Fountain 38 SC Review and Fountain 38 Buyer's Guide

Which Fountain 38 are you looking at?

Anyone browsing a fountain boat for sale listing labeled simply Fountain 38 should check which boat it is, because Fountain Powerboats of Washington, North Carolina, has used the 38-foot length for very different designs. Older listings are usually 38 Lightning or 38 Fever sterndrive sportboats from the 1990s and 2000s. Newer ones are the 38 SC sport console, introduced in 2020, its restyled 38 SCX sibling, and the related 38 CC and 38 TE fishing versions.

This page focuses on the 38 SC, the current performance boat and the one with the best independent data, and covers the older 38 Lightning in the used-market section. Both share Fountain's DNA: Reggie Fountain founded the company in 1979 and built its name on fast, rough-water V-bottoms.

How the 38 SC brought Fountain back to performance

After the 2008 recession and bankruptcy, Fountain's future was uncertain. In 2016 the Ross and Wortley families formed Custom Marine Group and bought Baja Marine, Fountain, Donzi and Pro-Line, consolidating all four brands at the former Fountain plant in Washington, North Carolina, and later that year renamed the company Iconic Marine Group. Fountain then shifted toward high-performance center consoles.

The 38 SC, short for Sport Console, was the result. Big Thunder Marine at the Lake of the Ozarks delivered the first one, named Hellion, to Bob and Angie Rickard in late summer 2020 with triple Verado 400s. Fountain's Victor Hudson explained the strategy to Boating: there is still a market for go-fast enthusiasts who do not have a million-plus dollars to spend, and the 38 SC was built to deliver performance and value for them.

94.7 mph on quad 400Rs, Boating's test

Boating's John Tiger tested a 2020 38 SC on the Pamlico River with quad Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboards, 100 gallons of fuel and 500 pounds of crew. His radar gun, GPS and the boat's VesselView agreed on 94.7 mph, repeated over several runs, with engines that had barely been broken in. Tiger thought 100 mph was within reach and suggested quad 450Rs to guarantee it.

The fuel numbers are just as useful. Wide open, the four engines burned 169 gph. Best cruise was a brisk 54 mph at 40 gph, or 1.4 miles per gallon, which with 418 gallons aboard means more than 500 miles of range with a reserve. Zero to 30 mph took 8.1 seconds, and 40 to 60 mph took 6.2 seconds.

Owner reports help calibrate expectations for smaller packages: Rickard's triple Verado 400 boat had seen 79.4 mph, which he called fast enough for family boating.

• Top speed 94.7 mph (82.3 knots), quad Mercury Racing 400R, 15 x 29-inch MaxFive props
• Best cruise 54 mph (46.9 knots) at 40 gph, 1.4 mpg
• Wide open throttle burn 169 gph
• 0 to 30 mph in 8.1 seconds; 40 to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds

A double-stepped hull built to take punishment

Fountain describes the bottom as a Positive Lift hull with two steps, a pad keel and a notched transom, with 20.75 degrees of deadrise. Boating singled out the beak-like clipper bow, the hand-laid double-stepped hull and the hot-rod outboard pad and notch-setback transom as performance pedigree. Construction uses a hand-laid, bonded grid hull with composite-cored hull sides, deck and liner.

Fountain lists the 38 SC at 38 feet 4 inches with a 10-foot 6-inch beam, a dry weight of about 15,600 pounds, 418 gallons of fuel and a maximum draft of 31 inches with the drives down. Handling, in Boating's words, is tight and precise, and under 70 mph the boat feels almost sedate. With the 400R and 450R packages, Fountain blueprinted the hull, matched the props and provided a setup sea trial with chief operating officer and offshore racer Jeff Harris.

Three rows of seats, a T-top and a small console cabin

The layout is classic performance center console. Up front, an anchor chute and windlass, facing loungers and a double lounge ahead of the console. Amidships, a powder-coated aluminum T-top with a cored fiberglass lid, an optional electric sunshade and a double-and-a-half helm bolster. Behind, a second row of bolsters and a stern bench, which Boating called triple-row concert seating for giving thrill rides to a crowd.

The console includes a head with a ceramic toilet and freshwater sink, but Boating found it tight, essentially for emergencies. The helm on current boats carries dual Garmin GPSMAP displays, Fusion audio, Mercury engine monitoring and push-button switches, with joystick steering and autopilot available on some engine packages.

Buyers who want more space below should look at the 38 SCX, introduced for 2023 at the Fort Lauderdale show. It brought a contoured T-top extending over the second row, a three-piece vented glass windshield, and an all-new oversized cabin with a couch that converts into a full-size sleeper, a shower, solid-surface counters and a pantograph-hinged door.

Triple or quad, choosing the right engine package

Fountain's current list runs from triple Mercury Verado 300s through 400 and 425 hp Verados to triple or quad Mercury Racing 400R and 500R packages with Sportmaster or R Drive gearcases, jack plates and blueprinted bottoms. The quad 500R package is the current maximum.

Boating's advice was blunt: do not buy an underpowered version of this boat. We agree that the stepped hull wants horsepower, but for most lake owners triple 400s are a sensible middle ground, with lower fuel and maintenance costs and still close to 80 mph. Buy quads only if speed is the reason you are buying a Fountain.

Used Fountain 38s, from Lightning sportboats to SCX consoles

The 38 SC market is young. A 2023 38 SCX was listed at $799,000 and a 2024 SCX with triple Mercury Racing 400Rs and 75 hours at $674,900, both by performance dealers. New pricing has climbed since Boating's 2020 base price of $616,200.

Older Fountain 38s are a completely different proposition. A 2008 38 Lightning on twin MerCruiser 496 Mag HOs with 396 hours was listed at $129,950 with a trailer, and a freshwater 2003 Lightning repowered with supercharged 502s was offered at $179,000. These sterndrive sportboats offer a full cabin and classic Fountain style for a fraction of the price, but expect older engines, drives and systems.