Am I crazy?? Thinking of buying a Fountain go fast...

My best friend had a 74 Rogers circle racing hull with a 455 olds over the transom headers The boat was wicked fast. But any kind of rough water or anything you get beat to hell I prefer the cruising slower life than this 90 mile an hour boat and that was a Berkeley pump balance blueprinted very fast boat
 
I had a 42 Lightning back in the 90’s With 525’s The boat was a blast and burned fuel like it had gaping holes in the fuel tanks. I did a lot of poker runs up around New England. I ended up totaling the boat by hitting submerged rocks. We had to dive to recover one of the engines. I’ve also been eyeballing something in the 30ish range. I’m partial to Fountain, but outboard cats are fun too. They go faster on less power and less fuel.
 
As usual budget is key, which again makes no sense in boating. So many 27 Fever in the 20-35k range, all with modified engines. Some mildly and some really over the top. Ideally I'd like a 29 Fever, cockpit is larger than the 27 and it also holds considerably more gas. The 27 only has a 60 gallon tank. Sounds like if you are not beating these things that 2-2.25 mpg is possible.

I'll copy and post a few that caught my eye. Most are on facebook marketplace....
 
The comment about the cracked fuel tank got my attention. That could be very expensive to deal with.
 
A guy in our marina has a Fountain 38 Express. It pretty fast and has some cruiser amenities too. Probably not what you’re looking for, but it’s a pretty hot craft. Love the sound when he fires up the 502 s
 
I like Donzy but never been in one
 
sounds like a fun project !

Progress & photos requested

BEST !

RWS
 
sbw1 said:
The comment about the cracked fuel tank got my attention. That could be very expensive to deal with.
Click to expand...
It was a very expensive proposition. Like, talking with Fountain about “taking the boat back there for the work” kind of expensive. I should add there was a flash fire in the bilge that also deployed the fire suppression as well. But no significant damage from that.
 
Hey John,

What ever happened with that adventure you were considering with an older OCEAN ?

BEST !

RWS
 
Maybe A Dancer said:
Hey John,

What ever happened with that adventure you were considering with an older OCEAN ?

BEST !

RWS
Click to expand...

That's always on my mind. My 50DA is for sale but not with broker, not sure if that would make a difference or not. It's really hard to find a single flaw with our current boat but I love the thrill of the chase, all the shopping, research and ultimately moving onto the next. I'm very confident that nothing will compare to the current setup but part of me wonders if I can have just as much fun for 1/3 of the cost.

Back to the Fountain idea. I know it's extremely uncommon for a go fast to have its bottom painted but I happened to find one. Good for buying probably bad for resale.

 
SeaNile said:
That's always on my mind. My 50DA is for sale but not with broker, not sure if that would make a difference or not. It's really hard to find a single flaw with our current boat but I love the thrill of the chase, all the shopping, research and ultimately moving onto the next. I'm very confident that nothing will compare to the current setup but part of me wonders if I can have just as much fun for 1/3 of the cost.

Back to the Fountain idea. I know it's extremely uncommon for a go fast to have its bottom painted but I happened to find one. Good for buying probably bad for resale.

Click to expand...
The bottom paint will not be as bad as the carburetor / pro-charger package. That will pretty much stop any chance of resale. In mid Missouri at Lake of the Ozarks there are thousands of these exact boats you are looking for. No salt, always stored on lifts under a dock roof. Looking is always fun....
 
What the hell happened
 
From experience -
99.9 percent of time on the water in these types of boats is at the dock, sandbar, or idling around. The bow is up in the air and always a pain to see where the boat is heading when idling around; you will be worn out and ready to get it on the trailer after a day playing. In these types of boats greater than 30 feet in length more than one person is needed to get to a dock; they handle that bad at idle speeds and the captain simply can't chew gum and walk at the same time. With all that said to own and run these boats is visceral to say the least and you gotta do it at least once. I've owned and been in boats designed to safely run fast - Sea Ray 630SSS to DCB M28's.
I'll say this also - speed is a perception rarely achieved; A boat that does 90 in a bar is really 50 on the water. Earlier in this thread someone iterated a Rodgers jetboat with over-the transom-headers doing 90.... Eh - no, maybe 50. The below pic of my jetboat which was well over 800 HP with a blueprinted competition pump did 100 on a good day at 8000 RPM.

My personal boats for river running were fast - both excess of 100 MPG on GPS but they demanded respect and a sober mind.
I'd say you have to do it once - find a good boat and make the plunge.
My Sleekcraft 18 and Gambler 206SS
DSC00367.JPG
DSC00368.JPG
IMG_3868.jpg
 
Maybe 80 I was exaggerating but at 16 feet with 500 horse power it was scary. My 14 foot sea doo jet with twin 85 horse rotax would do 55 so 80 anit that far away. But if the water ain't glass it's no fun
 
By the way ttmott. That's an awesome Boat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,228
Messages
1,428,962
Members
61,120
Latest member
jingenio
Back
Top