Fountain Teams Capture 2004 Offshore World Championships

Key West, Florida; November 21, 2004: In a historic event, seeing the unification of all of the major offshore sanctioning bodies for a combined World Championship race, Fountain Powerboats was the clear and decisive leader throughout the event. Super Boat International hosted the event, with both the Offshore Super Series, and the American Powerboat Association in attendance.

Fountain entered the final Super V race of the 3-race format with 2 boats in the top 3 positions of the 16-boat field, which was represented by 6 different offshore powerboat manufacturers. The defending 2003 World Champion, Rodriquez Group, was in second place with their 38' Fountain, and Instigator was in 3rd place with their new 42' Fountain. As the fleet completed the first lap around the 6.5-mile course, Fountains led the way occupying all of the top 5 positions. Fountains continued to lead for the entire race, maintaining their hold on the top 4 positions for nearly two thirds of the event. As attrition took it's toll on the entire fleet, Fountains positions on the racecourse began to alter the 3-race points totals, and with only 5 laps remaining, the Fountain teams occupied the top 3 positions overall for the entire event.

Miccosukee Indian Gaming, in their 38' Fountain, was the early leader until they succumbed to a coupler failure, which took them out of the race. Fountainracing.com moved into the lead with their 38' Fountain, and continued to open the margin until a mechanical failure took them out of the race as well. Both the Rodriquez Group and Pier 57, a 42' Fountain driven by Reggie Fountain's sons Wyatt and Reggie III, maintained a steady pace securing 1st and 3rd place for the day respectively. Those finish positions were enough to put both boats onto the championship podium, with Pier 57 in 3rd place overall, and the Rodriquez Group securing their 2nd consecutive world championship.

In the Super-V Unlimited category, Rio Roses, a 42' Fountain, ran unopposed to secure a 2nd consecutive world title. Although no other teams were entered in the class, Rio Roses had plenty of competition as it was matched against the catamarans in all three days of racing. The v-bottom held it's own against the comparably powered catamarans, demonstrating the outstanding performance of the world record setting hull design in both rough and calmer water conditions throughout the Key West course.

Fountain Powerboats President and CEO, Reggie Fountain Jr. was thrilled with the performance of his teams. "In a unified format, with every team competing on the same course at the same time, there is no doubt which boats are the boats to beat', said Reggie. "These championships represent a clear verification that at Fountain we build the smoothest, safest, fastest and best handling boats in the world", he continued.