• 11 in 2011- #4 Reggie Fountain, FPB and RFB

    by Serious Offshore



    One word. Reggie.
    No single name in this industry so rapidly conjures up such a wide variety of mental images and recollections at its mere mention. And you’ll never hear someone ask “which Reggie”.



    The saga of Reggie Fountain and his endeavors, past, present and future, is our number four story for 2011. While Reggie cuts a wide swath each and every year, 2011 will go down as one of his most dramatic yet.

    No story about Reggie Fountain is complete without at least a small glance to the past. A champion powerboat racer, Reggie founded Fountain Powerboats over three decades ago and swiftly gained a worldwide reputation for his sleek vessels. He has been credited for much of the rise in the popularity of high performance offshore style boats, in some respects picking up where Don Aronow left off as the most visible image and brand.

    Fountain built his reputation for making bold moves on and off the water. Of late, he’s also been credited with a portion of the recent decline of an industry he was a key player in building. Many helped the industry grow. Lately it’s been argued that some of those moves caused the industry to grow artificially into an unsustainable position. We expect this debate will continue for quite some time.

    The rough economy of recent years took a toll on the previously rapid-growing Fountain, ultimately forcing Reggie to ultimately seek bankruptcy protection. FPB emerged under a reorganization plan with Liberty Associates taking ownership in 2010. Fountain was retained as president and CEO. In November 2010, Fountain Powerboats reported it would expand and create 411 additional jobs by bringing two additional acquisitions, Donzi and Pro-Line, to the Chocowinity plant. The company was given a $150,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund, and some relief from current and future taxes. At that time, the plant reportedly had 75 employees.



    Unfortunately the alliance between founder Fountain and financier Liberty was short lived, with Reggie resigning in December 2010. “There were differences from the beginning in engineering, manufacturing, the sales, the marketing and the financing of the operation too,” Fountain told WITN news in December 2010. “I am resigning over a difference of opinion and philosophy with the new owners.”

    While the new owners of Fountain pressed forward with their resurrection, the market for their products simply wasn’t cooperating. In October of this past year the doors at Fountain were closed. According to the ensuing litigation, the plant in Chocowinity that had become the home of Fountain, Donzi and Pro-Line boats had been abandoned. The complaint reported that the employees were sent home October 7 with instructions not to return until further notice, and that no one was managing operations. A complaint filed by lender First Capital in the North Carolina Business Court asked the court to enforce its rights as a secured lender to the tune of $61.04 million. First Capital also asked the judge to appoint a receiver to preserve the value of its collateral. The case is being handled by Judge James Gale in Greensboro. Gale is a Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases. Named in the complaint are a myriad of companies that have been involved in the boat building company based in Beaufort County. Some of the “borrower” defendants, as they are called, include American Marine Holdings, Donzi Marine, AMH Government Services, Pro-Line boats, Fountain Powerboats and others. Judge Gale ruled that First Capital was entitled to, as was stated in his decision, “relief on an emergency basis.” The court went on to say in its ruling that “the appointment of an interim receiver is in the public interest, particularly to the extent that it may allow for the resumption of business operations and the recall of employees.” The court named Ronald L. Glass and the firm of GlassRatner Advisory and Capital Group as a temporary receiver for all the borrower defendants.

    As of now American Marine Holdings has appointed as their general manager the long-time industry player Craig Barrie Barrie’s originally came to this conglomeration with the acquisition of Donzi. At this point Barrie oversees the future of Baja, Donzi, Fountain and Pro-Line.
    Only the seriously naive would ever think that any story involving Reggie would end here. Reggie opened up RF Powerboats with the tag line of Real Fast Powerboats. One can assume to avoid prior associations and the possibility of name infringement. According to Reggie, RF will provide service and brokerage to his thousands of previous customers and new customers alike. RF also announced the intention of constructing a 43-foot sport boat, a 39-foot center console, and a 32-foot center console under the RF name. At this point, RF has pressed forward with the first planned facet of the new endeavor. But as of right now the new construction is on hold, reportedly to wait out the soft market for newly constructed performance boats. Reggie has been quoted a saying that RF has the capability in place to build 50 boats a year in their facility and has plans to construct 24 the first year. His first boats are supposed to be ready in late May or early June according to his previous comments.
    While Reggie has his ardent fans and his collection of detractors, we don’t believe anyone doesn’t want to see Reggie pull this off. If not for himself, for the good of the sport. No one could ever deny that Reggie has time after time raised the bar in this industry. That sort of competition always makes the rest better. We would love to see the next Cat Killer come rolling out of the doors at RF. It would certainly be a welcome bit of excitement, as it was the last time Mr. Fountain hung that moniker on a boat. The question then arises- What about the cat that Reggie announced his intentions to build?



    Love him or hate him, you’d be wrong not to respect Reggie Fountain. And you’d be a damn fool to underestimate him.

    As of this writing, Reggie is involved in litigation with his former company for money he contends is owed him and the trophies and photographs from his racing career still in their possession . In their counterclaim, Fountain Powerboats has alleged Reggie Fountain retained company property and trade secrets when he left the company.