Cat & Mice

Mike Fiore- true unfiltered passion.

Lying in bed all night last night thinking of Mike, Shonda, the 3 kids, Dustin, and all the friends and family that Mike touched. I couldn’t sleep and I just was just thinking of great moments with Mike. One story kept coming back into my mind. This story for me represents who Mike was, this was a moment for me of admiration of Mike. I thought I would write this down (I am no writer so cut me some slack) and post it while its fresh and to give others a glimpse of who he was. And maybe get others that knew him to share their great stories of Mike. I have many more great stories of Mike but will leave those for later.

We had just finished dinner after the boat showed closed in Miami last year. We had a great Italian dinner at some place Mike loved. (Mike was passionate about many things Family, boats, friends, and great Pasta LOL) After dinner Mike wanted to go back to the show floor and look at the boats while the place was empty.

Mike, Dustin, and I started walking thru checking out all the cool hardware. I thought to myself wow this is the best way to see the boats at the show. The way Mike acted like he owned the place made everyone just let us climb into and around everything, It was awesome.

We were walking down the isle and Mike disappeared. Dustin was on his phone talking to Art about the day. Telling Art how everyone loved their new SV43 OL, they were both so proud of what Mike had built for them, and codlin wait for it to be done ;-) . I started looking around for Mike (which is hard because he can hide in so many places LOL) I finally find him under some boat looking at the bottom. He popped up and started commenting about the bottom of the boat, I didn’t catch what he said since he walked right by me to the next thing that caught his eye. He peeks up over the gunnel of another boat yells hey check this out, I start walking over and before I got there he had vanished again under another boat. He popped up and made some comment and took of to the next boat. Clearly the pasta gave him more energy than it did me.

I went over to Dustin and said “ Man Mike has found his calling, he is doing exactly what he was meant to do” Dustin laughed and said yes, for sure!! I just stood there and watched Mike in admiration for his true unfiltered passion. He was like a kid and the rest of the world did not matter. He wanted to know as much as possible about performance boats. Which I found amazing since he was at the top of his game with the worlds best V-bottom boats ever made. So many experts stop being experts and live on their past, not Mike. He competed against himself every day. Always pushing the envelope and never satisfied, a True Pioneer.

Its rare when you see this in a person and I believe it’s the main reason he was so damn good at what he did. He was opinionated like no other person I knew and he deserved to be. Mike lived fast at everything he did. He was confident and full of spark.

I will miss Mike and his personality. There will not be another man like Mike Fiore.

RIP Our friend. Grateful I had the honor of sharing some great times with you.

Mike Pyle

Bullhead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7yWTabupXs This is the video from the Kilo Run.....It is has a lot of footage of Mike..........I watched this with tears in eyes today but am so thankful that we got this done this year

animalhouse

Mike that was a touching and accurate depiction of my friend Mike.

He built us a center console back in 1996. My only requirements were it had to look cool and it had to run 90 mph. He delivered on both elements. 1 month later, I said, can we go faster? He said sure, laid out a price and 24 hours later we were repowered with Merc 600 SC's. I was so proud that we had taken the boat offshore 90 Miles and were catching Tuna like crazy, I called him from a satellite phone and explained the situation. His response was priceless......"Oh God, You went that far out in a Bravo Boat! Your Crazy" But I could tell that although he had zero interest in catching fish, he was proud that his work of art was breaking the normal stereotypes and was actually winning a very popular Block Island Fishing Tournament.

That was the first of many boats for us (The last center console, because we got bit by the speed bug and had to go faster) and the start of a true friendship. When I closed my business down, he put me to work and gave me memories and experiences that can never be taken away.

We are all left with a hole in our heart that can never be replaced, but we have many memories. RIP my friend, we are here for you and your family.

Sunny32SSR

Now this is how you remember the person, impact, contribution, and legacy of someone who touched the life's of so many!!

PARADOX

I actually like this idea remembering Mike and telling some interesting stories.
I like to share mine, if I may. I miss him and being an old fart I still have tears writing this. RIP buddy.
Many knew him, even more knew of him, and we will remember his legacy. One thing for sure he was a down to earth, crazy SOB, and I mean this with all respect.
I met Mike in 1996. Back in those days Poker Runs were a bit different. The Pier 33/Thunder Marine run was the one to be in. (Benton Harbor to Grand haven) Participants were literally waiting in line to get a spot. Once the run was filled it was it. Previous attendees had the "seat" reserved, so I had a spot, due to doing the runs before. My tub being in Florida, I call the staff and offered my spot. I got a call soon after that Mr. Mike Fiore of OL would like to "buy it" and do the run, he has a "special boat" want to bring. I had no knowledge of OL's or Mike at the time, but I said the spot is not for sale, it's given and all have fun and be safe. A day or so later Mike calls me, being friendly, down to earth, thanking me for the spot and "strongly requesting" for me to attend. I flew up, met up and saw my first OL. A yellow/red with checker flag design, OL with Caterpillar inline Marine 6's and Arnesons drives. I was pretty savvy with hull designs, clueless about motors but we started talking "shop". What a pleasant times. Right from the get go, I saw that this young man will push the envelopes and will come up with new and original concepts on performance boats. I was soooo right. We did the run, never got above 70. lol, he was laughing about new props and still trying to dial it in, but he was proud that he can go mid 60's all day with half the cost and fuel VS anyone else. We had a great time and friends ever since. I sort of wonder what happened to that Cat powered boat. During the evening festivities, he was constantly asking when can he build me one. Sadly I declined since OL's and other top brands were out of my league at the time. I bumped into him often during his endeavors, races, boat shows, had cocktails with his family but the most striking that he always found the time to talk to ANYONE and always casual, down to earth manner. Every time I "sneaked" in the OL trailer, or stopped by after a show bumping him from the back, his first comment was after cracking up.. Pete!! are you ready??? Ready for your OL?... My normal comment was; Are they free yet? and after some more silly and goof ball comments we talked "shop". I will miss him. RIP buddy and all my best to ALL your family and the OL team.

Peter
(I promised Paul to get some pictures from the old Michigan run, and I am working on transferring the VHF tape to CD, Once done, I will post some pics of the OL, me with "young" Mike".)

phragle

iTrader: (3)

I have been around offshore in one way or another for over a decade, from races to poker runs, winter pool parties to island raft ups. I have made friends with people from the top of the sport to the bottom. Though I never met him the one thing that stands out to me.. He has made and sold a lot of boats, done a lot of poker runs and racing and I have NEVER heard one bad story about him, not one single gripe or complaint period. In this sport where we all have such high standards and expectations and where the slightest shortcomming spreads like wildfire, that speaks volumes about ones character and the way they do business, Why do we always lose the good ones???

SHARKEY-IMAGES

What a great story when Matt Trulio first met Mike Fiore

http://features.boats.com/boat-conte...till-a-thrill/

bulletbob

This is the way to honor his memory. Keep the stories coming please. From one who never had the pleasure to meet him, my condolences to family and friends.

chattviper

This was a few years ago when Mike took me for a ride in Joel Begin 52 OL. A great memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0StAwyvb6Y

We had lunch that day and discussed boats, life and other subjects. He was super nice and very humble.

Gonna miss you Mike!! Prayers to his entire family.

Cat & Mice

these are great.

Another interesting thing about Mike for me was how he boated. On the west coast its about the journey to a destination. We stop along the way chill out and maybe have a beer, listen to music, etc... Mike comes from the east coast style where its all about getting from point A to point B as fast as possible. Thats why OL didn't have swim ladders or cup holders until just recently LOL. In fact I made the mistake of jumping into the lake off an OL in Havasu that did not have a ladder. It was a not a pretty scene getting my fat a$$ back in the boat. Mike said we don't jump in the water where I come from. :-)

Every time I was in the boat with Mike it was a exciting time for sure. He got in hammered down and got to the destination faster than anyone else. Well unless there was an OL customer around, then he would wait for them. He treated all OL customers like Family. Mike had the Italian ideology of strong family. I remember at Desert Storm a few years back. We were in the new SV29, Mike had to throttle down during the Poker run to wait for Tim in the big OL Cat. Classic

Mike