How are Donzi, Pro-line, Baja sales since Liberty took over? That should be an indicator of the future of Fountain. They seem ambitious looking at their expected employment requirements 80 - 100 - 200 - 400 within 5 years. Why they havent taken this exposure as a time to define to the public they vision for the company(s) is beyond me. The Liberty CEO needs to step up and make his presence felt.

From an outsiders perspective it seems a lot of the heart and sole has been lost with these companies. Something like that is a hell of a lot easier to maintain than to build.

Between Frisini and Liberty will any manufacturers be independent in the future???? :eek: They both seem to have the GM mentality and have too many brands that overlap. At somepoint "right-sizing" will need to occur which I'm sure will mean the destruction of certain brands. Appears Baja may already be down that road with on the smallest models being produced.

But I have to say for someone who is interested in business and the marine industry it sure is making things interesting! Good winter reading :eek:

Is Wyatt staying on at Fountain?

Remember a guy named Irwin Jacobs ? How is Genmar doing these days ??

Forgot about that one, what ever happened to them?

Couldn't agree more. I've owned three. Guess there won't be #4.

I own a Fountain and a Baja. Am I fugged? :D

It's funny to watch. While many bashed Fountains, and sometimes Reggie, they love him in general because he did/does so much. He's not the only one out there, but he's a large part.

But the Baja thing was funny. Baja by Fountain had a stigma, even "if" they were better, and addressed some age-old issues people wanted fixed. Different opinions. But take Reggie out of Fountain, and all of a sudden they're bad? If the new team builds better boats, even addresses some issues some anti-Fountain people had, is that good, or bad?

It's all about perception, and retail purchases, especially boats, are driven by both perception and image, for many, certainly not all. Brand marketing is a difficult thing to master. Reggie marketed himself, and did a commendable job with product as well. If the new owners run it well, and address it's customers as important people, I see no problem.

Given the hits on certain threads, and the love shown by owners, I think if Powerplay was out again selling the same boats they used to, they'd still be a hit.

Possibly Powerplay by Steve1? PPS1?

No beak, all business:drink:

It will be interesting to see how these companies fair without the original driving forces behind them. Like you said, the new owners don't have the passion for their customers or the sport. ie: Baja, Fountain, Donzi, Spectre, Sonic, Intrepid... and I am sure the list will continue.

I am with Race Girl - Best of Luck to them all!

Based on what I have come to know over the years I believe that Reggie is the man when it comes to hull design. I was once told by someone that knew him well that he could walk by a hull and just see ways to make it better.

You need to go back to the beginning, Reggie was a sucessfull businessman that had a passion for boat racing. His racing success led Merc to bring him onboard to work with their R&D people to further their programs. This guy is just a natural at this stuff, for whatever reason he is able to invision things that might work, then work them till they do. The major difference between Fountain and the others over the years has been the never ending upgrading, tweaking if you will, of the hull designs and set up to improve the performance.

This is where I see a possible difference going foreward at Fountain Powerboats in Reggie's absence. I do believe that the new owners should be able to continue to build the line as we know it now. If they can do that then the company should be able to continue on successfully.

The question here would be if they can continue to advance the design as we have seen over the years.

Correct. Reggie was involved in EVERY part of the design and, more importantly, he ate slept and breathed IMPROVING the designs every day.