The Hellion Has Landed: Owners Thrilled With New Fountain 38 Sport Console

Although Bob and Angie Rickard of St. Louis have been enjoying Hellion, their new Fountain Powerboats 38 Sport Console, off and on for the past few weeks, the boat was officially finished and delivered by the team at Big Thunder Marine in Lake Ozark, Mo., at the end of last week. The Rickards, who also own a Sea Ray 48 Sundancer and a pontoon boat that they keep at their home on Lake of the Ozarks, couldn’t be happier with the new 38-foot center console, which is powered by triple Mercury Marine Verado 400 engines.

Bob and Angie Rickard are ecstatic about Hellion, their new Fountain Powerboats 38 Sport Console powered by three Mercury Marine Verado 400 engines. Photos by Clint Schaffnit/Big Thunder Marine/Clint Cole Racing Photos

“The boat is so rock solid and so responsive,” said Bob Rickard, who added that he’s been getting used to running the 38-footer since taking delivery of it at the end of August without its custom marine EVA flooring and a couple of other finishing touches. “It’s really fun to drive, especially because it just goes where you point it and mows down anything in its way. On Saturday, we were coming home from Redhead Yacht Club and it took us 12 minutes—in our big boat that trip takes us about an hour. The boat is a beast; so are its 400-hp engines.

“The guys at Big Thunder call it the ‘Captain America’ boat,” he continued and laughed. “I love how it looks and how everything came out. The interior is gorgeous and the floor matches perfectly. Ian (Sulzberger of Lake Grip) did an awesome job. What he did, I’ve never seen on a boat. He matched the size and shape of the upholstery to the letter. It’s pretty cool. The laser etching on some of the flooring is crazy, too. He did a great job with the Hellion logo.”

A retired U.S. Air Force pilot who flew both F-16 and F-22 fighter jets and now owns Rickard Consulting Group, Rickard said the boat, which is named Hellion as a nod to the emblem on the Air Force 302nd Fighter Squadron patch, took a little longer to finish than originally anticipated because of COVID-19 pandemic setbacks but was well worth the wait.

Check out the slideshow above for more images of the 38-foot Fountain.

“We tried our best to be patient, but we wanted to get in some boating this season so Jeremy (Anderson) and Ed (Champion) of Big Thunder were nice enough to give us the boat even though it wasn’t completely finished,” Rickard said. “We didn’t mind them taking the boat back to get everything just right, but we wanted to use it a few times before summer ended. Now that it’s all finished, we are thrilled with it. The boat is such a head-turner.”

Rickard said the fastest he’s had the 38 Sport Console so far is 79.4 mph, which he called fast enough, especially since he plans to do much of his boating with friends and family on board. He added that he’s excited to use the boat for what’s left of the boating season at the lake and have it for many years to come.

The Hellion Has Landed: Owners Thrilled With New Fountain 38 Sport Console

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