Speedboat icon Reggie Fountain is returning the Washington, North Carolina, facility he founded in a consulting capacity, working with Iconic Marine Group, which acquired the rights to the Fountain, Baja and Donzi brands in 2016, and which has been ramping up to bring those boats back into production at the former Fountain Powerboats facility.
Iconic Marine COO Joe Curran told Soundings Trade Only that 77-year-old Reggie Fountain, who founded Fountain Powerboats in 1972, will be working internally on some projects that will be announced going forward.
“It’s going to bring back some of the Fountain enthusiasts; he’s definitely going to be a statesman of the brand,” Curran was quoted in Soundings Trade Only. “Make no bones about it, Reggie’s there to work with ownership and management of the company and be part of the team. I’ve gotten to know him quite a bit in the last six months, and he’s a good man with a lot left in the tank.”
Curran told us that Iconic is primarily focused on the Fountain and Donzi brands right now, specifically outboard-powered models 30 feet and longer. A new Fountain 39 center console with a cabin is in the works with a target debut at the 2017 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in November. The Fountain Bluewater 38 CC and Bluewater 34 CC are currently in production. Tooling production has just begun for a new Donzi model Curran calls a hybrid sport boat that will be about 38 feet long with a beam of 9 feet and a “cockpit more than 20 feet long.” This boat, slated to debut at the 2018 Miami International Boat Show, will be powered by twin or triple outboards.
“Reggie, of course, wonders why we are wasting our time on the Donzi brand,” joked Curran. “I can tell you that Reggie will be test-driving every boat that comes out of the plant. We really value his input.”
