Happy 80th Birthday Reggie Fountain
BoatTEST.com wishes Reggie Fountain II, the founder of Fountain Powerboats, a happy 80th birthday. After a successful career in tunnel-boat racing for the Mercury factory team, he started his company in 1979. Fountain started by buying Excalibur hulls and modifying them. Eventually, he made so many changes to the boat that he called them Fountain Powerboats.
The Famous Beak
After hanging up his outboard Team Mercury racing helmet and graduating from law school, Reggie Fountain started by buying Excalibur hulls and modifying them. Eventually, he made so many changes to the boat that he called them Fountain Powerboats.
One of the most noteworthy features of Fountain’s offshore performance and racing boats was the flared bow that came to a sharp point, which naval architects call “hawk.” Reggie called it “a beak,” but there was a reason for it. A 38’ Fountain was almost always faster than a competitive boat of “the same length” with the same power because wetted surface was less because it was actually a smaller boat. Subsequently, the hawk concept was employed on other types of boat to make them seem more price competitive.
Offshore Champion
Fountain took to proving his boats on the offshore race course and today, Fountain has earned more checkered flags than all other V-bottom manufacturers combined. In one of his most famous races caught on video, Fountain was racing his triple-engine V-bottom against actors Don Johnson and Chuck Norris in two different four-engine catamarans on New Orleans’ Lake Ponchartrain. Not only did Fountain beat the bigger, more powerful cats, he set a record. On the video, he made his famous “Bye Bye movie star” comment that would play at boat shows for decades.
BoatTEST Editor Eric Colby was strapped into the cockpit in Fountain’s 45’ catamaran, Fountain Powerboats, when the racer/manufacturer captured his 100th checkered flag on New York’s Hudson River.
Popularized the Stepped Hull
In the early 1990s, Fountain revolutionized offshore performance boating again when he unveiled his Positive Lift stepped bottom that increased speed and efficiency. They first appeared on offshore performance boats, but eventually worked their way onto Fountain’s center-console models as well.
Fishermen wanted the efficiency of the design because it extended a boat’s range for kingfishing. To prove the boat’s efficiency, Fountain’s factory fishing team set an endurance record, running from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor in 6 hours, 10 minutes, 8 seconds and Colby was once again on board to document the event.
Fountain Powerboats remained among the most popular performance and fishing boats until the economic crash of 2009. Recently the company was resurrected as part of Iconic Marine Group, which builds Fountain, Donzi and Baja boats. Owner Fred Ross has brought Fountain back to the fold as a consultant and brand ambassador. We wish Reggie Fountain II many happy returns.