Who needs coffee? There’s no need for a morning coffee wake-up when you tag along with Fountain Powerboats founder Reggie Fountain. It’s no secret that Fountain boats are known for their speed. When I tested the new 38 Open with triple 275 hp Mercury Verado outboards early one spring morning, we reached an exhilarating 73.5 mph. Unlike other boats that can run fast yet feel unstable at speed, making me want to reach for the throttles, the 38 Open blistered along like it was riding on rails.

There are several things you will take away with you after riding with Reggie. He is a master when it comes to setting up a boat for the best possible ride, maximum efficiency and top attainable speed. He is also fanatical about trim and how it affects the boat and of course, how fast the boat can go when trimmed properly. As he says it, “The secret to speed on the water is how you trim the boat.”

The other secret is how the boatbuilder gives the operator the tools to trim the boat and a hull that can be trimmed. Fountain has taken its wealth of knowledge from racing and integrated the steering, trim and engine control components into the fish boats for optimal handling and control.

Items like stainless steering arms, stainless hydraulic hose connectors, offshore hi-performance Kiekhaeffer K-Plane trim tabs, trim indicators, and Gaffrig gauges and controls are expertly rigged. When all these items are used in concert with the highly refined hull form it makes for a performance oriented and very efficient boat.

Reggie and his team at Fountain have been on an aggressive new product release schedule and really hit the mark with the 38 hull, which is also offered in the Tournament Edition featuring a forward cabin. The 38 is a big fishing platform with storage galore and plenty of room to work multiple fish or one really big fish.

The flush, level deck of the 38 offers plenty of room to move from bow to stern and between the console when working a fish. A recessed handrail runs around the foredeck and down each side to the console, and a large anchor locker is accessed through a hatch on top of the foredeck. Multiple storage bins with maximum capacity are in-deck forward of the console, along the centerline, and outboard of the stringers as well.

Moving aft into the cockpit, the 38 features large fore and aft fish boxes with macerators and overboard discharge, a large access hatch to the lazarette which houses fuel tank transfer valves, two bilge pumps and livewell pump access. There are under-gunwale storage racks along each side as well as water outlets, four gunwale-mount rod holders, flush hawse pipe deck hardware and dive ladder storage, making maximum use of the space. A 50-gallon livewell is integrated into the transom along the centerline with a transom door offering access to the transom platform.

Many boat builders struggle with the ergonomics of the console layout, but not Fountain. The 38 has a fully molded, easy to clean head compartment with a Vacu-flush head and molded sink inside the console. There is also a large access hatch that is easily opened to the back side of the dash. A 25-quart cooler is under the forward seat. Fountain arranges the helm area, footrest, and the operational control systems and electronics as well as anyone in the business.

All of the controls, switches and electronics are within arms reach of the operator, and the trim tab controls are aligned just in front of the throttles so the operator never has to take his hands off the throttles to change trim. This is the safest, most efficient placement of trim controls and really comes in handy when running offshore in a sea where altering trim continually improves the ride.

Rigged with triple Mercury 275 hp four-stroke Verado outboards, the 38 Open is bred to perform. As exhilarating as the top-end speed was, for me the most impressive thing about the 38 is its fuel efficiency and range at speed. To prove how efficient the hull is, we tracked time to plane at 3 seconds with trim tabs, 3.5 seconds without trim tabs! This indicates very little drag and what some like to call a very “slippery” running surface.

At 4000 rpm we made 44 mph, making 1.5 miles-per-gallon. At a very comfortable lope of 4700 rpm, with the engines barely breathing hard, we trotted along at 55 mph making 1.2 miles-per-gallon. At 5600 rpm we still got 1 mpg while zipping along at 60 mph. Wide-open throttle 6300 rpm reached 73.5 mph and we got 0.8 mpg.
The boat carries 287 gallons of fuel, and let’s say 280 are actually usable, so that means that at the easy 55 mph speed making 1.2 mpg, the boat has a range of over 330 miles. Slow it down to 44 or 45 mph and you are looking a range of 420 miles. That’s two canyon trips, or the run from Key West to Cancun with fuel left over, or three days of fishing the Gulf in a kingfish tournament.

Here’s the other unique thing—with any one of the engines out of commission, the boat still can run 57 mph! Imagine having an engine failure (and they do happen) 50 miles offshore and you can still get home in nearly the same time it took you to get out. That is impressive and few other boats this size are even remotely capable of getting on plane in that situation.

The 38 Open is truly an impressive boat and offers a ride and efficiency that make it unique and a stand-out in an ever growing crowd of multiple engine, large center console boats.

Fountain 38 CC

Open Bow

Base Price:

$187,420 w/triple

Mercury 275 Verdos

LOA......................37'11"

Beam......................10'6"

Draft..........................24"

Fuel....................287 gal.

Water....................30 gal.

Weight............10,600 lbs