Commentary: What if Reggie Fails?
 

A reasonable question answered candidly, http://speedonthewater.com/component...f-reggie-fails.

Love him or despise him, it really does not matter.

I do feel we ALL as a nation have a lot to learn about the importance of taking a risk. Not listening to or at the very least, take with a grain of salt the people are telling you how you are going to fail.

I am a firm believer that if you keep working to succeed eventually it will. Negative breeds negative, positive leads to success...

We have a huge amount of negative in the marine business/world right now, it is time to look forward, lets rally around the people and things trying to move it forward.

The past has molded the future! (Wonder where I have heard that tag line?)

It is better to try and fail then to not try at all. And no one wants to go through saying, "what if" or "I wish I would have tried." I wish him the best.

I love his boats. I love his enthusiasm. But his age is what scares me. At 71, stuff happens. Then where does the company go from there.

Why?
 

Because He Loves It!
Because It's all He Knows!
Because He Hates to Lose!
Because He Ain't Done Yet!
Because He is Just "Reggie"!

God Bless Him!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I have been very outspoken at many things that Reggie has done as far as business is concerned...however...

I hope he succeeds, our industry and our fun will benefit from it. I have never been a fan of the PT Barnum antics and the whole cat killer thing, but I do respect peoples right to do and say as they please. I have also never said anything bad about any fountain powerboat, like ford and Chevy everyone chooses what is right for them.

Like the car industry I see the service end of it picking up, it makes perfect business sense for he and his sons to update older models and take care of the boats that are out there, I feel that Reggie knows that too, take care of the current client base and worry about the new ones as they come along.

As for his age, he is no different than any race driver that ages or any of us. I am sure that Wyatt has things under control. Even though it's not my choice, I always will respect what any competitor brings to the table, learn from the past, take care of your customers and grow from there...best of luck!

He can't. It's not an option in his mind. Or he ll die trying

Amen.

It is an interesting fact I guess u could say. Whenever I've thought I will do Watever it takes ti succeed I do. Period. It's cliche but when failure is not an option you don't.

Great points.

For what it's worth, Mr. Fountain has been, at least with me, very candid about his mistakes. Here's a quote from my last interview with him:

"When pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. I forgot that. I put too many boats in the field."

His both sons are involved and schooled pretty well:drink:

The people in life that sit on the side lines and hate, are always the ones that are jelious they don't have the balls to go for it! Give it hell reggie!!!

Very candidly indeed. I wonder what epople thought of this exchange.

Just asking your question spoke volumes. The answers pretty much nailed it as well.

Go get em Reggie!! Long live the king!!

I hope he gets the money . He spent alot of his life making boats go fast . He raise the bar .I spoke with him a couple times and he is very passionate about powerboats and racing. I say don't hate apre



If you love powerboats you can't hate him. He's made alot of contributions. I hope he gets the money. I would love to see a new design from him .

There's an old saying,
 

Nothing beats a failure, but a try

even better than that,

You'll never make it to second base, keeping your foot on first.

Reggie's a proven homerun hitter, he's coming back, even if just to quiet the industry of naysayers...:boat:

MTI and Skater will still build boats, so I'm good...

As mentioned earlier, love him or hate him he still deserves respect for puting everything he's got into the industry.
As far as failure goes..... that's not an option. If Reggie and others like him fall by the roadside we'll all be left with the unthinkable........Floating Prius'es:poopoo:

Good grief....run the grocery store Reggie.

What happened to all the talk about partnering with another builder ?

Not so sure he plays well with others.

why would Skater want to partner with fountain? I'm really not a fan of his boats..He started off copying an excaliber, claimed his boats were so much faster than anyybody elses, but his boats are really 5 ft shorter than advertized, so your not comparing apples to apples,, he didnt invent steps ,but braggs like he did.. Yes he built with good quality, and supported offshore,,.But wasted too much cash doing it..

Not to disagree but:drink: I liked the circus stuff&cat killer it kept us taking:argue:LOLHe does have the cat killer @his shop so either he's fine tuning it for the owner or he owns it now!:rolleyes:Good luck Reggie!

...last line says it all...because he's good at it...

I thought RFP was a done deal but now he needs to raise five million bucks to start up? Lotsa luck with that.....

Partnering with an existing boat company is simply one way to start a new boat company without a heavy capital outlay on the part of the owner of the new company. In essence, that makes the existing builder an investor, and like an investor the builder has to weigh the potential risk and reward, then make a decision.

At this point (and, yes, according to my sources have been discussions) with other builders there have been no takers. I think that speaks more to the state of the market than anything else.

IMO, basically, it was a way to float some vapor and interest in the press, and divert attention from what was perceived to be bad publicity. It worked to some extent. If you control the initial perception, you can pretty much control what gets publicized after that.

What if the Fountains built be Liberty fail? Anyone know what direction that side is pursuing? Fish, performance both ?

Do you also think there are no takers because #1 the market does NOT need another Cat or V-hull manufacture regardless of who it is, #2 RF is obviously not a safe investment risk. He obviously did a poor job of managing money on at least 2 different times at Fountain, and #3 when is it time to pack it in? Like was previously mentioned, he is in his 70's.....Time to retire!

Oh by the way, Last time I checked when you go bankrupt you usually don't have money, other businesses, and cash laying around. The firends that i have that were unfortunate to have to file had to rebuild their credit even to buy another house or car. How is it that he was spared personal bankruptcy while the vendors and employees suffered?

Anyway, I am done with the RF subject. Old news...

Outerlimits new cats, Skater 388SLW, Nortech 52, DCB M35, Mercury 1350's, MTI, Sterling, Potter, Teaugue, etc..
That is the new new news. Hard workers who have whethered most of the storm who continue to develop new products and stand by their customers...

Enough said!

I may be wrong but 5 million cost about 40k a month if you sell a decent amount of boats and you know he can:eek:It's a safe bet!Maybe the 5 million is to get Fountain back from Liberty??:hitfan:

I think if you looked at the numbers, 5 mil would be a little short :grinser010:

How many people would it take to get $5 mil together and front RF and just hope for a good outcome? Not often you have a track record to go by. My guess is that not a single Fountain Powerboats shareholder would buy in, what do you think?

I love Reggie and what he did for our sport but this post is very well written!! Maybe he is more concerned about getting his sons set up.

Reggie is what he is. A lot of people might argue that he's ALREADY failed. In terms of his new venture--whatever it will turn out to be--I don't know that it will be that big a deal. We'll see...

That doesn't take anything away from what Reggie has brought to the sport and the industry. He's definitely been a unique, driven and talented character in a sport that can always use more of those kind of people. Hats off to him and whatever he tries to do from here on out.

Like they say in the SAS - "Who Dares Wins."
Reggie's won his share.

71's the new 40!

In a way Reggie reminds me of Carrol Shelby.

I think your points about the market are valid, which is what I meant when I wrote:

"At this point (and, yes, according to my sources have been discussions) with other builders there have been no takers. I think that speaks more to the state of the market than anything else."

That's why I believe no builder has said yes. Yet if a builder—any builder—thought as poorly as you do about Mr. Fountain's business acumen (and yes, it's worth questioning), why would he bother discussing any sort of joint venture with him? And yes, there have been discussions.

As for the statement that RF Powerboats is "old news," I must respectfully disagree. When you report on a story, you are obligated to follow it to its conclusion. This story began publicly unfolding late last year, which isn't all that long ago. In this case, my most recent reporting mixed with commentary, which was labeled as such.

Last, to address vSteve's point: "If you control the initial perception, you can pretty much control what gets publicized after that."

Not exactly. In fact, not even in close. If that were the case, do you really think Mr. Fountain would want a story called, "Commentary: What if Reggie Fails?"

As I said earlier, if you report on a story you—as a reporter or commentator—are obligated to follow it to its conclusion. So you can be dead sure that if RF Powerboats comes to nothing I will report it.

What if Reggie catches a cold?

Your talking going public for 5 million add a zero ?Private money may go for it what else are you going to do buy savings bonds:evilb:All kidding aside he can attract buyers and he has a few deposits on un built boats!(Hear say)I hope it's a go stir the market for go fasts up a little:coolcowboy:

That was funny! I am still laughing at this title...

As far as Matt following thru with the story, I agree and you always do a great job.

I kind of meant old news for us / me. I am so tired of who did what at Fountain and Reggie left and now Liberty is in trouble on and on. I think Liberty did great to save the brand. RF is lucky his company didn't go under completely. My personal opinion he should have stayed on as a consultant during his last few years and been appreciative someone stepped up to save Fountain.

Anyway, It makes you wonder about the economy in certain areas with Ferrari and Lamborghini having record years and new models sold out for 2 years. MTI, Skater, OL, and Nortech still selling big dollar fast boats.
DCB has how many 1350 boats?

I think Matt said it best at Desert Storm. How many sets of new Merc 1350's? That's huge and a record crowd....

I think things a starting to loosen up and the factories who have stuck it out, stood by their customers, and came up with new technology, and unique products will be rewarded soon with sales...hopefully.

But, Any new manufacture of a cat or v-hull to show up just to prove a point and saturate and very small customer base does nothing for anyone.

It happens in all businesses. We have a distributor selling at little to no margins. He will steal some sales for a year or two and then go under again. But in the meantime screw up the market for everyone else.

Matt, Thank you for the great stories on DS and all of the others. Any new news on the new Sterling 1700's or OL's new cats? Skaters 388SLW should be ready soon and maybe will give Predator a run for his money. Any other Nortech 52's being built? I love the Poker Run scene, the boats, and all the stories better than racing now.
It's real people with their own money and a whole lot of pride. Very little politics......

If Powerboat had 1/3 of the magazine devoted to Poker Runs and Poker Run machines I would love it.....

Thanks again.

"What if Reggie catches a cold" LOL - ha ha

Ferrari&lambos selling sold out for 2 years waiting list??How is housing market sold out with a waiting list yea on Gilligans Island?:bsflag:Only records I see is foreclosers ??If Reggie catches a cold he'll be on this site posting with you guys:evilb: