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Originally posted by ThirdBird :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Thirdbird 3. The performance boat industry would be much like it is today......had Don not been involved....... the evolution of the Mercruiser products would have pushed the envelope regardless. I think the evolution of the hulls/materials pushed Mercruiser as much as Mercruiser pushed the hulls. T2x |
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Originally posted by Thirdbird IMHO y'all bought into an early infomercial...and years of echos. Man T2, you need to give this thing a rest. Your negative commentaries are starting to get nasty. Whats' your big problem with this guy anyway. He's freakin' dead man, leave him alone for Christ's sake!! I believe he is the subject of this thread...and I didn't start it...... I'm giving you a first hand perspective...from a guy who saw this whole era happen...and knows the principals. I'm asking that you simply assess my points in this discussion...... and consider the amount of coverage Aronow got...in the context of reality...not romantic notions...... I was a big Hopalong Cassidy fan....once upon a time..... Now I realise that he never really saved the girl, nor caught the bad guys..... He was, however, a very good actor...with a great "hook". ( a good guy wearing black). I'm also a big Rolling Stones fan...... They, on the other hand..... actually made the music...... and still do.... Aronow was somewhere in between. T2x |
I swear if it wasn't for T2x the truth would never be told. T2x, you're 90% of the reason I read this board. Some people don't like to hear the truth. Personally I do and I'm glad your willing to say it. Thank you.
Brian |
Originally posted by Too Old Don stands alone as one of ........... T2x |
Rich, you are on the $ IMHO. Thanks for mentioning Dick. He was one of the true greats.
Say hi to Darren |
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Originally posted by Too Old Don Aronow was truely larger than life. |
Originally posted by Too Old Whether Don designed his hulls or not is irrelevant, at least to me. How many designers have toiled away in obscurity? Don obviously understood boats, business and people. One measure of a great businessman is his ability to recognize his own short comings. Another is his ability to surround himself with the best people possible to overcome those deficiencies. I believe Don Aronow did that. Don stands alone as the most recognizable and successful character involved in offshore racing and boat building. He his still spoken of with reverence after all these years. The companies Don Aronow started are still the most recognizable names in all of offshore. I've considered myself a fan of the man and his accomplishments since my first Donzi in 1969. Don Aronow was truely larger than life. |
Originally posted by Too Old Ah Rich, I hate it when you're right.:D T2x |
Now I have to bring back Great Moments in Vee Bottom History............ to really tic off Craig 2testy.
T2x |
"GREAT MOMENTS IN V BOTTOM HISTORY (Post #1)
1959 Ray Hunt designs Bertram 31 "moppie" First V step hull (Step refers to longitudinal strakes) Boat immediately wins Miami Nassau race by a huge margin and establishes deep vees as the rough water planing design of choice, combining strength and performance. 1962 Don Aronow creates Formula 233 (copies Bertram with sexier lines) Hailed as a "break through". This makes offshore racing available to more people. 1964 Don Aronow creates Donzi (copies Formula with sexier lines)Hailed as a "break through". 1965 Paul Allison creates the "pad bottom" , first change in Ray Hunt's design that actually meant anything. 1966 Don Aronow creates Magnum (copies Donzi with sexier.etc, Throws a Schultz tunnel hull in for some obscure reason) 1969 Don Aronow creates Cigarette (copies Magnum without the Schultz Hydrokat) 1970 Don Aronow hires John Crouse as PR guy and is immediately Canonized as the second coming of Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein with a little Paul Bunyan thrown in for good measure. 1976 George Linder creates Challenger 21 arguably the greatest Vee bottom ever. 1981 Don Aronow creates The Squadron ( just a copy of Cigarette) 1981 Reggie Fountain aftermarkets Excaliburs, calls them Executioners and becomes the inventor of the Vee bottom....takes out pages of advertizing, and people actually believe him. 1981 Shadow puts a step on the revamped Challenger 21 and creates the world's first production stepped V bottom...admitting that the idea came from 1930's era runabouts and Sea plane floats.... Design is immediately discarded because there is no speed increase and the boat turns dangerously. 1982 Don Aronow creates the Apache 41 (Never gets a good night's sleep again). 1986 Don Aronow creates the "Blue Thunder" and a few years later is found dead of a gun shot wound. Early rumors that irate Blue Thunder owners killed him are squashed when Ben Kramer is implicated(irate Company owner). 1987. Hustler buys old Signature molds and creates new old Signatures. 1988 Fountain Powerboats creates the world's first ugly hook nosed bow and calls it an original "design change"..... and people believe him. 1993 Reggie Fountain invents the "stepped Vee"...again.......claims it's much faster .... and people believe him. 19931/2 Every other Vee bottom manufacturer invents the stepped Vee bottom ...again... all of them are no faster than older models, but turn worse. 1996 Now that steps are considered State-of -the-Art, manufacturers turn to styling and graphics to jack up prices. Except Reggie who just charges a lot anyway...and people believe him. 1997 Mike Allweiss invents Factory class racing (or maybe it was Gene Whipp), believing that the public wants to watch 37 year old technology with sea plane bottom modifications flailing around in semi hysterical bedlam. This is considered "The Next Great Motorsport". Jersey Speed Skiff racers immediately protest, citing that they have had an exclusive on bizarre racing with antique designs for years. 1998 Manufacturers rise to the challenge and reduce weights in "competition" models to the point where they are useless in both rough and calm water. 1998 Pleasure boaters adopt all of this crap and put it to use in Poker Runs..... 2001. 38' Whiz bang barrel rolls in Atlantic City injuring passenger. Boat has Vee bottom with Steps. Other people report similar mishaps all over the U. S. (World?). 2001 Ray Hunt spins in his grave. " T2x T2x, It seems pretty obvious how you feel about Don, but if you read your own first post to this thread it seems that Don is mentioned more than anyone else. ??? Granted you don't portray him in a positive way, regardless even you seem to agree he is/was of major historical importance. ;) |
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