perceptible hull/deck gunwale join. Hose fittings are hidden, and no windscreen is offered either – just a moulded deflector.

When it comes to design, Rod still prefers pencils to pixels. That is, he draws by eye, using his experience as a race driver, rather than computer. The F22 looks free-flowing, not ‘forced’, as a result.

The hull was derived from his race-winning designs and refined in on-water testing, including offshore. It sports a needle nose, multiple steps, strakes of varying lengths and a running plank leading back to a 21-degree transom deadrise.

The chines are reversed and Rod recently added an additional bow strake to deflect larger swells often encountered in wakeboarding areas.

Every Force is hand-laid and vacuum-bagged with vinylester resin over foam core. While carbon is used only cosmetically, the hull is entirely composite.

The fuel tank, constructed of epoxy, is built in underfloor. It feeds, in the test boat’s case, a Mercury 300R 4.6L V8 outboard that was fitted in-house.

While production F22s will have hydraulic steering, Rod chose cable steering because he likes the hull to ‘inform’ him, unfiltered, as it skips across the water.

Clutching the long-stalk Momo sports wheel, he senses torque steer and propeller vibration through his hands. If it’s telling him that engine height is amiss, he can adjust it via a Seastar jackplate.