AS A LOYAL FOUNTAIN OWNER AND HAVING MET REGGIE PERSONALLY I MUST SAY HE IS THE MAN "THE TRUE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN" SAYING COMES FROM.

  SUPER GREAT GUY AND LIKE HIM OR FOUNTAIN BOATS OR NOT, POWER BOATING WOULD NOT BE WHAT IT IS TODAY WITHOUT HIS INPUT AND PASSION FOR THE SPORT.  VERY SMART GUY AND WE'LL SEE HIM MUCH MORE IN THE FUTURE I'M SURE!

I read of the closure of Fountain as yet another link in the marine chain breaks.

I do not know Reggie personally, though I have been around him since the 1970s when he convinced Mr. Bill Farmer, owner of Excalibur boats in Sarasota, Florida to assist him with a start in the marine business. Bill and I were close friends and I supplied engines and other marine components to Excalibur through our distribution company, a division of Marlow Marine Sales. Bill convinced me to front some of the costs for Reggie while we were on a trip across the Gulf of Mexico from Sarasota in a then little known place called Isla Mujeres. A bit of rum, warm sun, good fishing and a good friend made the decision easy.

I recall Bill Farmer telling me around 1974 or 1975 of this gung ho guy in the insurance business in North Carolina who wanted to be a boat builder-sales person and had suggested that his Excalibur boats would run much better if he installed a plug in the tool to make a flat pad on centerline for it to run on. I agreed with Reggie's idea completely and from that point forward furnished engines, drives and other components (occasionally fiberglass products and trim when cash was tight at Excalibur) for Bill to build Reggie a few boats. The additional business helped our company grow and Marlow Marine to continue its development into a world class company representing many manufacturers, eventually developing its own range of offshore yachts.

Eventually Fountain  began to build his own boats and illness caused Bill Farmer to sell Excalibur to Wellcraft and retire from the marine industry.

Though I do not recall meeting Reggie, I am certainly aware of his subsequent success in the marine industry and it is with regret that Fountain Company will be disposed of, with many jobs and talent lost and the resulting chain reaction from those losses.

Though our own company, Marlow Yachts  Ltd. remains strong and in possession of a fine order book for the immediate future, the entire marine industry is at peril in this economic debacle born in the Greenspan-Bush era. No one is immune unless fundamentals of basic economics and fiscal responsibility return to America's government.

To Reggie, and all those unsung who labored to help your company survive. I send my best personal regards and a wish for the Sky Boss to smile on you. As the old Southern saw goes; "the sun don't shine on the same dawg's butt every day." Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for your contribution to our industry.

 David 

Reggie Ole Friend,

I still remember the day that you called me at Glastron. "I'm the best damm boat racer in the world, and I want to race your Glastron/Molinari race boats.  I told Bob Hammond, I've got some nut on the phone who's in the insurance business, and tells me he's the best boat racer in the world.....what do you want me to tell him, and Bob said, "tell him to come here to Austin and let's see what he can do".  Damm if you didn't almost win Havasu that year, and of course the REST IS HISTORY .

Years later I still remember that call when I was at Chris Craft, several years after you had started Fountain.  "I know I build the best, and the fastest V Bottoms in the business, but how do I prove it to my customers". My response was, "Reggie, if you want to prove it, you've got to go race offshore and prove it".  "How much is that going to cost me", you asked, and as I recall I said somewhere around a million or so for the first year.  Well, after the first year, and having won everything in site, and proved you truly are the fastest offshore boats in the world, you called me back.  "Ernie, you were a little off on your cost estimate", and the REST IS HISTORY.

Reggie,  I'm truly sorry you did what I know you had to do..............but as someone once said, "When you've proved everything there is to prove, and accomplished everything there is to accomplish", maybe it's time to pack it in.

$3 in assets. Now THAT is creative accounting!

I wouldn't necessarily believe the numbers they post initially.  Reggie is no dummy.  He's likely going to dishcharge a bunch of debt and keep on going.

I think that building too many boats on spec is what has gotten so many boat builders in trouble.  Easy credit allowed boat builders to borrow on every boat they built, whether or not they had a buyer for it.  When things slowed down, the cash ran out quick.

What a Shame !  Reggie built great race boats, and there is less than                $ 50,000 in assets !!!