Hi guys,

I've been looking at entering the fountain world for several months and have drooled over several hundred boats on several sites and would like to get your input on my best options. I'm looking for a balance of speed comfort and getting out of the hole quickly. I'd like my budget to stay under $100,000. This will be my first high performance boat. I'm transitioning from fast on land to fast on water.
thanks in advance for your input!

PF

If you have that kind of budget, I wouldn’t get a 32’. For myself, I love mine because I went from a 27 to it without breaking the bank. Absolutely no room in the bilge. Anything I do to the motors, I’m upside down. Other than that, I don’t have any other complaints. I trailer it every where and it’s not a pain. Cockpit is a lot smaller than the 35 and 38.

At 100k, you'll find a Fountain is a very fast boat, plenty of maintenance and a big learning curve before you really feel comfortable. On land, 10 mph makes quite a difference, on water, 10 mph makes a HUGE difference.

Fountains are great boats and with your budget, you're probably beyond a 32 so I'd say the look at 35/38's. General rule of thumb, more waterline length will handle chop better. Where will you use the boat? There's plenty of guys on here who know the waters very well.

As an entry into performance boats, you're jumping in pretty deep but that's fine, be prepared to learn slowly and use your head not your heart. Standard Mercury 'black' motors are cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain. The 496 HO is the top model and there's plenty of 35 executioners around with 496's. The 35 Lightning is a twin step hull, bit faster and most of them have 'blue' Mercury Hi performance engines which are more powerful, and more sensitive to service/maintenance. You'll find a pretty small number of Lightning models with 496 engines. Not sure if the 38 has ever been built with 496's?

If you can get a ride on one or two before buying that would be great. Also search everything here about driving a boat with a stepped hull. All boats can be dangerous if not driven properly. There's a few pages in the Fountain owner's manual about how the step design works and talks of the shift in the center of balance with different drive trim settings. If you can't find it, I'll have a search for you, it's a good explanation endorsed by Reggie Fountain.

Happy shopping!

RR

Thanks for the info guys. It will be fresh water. Plenty of lakes in Texas to have fun on. I've heard the executioner runs with its nose up more than the lightning. I also plan on trailering quite a bit, which is a consideration. I have a 4wd z71, which can probably handle a 35, not sure about a 38 though... I believe I've read the twin step is a faster hull, but not as forgiving... I'm having a lot of fun with the reseaech!

My 95 35 lightning which was later renamed after executioner after the twin steps came out weighs about 11,500 on a Myco aluminum trailer. The trailer per Myco is 2000 pounds so if you get a steel trailer it will be heavier. That puts boat around 9500. Just wanted to give you some actual weight data.

Also as much as as I like the twin step 35s for some reason fountain went with a single lift hatch on those boats. As I do my own work I'm partial to split hatches. Makes it much easier to get in and work on things. 38/42 kept the split hatches.

The single step 35 stayed the same hull from 95 until they stopped. I got this info from R3. The fever is the smaller boats and late 38s. The fever is a wider cockpit with no walkaround. The lightnings had the walkaround. In 2000 I think the 38 went lightning but still had the fever small steps. Then in 01/02 they went to the bigger step.

If your staying with your truck, I agree with ICU Lookin a 35 will be maxing it out and a 38 will be that much more un-safe. For $100k you should be able to find a newer 05-06 very nice side by side 35 or a 1st year 03 semi staggered 38 that may need some maintenance or a trailer, etc. There are always exceptions and someone that needs to sell may come up, right place and right time. If this is a boat your going to keep for awhile then get the most boat you can with the best engines you can the 1st time and upgrade your truck for the long haul. If you want to try the boat thing out then get a boat that can be towed easily with what you have, stock boats are best with black engines for "new" owners.

Thanks for the info VoodooRob! I saw a 2001 38 lightning on the classifieds here. Listed for $79.900 with fresh notors and a lot of upgrades. Thoughts?

I pulled my 29 with a 1/2 ton truck once after buying it. About a two hour drive on the interstate and had a couple scary moments trying to slow it down. I now pull it with a 3/4 ton diesel truck and the difference in power, braking and fuel mileage is way better. If you are gonna tow a lot you'll probably want to do the same.

I hear ya. Thanks for the info...

Before I bought our 35', we went and bought a Duramax dually. Very glad we made that move. I would not want to be towing a 35' Fountain with a half ton. Sure it will pull it, but will it stop it when needed and unexpected?