It doesn't matter if it is a Fountain or a cat hull , there isn't to many people out there that have done as much as this man. First off i don't own one ! But give the man credit for what he has done and brought to the sport. I live on Lake St Clair in Michigan and see all the brands , but any way" i look at it" the Fountain is just plain sexy . Great job Mr Fountain your owed a little more respect. James Rumph age 44
I like the 47s, great boats that, if rumors are true, handle better than the smaller Fountains. Reggie loves to drive his 47s. You can watch the Swedish 47 here they have at least five videos showing 'Speedracerz' with three 1350s powering up through the poker run fleet. I take my cap off to the driver, he had to do some sharp maneuvering to get by some of the fleet. Not sure about speed in the smooth water but I'm guessing 120-125(REALLY close pass @8:45). Also watch @10:10 he comes up behind the boat, turns to port then makes a sharp turn to starboard and flies over a 5' wake at 90-100mph. That driver really knows how to handle that 47!! This one shows Speedracerz coming up through the poker run traffic in some snotty water. Watch @1:25, close pass to port; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hNsiMe1MKBA.html
Thanks for your reply,I agree that Cats do have an advantage over mono's,they have the ability to create lift. However the monohull record is only 23mph short of that 2 dollar mark. More will be revealed! Thank you!
I like your blog,Reggie is an innovator,industrialist and a racer! Lets not forget his Italian rival,Mr.Fabio Buzzi! 20 yrs ago Buzzi and Fountain together set a record for the world fastest Diesel powered Cat,They went over 163mph on the Pamlaco river. That record still holds today. As for Fountain Powerboats today,its suffering economically!Nobody wants to buy those boats w/o Reggie in control. Only way that company will recover is with Mr.Fountain back in charge!
I think team Mercury in the day trained him to be a good tunnel boat driver also. He has done a beautiful job with his designs and V bottoms are much safer than ANY cat.!!
@@craigbielsky115 The story from him personally is he was fascinated with the jet airplane look. The vector aft wing area on the Viper, Vector, Viking, and Vilture dictate this. Im sure he got a FEW ideas from Allison, but not all. Howard was a great designer !!
@@thomasstark5381 i met howard in wisconsin at hydrostream powertour we built a hydrostream verado with a 15" 260 merc and went 93 mph in 1000' howard said i was nuts as he signed the dash with permanent marker... we also won 2 800' drag championships with that boat...it is retired and running around some small lake in michigan with a 150 promax 82mph
Its true the cats have broke the 200mph barrier,first done with turbines now with piston(gas)powered,monohulls can and will break that 2 dollar mark,its only a matter of time,as a matter of fact monohulls in the world of Dragboat racing have broke 200mph(nitro-methane fueled) just not in offshore. Look back in Powerboat history and for a long time Powerboats were stuck at 85mph,then in the late 70's came the catamarans that broke the 100mark,Then in the 80's things change,records were broken!
I like your reply Everette,this record setting event took place 8years ago and still holds today! I watched this video over a 100 times and it never grows old. Someday this Vee bottom speed record may be broken,quite possible with turbines and maybe 200mph!
I would think it you took this V and twin turboed both engines for around 4,000hp you could match the 244mph a Cat has gotten. And safer too. Not sure why boats haven't gone to turbo's yet. They make more HP and less MPG
1. No. QATAR was fitted with twin 4000+hp turbine engines. That comes out to about 8500hp. A V bottom cannot make 244mph with less than at least 10,000hp. 2. No 3. Race engines have twin and quad turbos 4. Turbine engines do make more power than piston engines. 5. Don't know about burning less fuel...maybe.
Yes Cigarette in all the hoopla about Fountain setting the record, people forgot there were two other boat mfgs there that day; Outerlimits and Cigarette. Outerlimits never got off the trailer, claiming mechanical issues(I think they knew their boat was not as fast as the Fountain) but the Cigarette did run. The throttleman shut it down at 165 because the boat became unstable. At the press briefing he said the boat needed a flat pad on the bottom(like the Fountain had) to stabilize the hull.
@@craigbielsky115 180.41 is the correct number iirc. idk why Fountain can't build an all-carbon 42, put 1650s in it like Outerlimits had and go for the record. Maybe even put 1750s in it and try for 200.
Funny how the cats run the same water as the Vs in the offshore races and they are consistently 15-20mph faster. I don't know who the cat drivers are in your area of the Gulf but it's obvious they need some cohones. You have to get a cat up on top of the chop to run fast and if the driver is not willing to do that he might as well put the boat on the trailer and go home.
. . . And records were broken for both cats and deep V's.With big money comes big technological break thru's. Today they use computer simulations and auto cad in designing boats,I used to hear that its impossible for a racing monohull to break over a hundred but thats over 30yrs ago,Todays performance pleasure monohull speedboats can now break 100mph on unleaded gas and full warantee,technology and time go hand and hand.
Reggie STILL doesn't have the V bottom speed record, Outerlimits does; 180.41 iirc. There is a triple 1350 47 in Sweden that runs in the 125-130 range. Obviously a pleasureboat not a raceboat.
@Jaden I heard it through the "grapevine" that a 50' OL has run 150 with twin 1350s. If true that boat must be VERY light. That might be a 40 or a 43 full carbon boat though. I don't know for sure. I do know that the record holder is a 43 running 1650s.
@Jaden Steve is the top guy I haven't met yet. He used to do the Cowes/T/Cowes race and the Round Britain race then three years ago I heard he would race the Trinidad-Tobago. He won it his first try didm't he? Is Mr. Solo still racing? Anyway it's great to see the Caribbean racing get more press and participation. Must be some great mechanics keeping those old boats afloat eh lol.
Yes the pleasureboat Mercedes Benz MTI cat went 193 with the same HP engines this V bottom had and both sets were built by Sterling Engines. Not only that, the cat was 44' and the V real waterline length was only 39'. So the bigger cat ran faster than the smaller V.
Well that boat ran 177 on the second pass with 1500s. I think with a lightweight Epoxy/Kevlar hull and 3000HP turbines Fountain could get close or even break 200. The question is who would want to try to drive a V that fast? I would not, even if I was an experienced racer like John Tomlinson, probably the best throttleman in the world now.
