Ok its Sunday so you might be fresh off a church sermon......but money is certainly not the root of all evil if so the Catholic Church is in trouble being one of the wealthiest organizations worldwide!

Any pics of 2009-2011 Black Thunders? Several reports from OSO'rs in the midwest the factory is closed.

Its funny how some people only read and hear what they want.
The quote "money is the root of all evil" is well known among the majority of people, religious or not. Everything is about money, time is money, etc. etc. Open your mind up and look around. Its sad but people screw people every second for money.
Jupiter Sunsation....I bet you have choose money first over "something else" more then once in your life. Everyone has, because no one is perfect.
I think Shogren is a good dealer, I would buy a boat from them, but they are in business to make money.

News flash about Black Thunder and the definition of a "Custom boat builder". A custom boat is made to order for one specific customer, to their specs, once they place the order. Thats different then a production builder with boats sitting on the dealers lots. Black Thunder is currently building a new 46 with staggerd 1200 (custom engines) and #6s. Plus I hear they are working with two other customers that might be ordering boats. A correct statement about black thunder might go like this: "Black Thunder Powerboats is currently slow (common in the industry), not spending every hour at the factory, depending on what parts come in to work on".

Jupiter....Thanks for turning a nice thread with many OSO members great opinions (its always a opinion unless posting pictures and signed documents) into a rude personal insults against multiple people reading this.

OE

Not sure what you are all wound up about but Black Thunder hasn't sold a boat in years. They were regulars at the Miami Boat show and haven't attended in atleats two years, this year will make three. Several members have noted the factory looks closed, can't get returned phone calls/emails.

Maybe the tooth fairy is planning a Black Thunder resurgence next month in Miami. They will bring a 1075 boat, a triple 700boat and a triple Yanmar boat just so everyone can see how busy they have become lately.

Seriously the industry is slow but some builders are filling orders while others are not. Black Thunder happens to be in the latter category right now. They have a niche product but need to update the decade old design and make it more competitive speed/economywise. Do a search on OSO regarding customer service and you may be able to see this was not simply a slow economy that brought cobwebs to Hannibal, MO.....

Slight detour
Do you launch at Elmwood, red and white hull ? Think We've talked briefly a couple times.
ed

Exactly. I love my BT boats but as said, things a very slow up there. Customer service compared to when Terry was there is night and day (meaning Terry is AWESOME). One thing i will say, is that Bob has been good for me to deal with when i needed factory items or his input on a subject but hard to reach at times.

Yes, I remember a couple nice fountains around, which boat is yours?

"Year after year, Fountain Mercury continues to win top accolades from the marine press. Last year our newly designed 47 Lightning won Powerboat Magazine’s Offshore Boat Of the Year. Over the years Fountain has won 29 awards from Powerboat Magazine for product excellence. Our 48 Express Cruiser won Boating Magazines “Boat of the Year” and the Robb reports “Best of the Best”, the list goes on and on. Like other industries, boating technology moves fast and at Fountain Mercury we set the pace. We implement improvements in design, styling, safety and construction as breakthroughs occur.

Because technology doesn’t wait for model year changes, neither do we. If it’s new and improved, you’ll find it first on a Fountain Mercury. And finally you’ll always get more performance, more standard features and better fuel economy for a lot less money with Fountain Mercury!"

The text above is copied from the Fountain website. Notice they say " Fountain Mercury" more than once ! Maybe a brand name change is on the horizon.

The Fountain Mercury name was used after Mercury backed the re-fi deal in approx '04. Once Mercury was off the hook it was dropped again

Reggie is coming aboard with Bayliner Offshore Racing!

The other strange this is that Reggie busted his azz at FLBS.

If he planned on doing something I think he would already have done it. Liberty spent huge money redesigning their fishboat so I think the boats will be around for a while. I am sad that Reggie is gone, I will miss having dinner with him.