BUSINESS AT FULL THROTTLE
Although the title on his business card says, "Reggie Fountain, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and President," it scarcely touches upon the extent of his actual involvement. Unlike any other CEO in the performance boating industry, Reggie Fountain is hands-on every step of the way. He's as likely to be under a boat covered in fiberglass dust to fine-tune a new bottom design, as he is to be sitting behind his desk pouring over financial statements.

Like so many boat builders, Fountain started his company after evaluating the market and coming to the conclusion that he could do it better. History tells that unlike most, Fountain succeeded.

For his aforementioned R&D program with Mercury, in 1978 Fountain contracted with Bill Farmer of Excalibur Boats in Sarasota, Florida to use one of Farmer's 31' V-bottoms. As the testing program progressed, Fountain couldn't resist the temptation to tinker with the boat. A little sandpaper on the running surface netted a speed increase. Handcrafted putty strakes improved handling and further modifications on the stern drive height improved acceleration. Before long, Reggie had made so many changes the boat no longer resembled the original. The forerunner to the first Fountain was born.

Encouraged by the incredible performance gains, Fountain next attacked the deck and hull design. As the development process continued, Fountain noticed a growing market for the highly customized test boats. A short time later, Fountain Powerboats was born in an abandoned used car dealership just outside Reggie's residence in Washington, North Carolina near the Pamlico River.

With his revolutionary bottom designs, Fountain was one of the first to successfully utilize a notched transom, pad keel running surface for improved handling and performance. The competition is still trying to keep up with Reggie's unequaled drive to design the best performing boats on the water.

In addition to taking offshore sport boat performance to a new level, Fountain pioneered the use of space-age laminates in the boating industry. He was among the first to use bi-, tri- and quad-directional fiberglass along with lightweight coring material. While other manufacturers shunned these materials, preferring to stick with old-fashioned heavy laminates, Fountain proved they could work, which was a benefit to the entire industry. Today, because of Fountain's innovative thinking, all boats are lighter and stronger than they ever were in the past.

Drawing on more than 45 years of experience in all aspects of racing and pleasure boating, Fountain personally masterminds all engineering and new product Research and Development. Considered among the most innovative minds in the boating world, in 1992, Fountain took the state of the art one giant step forward with the introduction of Positive Lift, a breakthrough step-bottom design that added more than 10 percent to Fountain's already superior top-end performance while improving handling and cornering agility. A company that never stops its R&D, Fountain then took its innovative Positive Lift designs even further with the introduction in 1998 of its Super Ventilated running surface. This race-proven hull design raised the standard even higher with quicker times to plane, added midrange punch and still faster top-end speeds. Fountains have often been imitated, but no one can duplicate the smoothest, fastest, safest, best-handling boats on the water.

Once a plug is created, Fountain performs all initial on-the-water testing and then collaborates with his staff on interior design and graphic styling. To this day, Fountain still logs approximately 1,000 hours a year on the water. Before they are shipped to a dealer network that expands to all corners of the United States and the world, Fountain personally tests many of his boats to make sure they all meet his exacting standards.

Time permitting; Reggie continues to offer personal instruction in the finer points of operating a high-performance boat to many of the customers who visit his North Carolina facility. For many, getting a driving lesson from Fountain is like getting pointers from a professional tour player on their golf game. Fountain has attained celebrity status unlike any other boat manufacturer in history.