Fountain=Weak display at MIA boat show...
 

Was excited to see a couple of the best offshore and cruisers Fountain had to offer. Instead I met a 42 lightning and a couple fishing boats...:bsflag:

Yeah, really disappointing. Also the price on the 42 with 700's was like almost $500K. Fountain certainly lacked the presence they used to have and seemed somewhat lost at the show. Hope that changes in the future.

Fountain will never have the presence they had with Reggie in charge. Love him or, hate him, he was the heart and soul of the company.

So far, I hav'nt heard one positive comment about the display that the "new" Fountain had to offer at Miami. :rolleyes: Other than a beautiful 42, (that was built under Reggie) they had nothin to offer to speak of. Well, I guess that's what you get when ya get a new company (Liberty), that has nothin to offer but a good B/S line, who's president is losing his home through foreclosure, :eek: well, let me just stop there. :grinser010:

Stay tuned. :evilb:

As I stated earlier there are basically two legends in the powerboat field, Reggie Fountain and Don Aranow. When Don Aranow would sell a company and start another his customer base would follow and his previous company would have dismal sales numbers. I believe the same will happen with Fountain Powerboats. Reggie Fountain was Fountain. When you bought a Fountain you were buying a piece of Reggie, his decades of experience as a world champion. You were buying his unrelenting drive to build the fastest, affordable boats in the market. He was constantly tweaking his products and improving his products. Reggie Fountain is a winner and everybody knows it, whether they like the man or not." RF" Powerboats will succeed as the "new Fountain".

Ok, 30 more days...

Washington, North Carolina – February 24, 2011: In November and December 2010, sweeping changes were announced that affected fiberglass recreational powerboat brands Donzi Marine, Fountain Powerboats, and Pro-Line Boats. Key announcements included the relocation of production operations for Florida-based Donzi and Pro-Line to Liberty's Washington, NC plant, Liberty's commitment to support its dealers by providing them with private floor-plan financing, the decision to discontinue the "Fountain Factory Superstore" factory-direct sales outlet, and several key personnel changes.
Now, those changes have begun to yield positive results for all three brands, according to executives at parent company Liberty Associates.
"The adjustments we've made, combined with the sales and marketing efforts at each of our companies, has made a real significant impact on the overall health of our organization," said John Walker, president and CEO of the Liberty boat companies.
One of Liberty's first priorities was rebuilding Fountain's dealer network, according to Walker.
"At Fountain, ending factory-direct sales and restoring dealer confidence was crucial. Since January 1st we have signed four new Fountain dealers, and we are working with several others. We've seen an increase in retail sales – everything from 38' Lightnings and CCs, a 47' Lightning, and a quad-engine 38' TE. All told, we have grown our order backlog from essentially zero in November to a two- month backlog today for Fountain product," said Walker.
New dealers signed for Fountain since January are Team Marine of Trenton, NJ; All About Boats in Osage Beach, MO; Sanders Marine in Jacksonville, NC; and Coastal Marine Center in Brunswick, GA.
Walker explained that unlike Fountain, the Donzi and Pro-Line brands had order backlogs in place at year's end. However, they too have seen substantial growth.
"Pro-Line had some orders, and Donzi was doing very well, with a fairly strong backlog of retail-sold boats in the pipeline. Still, dealers and customers wanted to see and inspect the new Donzi and Pro-Line product built at the North Carolina plant," said Walker. "Today, the Donzi backlog approaches three to four months, and it consists of mainly retail-sold boats. On the Pro-Line side, thanks to our commitment to dealer support, and in turn, our dealers' confidence in us, we've got nearly 100 units to build."
Now, Liberty is focusing its efforts on ramping up production to meet demand. "We are now at the point where boat shows are here, spring is around the corner, and dealers want product. It has been a long time since we have this many calls from dealers and customers looking for their boats," said Walker. "We've been hiring and training. We need to produce more boats, and shorten our lead times. We knew that with such a diverse product line there would be a learning curve, which is why we started this process last fall. Today, we've got 20 boats in production. We've got 120 full-time employees, and we expect to grow that number to 200 by the end of March."
Not to be forgotten in the mix is Baja, another Liberty-owned brand. Last fall, Liberty announced their plan to resurrect the highly popular, former volume leader of high performance boats. According to Walker, that effort is well underway. "We've been teaming up with key dealers to get their feedback on our renderings, and we're giving Baja a new look. We've got a new 26' Baja prototype in the works that we're really excited about, and we plan to show it in April."
For more information on this story, please contact John Walker at 252.975.2000.
For more information on the Liberty boat brands, visit www.donzimarine,com, www.fountainpowerboats.com, and www.prolineboats.com.

Job Opportunities

Yea I figured without the old gold chain wearing Granpa there it wouldnt live up to what friends have told me about the previous Miami shows, but damn! A friend I was with that has a cig was talking smack the whole time about Fountains fishing boat display. But that 42 looked out of place and sick at the sametime...Minus the price tag....

:eek: WOW :eek: Such a smoke screen. LMAO

Food for thought:

This is what I hear. It's all fact, Fountain (Liberty) did not pay the broker that did the deal, so the judge won't let them out of BK. The problem is, they have no money to pay. :lolhit: Liberty is being contracted by the bank that holds Donzi/ProLine's note, a management fee, so they don't have to write off the huge debt and let the share holders know about what's going on. :rolleyes: They are a private bank not controlled by the FDIC, so they are getting away with it. The 42 boat that was in the booth at the show is almost three years old and they have only built one sport boat in the last 18 months, a 42 with 1075's. The President of Liberty (according to bank records), just lost his house/condo in foreclosure because he was not making his payments. This would all add up based on only 3 CC in the booth at Miami, which I think 2 were used and the one and only sport boat was an older 42. I don't believe Baja was at the show either. Rumor has it that they are sinking fast and trying to fluff it up with some sort of B/S press releases. Just from what I've gathered lately. :lolhit:

It's so easy to jump on the anti-Liberty/Fountain bandwagon... and I'm a true Reggie fan... BUT ... it is sad to hear a company is/may be rapidly sinking. Just as Reggie closed the door, a lot of people I'm sure put a lot on the line to try and pick up and make something out of a niche market. We all can agree Fountain isn't ever going to be the same again... hell, Liberty will probably admit that. I personally wish them the best in turning this endeavor around. If I'm ever in the market for a new boat, I'm certainly following Reggie... but I don't wish bad on Liberty for trying to carry the torch. Hopefully it doesn't end in 120-200 Liberty employee's jobless. Economy is sad enough as it is...

My 2 cents.