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Marlin275
06-28-2005, 10:24 AM
I just don't get it, why is fountain popular?
These beak boats look bad and the beak does nothin for performance.
Fountain was late to the game and doesn't have anything close to the history of the great ones.

Johntrip
06-28-2005, 10:28 AM
They take care of their boat owners..!!!

roadtrip se
06-28-2005, 10:39 AM
think again. I had three of them in the past and their customer service wasn't any better than any other boat manufacturer.

Marlin. Do a little research on Fountain. Like the beak or not, they have done a great job of revitalizing an entire offshore industry with race sponsorships, marketing and promotion, and many innovations that have filtered across to companies like Cigarette and Donzi.

If you ever get the chance to take a peak at the bottom of a Competition 38 ZR next to a late model 38 Fountain Lightning, you might be more than a little surprised by the similarities. The Lightning was first out of the mold.

Love him or hate him, Fountain has had as much impact on the sport as any of the early pioneers.

Off soapbox,

RT

Fish boy
06-28-2005, 11:54 AM
I think it has a lot to do with agressive marketing. Reggie spent millions to build two world record boats and called out all other manufacturers. Why? so he can market his boats as the fastest/number 1/ best...yada yada, to people with more money than sense. A fool and his money are soon parted, and the first one to find and reach out to that fool is gonna put him in their boat.

That is one reason i cannot understand why donzi does not get a little more behind the big events from this site. How many members have become donzi owners by coming to an event and falling in love with a donzi?? Donzi, with all due respect, is missing out on an opportunity. Same reason they should be a little more agressive with the clothing line- cigarette makes $1mm + per year from the clothing line and every item that goes out the door is a walking billboard for the company. Win/win for them, not rocket science.

just my $.02.

roadtrip se
06-28-2005, 12:53 PM
A fool and his money are soon parted, and the first one to find and reach out to that fool is gonna put him in their boat.


Fish, are you describing Baja or Fountain?

Okay, the ZR and Lightning bottom comparison challenge wasn't enough?

How about the fact that the guys running manufacturing and the dealer network at Donzi both are Fountain alumni? All reports from the line are that the new ZR pleasure boats are a step up in quality from previous offerings? Could there be a little Reggie know how in Donzi's new products?

I do agree with your assessment of squandering all of the owner good will by not supporting the events or printing a t-shirt anybody wants to buy...

I've got some pretty nice Cigarette stuff..

RT

undertaker
06-28-2005, 12:54 PM
Fish I agree 100% with you. :) Great post.

Undertaker :biggrin:

McGary911
06-28-2005, 01:16 PM
Fountains are sure not my favorite boats, not even near the top. How long is a 35' fountain if you lose the beak and the swimplatform? What's with that beak anyway? I've heard some Fountain owners say it has something to do with aerodynamics, providing bow lift. One thing is does for sure is gives the boat a very distinct profile. Anyone that knows even a little about go fast boats, can ID a fountain, which provides a lot of brand awareness. Even the little 24' CS from a few years back had the beak. The boats aren't that expensive, when compared to other go fasts that are similar in size \ performance. They go pretty good with stock power. I saw a 42' poker run edition with staggered 525s at the NY show this year.....The thing was pretty nice. They make a lot of them. They fill a niche for sure. Couple that with good financing, and it's no wonder you see so many out there.

Fish boy
06-28-2005, 01:37 PM
Fish, are you describing Baja or Fountain?
RT

Either. Donzi has a name and quality that does a good job of selling itself. Just imagine what donzi could do if they marketed like fountain, cig, (my local baja dealer)...

olredalert
06-28-2005, 03:24 PM
------McGary hit on it. PRICE + FINANCING!!!!! There are guys up around here that have no right to even have a boat much less a new Fountain. It seems like if you have $10,000 to throw at them and a job (job optional) you can walk away with a $200,000 boat that would be a $300,000 boat if it was a Cigarette. Figures may be off as I have never priced a new one of either brand but you get the idea.................Bill S

EricG
06-28-2005, 04:35 PM
I am not a huge fan of the styling of Fountain, but I certainly respect them, both as a quality boat, and as a marketing company.

Others have touched on it, but here's an observation from around here:
There are 5 to 1 Fountains and Velocity's around here than any other performance manufacturer. Why? Because that's what the dealer around here (powerboatsNW) sells. They also sell Outerlimits and Spectre, but if you are shopping for one of those, you already know what you want. If you walk in looking to get into performance boating, it's going to be a lot easier to walk out with the keys to a boat you can touch, test drive, and finance. They just recently picked up Donzi too I believe, so we'll see if we don't see a few more of them out there this season. Then again, I believe the record for a Donzi dealer up here is 2 years... :banghead: :bonk:

Back to Fountain, there are lots of performance boats out there, and really, it's up to the buyer to decide what they want in a boat. If I had 100k in my pocket to shop for a 2-3 year old performance boat, I'd have a blast looking at all of my options. If someone buys a Fountain - good for them, they've got a bigger, faster boat than me :D

EG