Fast And Furious: The Fountain 38 CC Quad can get you where you' re going in a hurry.

As a reader of this magazine, you probably best know Fountain as one of the top production builders of high-performance offshore V-bottoms. That is, after all, your domain. But there' s a segment of the fishing world, specifically the kingfish tournament circuit, where Fountain also is well known for its high-performance offerings.

In fact, Fountain reportedly sells more fishing boats than go-fast boats.

Grab a ride in the 38 CC Quad, at least the one we tested with four Mercury Racing OptiMax 250XS two-stroke direct-injected outboards on its transom, and you' ll quickly discover why. True to the Fountain breed, the stepped 38-footer is efficient and, quite simply, fast.

The Fountain 38 CC Quad was the fastest model in this roundup. With its quad 250-horsepower outboards turning 5,700 rpm, the model topped out at 78.5 mph. According to its owner and a Fountain representative, the boat has run more than 80 mph. We don' t doubt it, as it faced humid conditions and one of the outboards was not running at full power.

Time to plane was 8.7 seconds. Acceleration was reasonable, as the boat reached 62 mph in 20 seconds from a standing start, and ran from 40 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds. Quad' s potential when it came to handling. Though the center-console offering rides on the same double-step hull design as its 38 Lightning sibling, it has a much larger 10-foot, 6-inch beam (as opposed to the 38 Lightning' s 8-foot, 6-inch beam). And yet the boat retained all the nimble and predictable handling qualities for which the proven hull has become known.

We loved the way the beamy boat carved through slalom and circle turns, and it tracked crisply at speed. Hydraulic steering from Latham Marine gave the boat an appropriately sensitive and positive touch at the helm.

Tournament kingfish anglers often run up to 100 miles offshore in nasty seas, and with time being of the essence, they tend to run hard. We found nothing that could challenge the Fountain in the 1- to 2-footers that prevailed on our test day, but we know the boat could handle more. A lot more. For balancing the ride in rough seas, the boat was equipped with Mercury Racing 380S K-Planes.

Hardware included the requisite aluminum T-top with "rocket launcher" rod holders, and additional rod holders were mounted behind the sculpted rear bench. In addition to the rear bench, seating included a two-position bolster/bench with power dropout cushions and a small bench forward of the center-console.

Inside the console was a head locker, though our test boat - again a tournament fisherman' s ride - had no head unit. It did, however, have a functional cabin all the way forward with two lounges that converted to a berth. More than likely, that space will see stowage duty.

Not that the 38-footer lacked for lockers-there were several dry lockers and fish boxes in the sole. The boat also was equipped with power washers to keep the nonskid sole and wide nonskid gunwale tops clean. Behind the rear bench was a live well.

Definitely set up for open-water action, the boat was equipped with a combination of Northstar and Furuno GPS/chartplotting electronics, including a substantial Northstar 6000i monitor. Mercury SmartCraft gauges and Livorsi Marine throttles and shifters were provided for the outboards.

The 38 CC Quad might not look like the Fountain boats you often find in these pages, but it is very much a member of the family.

Test Results

Click to enlarge.