31 fountain with 01 merc optis

[anthony bib]

Im thinking about buying a 2000 fountain, billfish edition with twin 225 01 optis. The owner said he had problems with the 2000 optis and the factory replaced them with 01 optis. Does any one know if the proplems the optimax were solved by 2001. Also any opinions on the fountain.

Thanks

[Greg Manning]

I understand 99 to be the bad year with some trickle into 2000 and bulletproof since. But that's just from reading here....somebody with Optis will set us straight>

[boogie man]

I can't help with the Opti issue, other than tell you I have just purchased a new Fountain with Optis, but not enough experience yet to offer advice.
I have been fishing on a 31' Fountain for about five years, until I just moved up.
The boat was a great ride and never had any boat problems at all. The biggest complaint I had was sometimes after a long run, the livewell would air lock. Other than that, no issues. The built in cooler in front of the console on the 31' was one of the best I have seen on any boat, ice would last for days!
We fished this boat in tournaments and it was buddies, my old boat was not as fast, so we used his. He runs wide open all the time, no matter if the seas are flat or 4-5. The boat will slice right through the chop and never look back, just hold onto your teeth when you come of a 4 footer with no backside. The upside, he has run it like this for the past five years we have been fishing on it. We don't have to tighten screws after a hard day, never had to make repairs to the boat, only the engines. I guess a good testimate for the boat is my buddy has blown four powerheads he runs it so hard, but the boat itslef is still impecable.
If I had to find a complaint it would be how narrow the beam is, but thats it.
Good Luck!

[Tireless]

This is what I wrote to a similar question recently

The Contender would be an excellent pick, so would the Fountain.* I will just comment on the Fountain since I haven't ridden on a Contender.

My observations:[*]solid hull at 4,900 pounds, dry weight[*]this boat was made to take a pounding - they can be broken but you will have to exhibit extreme abuse to do so[*]it is*a narrow boat, 8'4" - this is a valid complaint*of the boat.* Fishing with 3 guys is*very comfortable.[*]I have the Open and it has a very large forward fish box, insulated and it has a*huge hatch for easy access[*]outstanding 50 gallon, circular, transom mounted live well, no splashing at all at any speed[*]very efficient at high speed, this is not a slow cruising type of boat...it doesn't even like doing 30 mph,*at all.*[*]I normally cruise at 4800 rpm seeing 48 mph while burning around 1.5 mpg*-*(4000 rpm, 40mph, 24 gph....5000 rpm, 50mph, 35 gph) with a full tournament load[*]In 2-3 ft seas - 45 to 48 mph cruise.....3-5 ft seas - 30 to 45 mph cruise*[*]In head seas this boat is dry,*the bow slices into the tops of waves and pushes the spray well out to the side.* Here is the bad news......in*+4ft quartering seas this boat will soak the cockpit.* Those at the helm stay dry the entire time in these conditions, the crew will take some water in these conditions (unless they are smart and move to the correct side of the boat).*[*]With the open model I have a very large center console that can be used to store alot of equipment[*]This boat rides like a duck in nasty seas on the troll, it exhibits IMHO alot less snap roll then*the Contenders (I troll around them quite a bit)[*]You really need to manage the trim tabs on this boat to maximize the ride[/list]
Lastly, these boats really need to be driven not ridden.* What I mean is that these boats are high speed machines.*You have to like spending alot of time running and gunning the throttles, tabs and trim (I don't work these too much).**I have always viewed Contenders as a perfect tradeoff in the speed of the Fountains with the graceful, bow high strength of the Regulators.........Fountains for speed and efficiency, Contenders for speed and ride, Regulators for the ride.

I would compare*my 31*to the old TR6 sportscar.....lots of power, you really feel the road but you want to, and you are*sitting very close to*your buddies.

[hoot1293]

I have a 31' Fountain with mercury optimaxes and I agree with what Tireless stated. I have had two 1999 optimaxes , two 2001 optimaxes and two 2003 optimaxes and have had only one injector problem with one of the 1999 Optimaxes. Don't think you will go wrong with the Fountain.