“My mission for the past five years has been to get production up and running on the boat brands in North Carolina and to rebuild our international dealer network. We have successfully accomplished that,” Walker said. “Baja Marine has a healthy order book for its consumer and government/commercial boat lines and it has financially solvent, highly engaged dealer partners in place in the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe and Asia.”

“Unlike some of my predecessors, this business has never been all about me,” he said. “It is about the products and the people. I have total confidence that the company is in excellent hands with Baja Marine’s executive, production, engineering, sales and service staff and I will continue to advise the board.”



What a douche way to throw in a comment about Reggie. Also notice how he is beaming about Baja yet very little said about Donzi/Fountain. He was mainly concerned about the international dealer network yet not a word about domestic dealerships? Seems odd not to mention the biggest powerboat market in the world that is essentially in your backyard! Oh, that's right nobody could easily verify "international dealers or even sales" like they could in the domestic market. :cool:

I just don't understand why he would throw this unnecessary, irrelevant line in his official press release...

"Unlike some of my predecessors, this business has never been all about me,” he said. “It is about the products and the people....."

If you're going to throw that jab at Reggie in there, then lets make sure we cover ALL the exact differences between You & Reggie... I've drafted an updated and corrected version of how the press release should read.

"Unlike some of my predecessors, this business has never been all about me.
Also unlike my predecessors tenure...
- We never produced and sold 400+ boats a year
- I never defended or set 1 V-bottom speed record
- I didn't dominate offshore racing in any capacity
- We never employed 450+ Employees
- We were no longer Beaufort County's largest employer
- We've never had to expand the factory, not once.
- We weren't publicly traded on the NYSE
- I never rang the bell to open the markets at the American Stock Exchange
- I was never the feature of any article or news story because of our overwhelming success & my captivating personality
- We never won any awards for Innovation, Design, or Product Excellence
- We didn't put on the biggest and best boat show displays, at the worlds premier shows.
- We never produced a single new color catalog
- When we updated our website, we used all of Reggie's professional photos, because many models we never actually built under my tenure.
- We employed so few people there was no need for the parking lot across the street, that used to be routinely full.
- I was never on the cover of Robb Report, Powerboat, Hot Boat, or any other magazine.
- No one ever referred to me as "The King"
- We no longer have our own corporate Plane
- We no longer have our own corporate Helicopter
- We never won a P1 World Championship
- We never built a single boat that ran 177+MPH, or anywhere close to it, despite 10+yrs newer tech. & higher HP motors
- President Bush 41 doesn't call me when he wants a new boat.
So in closing, there were a lot of differences between me and my predecessor..."


I mean come on...

Why throw a jab at Reggie, when at the end of the day, the bottom line is... he SOLD Boats! at a level, and to an extent not seen by ANY manufacturer before, during, or after his tenure. He achieved a level of celebrity unmatched by any other boat builder or racer ever, and developed a cult like following of Fountain faithful worldwide. He largely OWNED the performance boat market, as Matt stated earlier, for the better part of 2 decades. There was an air about him, a presence unmatched by anyone, and his results prove it. There will likely never be anyone in the industry that matches his level of success in racing, boat design, boat building, self-promotion, corporate promotion, or notoriety. He truly is THE KING.

I agree 100% with the comments above, it was a stupid line in his press release and he probably regrets it.

I wouldn't be too worried about it though, the bottom line, Reggie made a huge success with the boat that carries his name and this other guy, Walker something? will be forgotten very quickly. I know the market downturn would have made the top job almost impossible but the success of Reggie will not be outshined by an individual who's success at the helm was let's say, average by comparison.

Reggie has left his mark and nothing can erase that.

RR

I also agree that was uncalled for. R. Fountain made a big mark in the powerboat world. I remember when the first executioner came out. I got to go for a ride in one.

I am fairly certain this was a blanket statement referring to the past LEADERS not LEADER his word was plural. He was referring to the majority of leaders of these companies. Let's not forget Doug Smith and a couple others. At the end of the day hindsight is 20/20 however some of the decisions made were somewhat self centered.

anyone know what total individual yearly production has been for Baja, Fountain or Donzi for the last couple years? Just curious really, I know its not likely ever gonna be like it was in its heyday . . . .

Couple of 42 Fountains (but I may be thinking of boats they actually built like 5 years ago) and a couple 38 fish boats, a couple boat show Bajas, the LOTO water patrol Donzi center consoles (4-6 I think) and then they had some sale on the Donzi classic line and they claimed to have sold 5-6 boats (sold doesn't always translate to built and delivered though). If they built and delivered 20 boats in the last 2 years I would be stunned.

Let's put it this way......If they sold 100 Fountains (post Reggie times) then they would have had a big press release with a banner showing 100 Fountains built!

They ruined everything that was good about the Baja brand.

Yeah, the primer gray and green boat with a tower and an outboard was like some sort of bastard stepchild.