35 Years ago today
 

The powerboat community lost a legend. Crack one open for Don today gang and watch some old reels and enjoy his legacy!

It wouldn’t have been the same without him. He certainly got our passion started and gave it the legs to be where it is today. Center consoles and outboards. I mean deep v and big blocks. It’s sad to see it really fall like it has. These milenials are ruining are cool cars and boats. Being Don back to give them the what for.

Really? Millennials are buying the CCs and outboard cats like hot cakes? Can’t even make out that last sentence

Pretty sure millennials are living with mom and dad still, spending their money on starbucks and video games.

Is this really going to turn into boomer vs millennial vs gen x? In the words of r lee ermy.... You're all equally worthless.

I'd rather see some fun old stories on Don and the awesome stuff he brought us.

I can’t imagine a more colorful, larger than life personality, to promote the go fast life style.

Hard to even comprehend what our sport/hobby would look like w/o his involvement.

I laughed when I was recently going through some old boat magazines and saw a reply from Don in regards to moving offshore to inshore (I had no idea that argument was that old!) and he laughed at them and said it basically made it a sport for sissies!!

Dont ask him the question if you’re afraid of the answer 😂
Classic Don A.

What were some good books to read about the time period? I know there is one out there but it's like $400 on eBay or something.

Would boats have gotten faster and bigger if he hadn't have been around? Probably, because people can't leave things alone so bigger and faster would have evolved. What he did give us was faster and bigger in a very stylish way, so that everyone had to have what he was selling to be the next coolest person on the block. Very creative mind with niche for business that set a path forward for the things we love about the boating world. I would have loved to see what direction he would've taken his business in his later years if he would've been alive.

It was a joke. My opinion. I like many center consoles but it’s a shame that many good companies went under and others don’t even make a performance boat in the classic style. Don’t think it would have been Don’s vision but what the hell do I know. Sorry i offended you not my intention. A shame we can’t communicate with each other without the vitriol. I don’t have good eyesight shoot me. A blind opinionated unrepentive deep vee performance boater. Though I have graduated to steps. 😂

He certainly was a driving force in the advancement and evolution of the performance boating as we know it. I've read everything I could find about his life. What I found most interesting was his connections to NJ organized crime, the drug smugglers of the day, George Bush Sr and most notably Meyer Lansky. Many theories exist on who shot him and why. What is undistributed was his willingness to push his professional, personal and racing life to the absolute edge. In many cases with little regard for personal preservation. The drive that made him a champion required taking risks not many people would be willing to take. It;s definitely sad he is gone but I think his life is a true example of what can happen if you run WOT for extended periods of time.

Definitely well said and I honestly couldn't imagine him going out as on old crippler at 95 years old rotting away in a hospital bed. He died the way he lived. Violent, larger than life and making headlines.

I’ll have to look.
I have them all.

Some more fiction than fact.
Really have to consider who wrote it and take it all w/a grain of salt.

Several years ago I got the idea to possibly get the street re-named for Don in front of his childhood house where he was raised on Ave. S in Brooklyn "Don Aronow way" was the street sign I envisioned.
I got InTouch with some of Don's old friends with the hope of reaching his son Michael...........after a few calls and third party connections Michael took my phone call........I explained my intentions of being'
from the same neighborhood (Sheepshead Bay) and how the community board of Kings county Brooklyn previously has honored past sons of Sheepshead Bay such as, (footballs Vince Lombardi, Horse
trainer Sunny Fitzsimons) Michael thought it was a great idea and would help in any way, but warned me about past experiences with the Board as he himself is a Lawyer and had negative run-ins with them.
I filled the necessary paper work and prepared a presentation. Michael sent me numerous articles of his Championship racing victories, his business accomplishments with printed accolades from people
(Kings, sheiks, politicians) all over the world.
The date came, I presented my 45 minute explanation as to why we (Brooklyn) should have a street renamed for SHB's son Don Aronow while mentioning the fact that other famous sons have been given
that approval........the board consisted of 6 members and by a vote 5 to 1 they denied the request.....I asked for a reason as to why? there quote; "Don Aronow who was a millionaire never came back to share
some of his wealth back into the community" ......What!!!.......To this day Biggy Smalls and other Hip hop celebs have streets named after them what did they give back?.....or Vince Lombardi?...I called Michael
and told him of their decision. He thanked me and sent me an autographed copy of his book The King of Thunderboat Row" and explained, He knew from past experiences with Kings County with their corruption
and held out that maybe this time it might be different but, what it always takes is palm greased $$$.....politics, same as it always is!!

The only good politician is well.... I probably can't say on this forum where I think they belong. Not surprised. But very cool that Michael.took your call and sent the book to boot. I'm surprised they don't rename 188th street down in Miami honestly.

I also love the New York City story. Maybe more fiction than fact with Don but no one could get permits to move this stuff thru the city. So he bought some army vehicles and uniforms and said no one stops the army. He breezed right thru. Those where the days

I have a Tale of Aronow in that 87 Era I told on here about 10 years ago but took it down after a couple days. If I get on a keyboard I'll try to rewrite and post it.

Heard them all huh?

Then you already know about the apartment building near Atlanta that he built and decided to give to a Black university that was nearby so they could use it as a dorm.

In return they gave him a lifetime membership in the NAACP

Or the story of a Cuban immigrant, that was a fisherman in Cuba, but when he came here he got a job building boats for Mr Aronow.

He wanted as much overtime as he could get, as he was saving his money to buy a fishing boat, that would get him back in business for himself.

When Don heard about it he bought the boat for the guy. He made it very clear to the guy, that he was not a bank and this was not a loan, here is your boat, now get to work and make us all proud.

Here is a link to a story I wrote about Don for Extreme Boats Magazine many years ago. Enjoy http://www.historicraceboats.com/art...me-2007-08.pdf

Wow.

Thank you sir for sharing.

I can’t believe I haven’t seen this before.

What a lucky guy you are and thanks for educating me to a side of him that I didn’t know was there.

Love the shot of the boat 20’ in the air w/the tabs up!

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Courtesy of Erik Nordskog,

Wow!

What a great video.

Would love to see it in a theater.

Not Offshore Racing, Ocean Racing!

Thank you Erik and Lars.

Charlie McCarthy, at H.O.R.B.A., might still have DVD copies of the film for sale.

https://www.historicraceboats.com/shoponline.htm

Yes, I did have the original film transferred to a DVD and was giving them away to anyone who bought my book Blue Water Warriors.

I tried to help buyers realize the cost I had to charge for the book was very high, due to not having any publishers that believed the offshore high performance market is big enough to support a book. I used Shutterfly and sold the book for $125.00 but also gave two DVD's that I was selling for $49.00 each with it.

Interesting story behind the film. Merrick Lewis was a very wealthy racer, who hired a film crew to follow him around the world and capture his adventures in the various races in all the countries.

The film crew realized just a few races into the project, that they should be paying more attention to this Don Aronow guy, who always seemed to either be winning the races or finishing in the top group all the time.

So they changed the focus and added some storyline and music and that is Run Sunward.

Charlie , always love your posts coz they're factual , historically correct and written without malice. That was a great 2007 article BTW .
And Lars always blows me away with his collection of amazing pics and vids too .

Madbuoyz....Thank you for your kind words.

As a member of the older group of former racers, we all feel an obligation to get the story out there.

At one forum that we were at, someone said...."When we are gone forever, the library will be closed."

Here are a couple more of the articles that I wrote for Extreme Boats Magazine back inn the day. Enjoy!

https://www.bananaboatco.com/Extreme-2008-06.pdf California Race

and

http://www.bananaboatco.com/articles...me-2006-12.pdf Bimini Race

Little back story on this boat.

This boat was the very first racing boat that Don ever built from one of his own companies.

He named it the Cigarette as you can see on the transom.

Same boat after he sold it to George Peroni who raced it as # 14. Photo at the start of a Miami to Nassau race.

There were two options for buyers of that Formula 233. Long deck for racing or short deck for fishing.

He raced three boats all named The Cigarette. This Formula 233 that was single engine. A magnum 27 that was twin engine. A Cary 32 foot that was twin engine.
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This is the original boat from 1963. I was fortunate to be able to race it in 2008, from Miami to Bimini and back, 100 miles of open ocean. With me is the present owner and the former owner's son. We all took turns driving and throttling as it was set up for one person to do everything like they did in the 50's and 60's.

The 2008 Miami - Bimini - Miami run in Formula 233 The Cigarette described by Charlie above.

Charlie what ever happened to the winning Bushmills # 60 boat?

How long ago did you release that book Charlie?

If it was a ways back, I may not have it and will need one if you have any left.

Ill ck my library tomorrow and get back w/you.

I didn’t realize you were that involved in that era.
I thought you were next generation.

I also caught in the Run Sunward film that it listed John Crouse as I think writer for the script/story.

The boat without engines or drives was sold to a guy in Thailand who is in the process of restoring it.

Covid 19 hit that coun
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try pretty bad and he has not done much with it for the past year, but hopefully he can get back to it soon.

Here is what it looks like.
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Thank you for posting this.

Boy I remember that rainstorm over the last 5 miles, as we closed on the beach in Florida

Fantastic video and stories, really appreciate you sharing! I can't imagine what that ride to Bimini must have been like. My legs were getting tired just watching that video. I thought HOBRA traced the boat down to Australia and it is no longer in existence? That may be well after that 2008 time period though and I may be easily mistake as well. It's funny to see how well it handles the water even compared to the larger boats of 2008 designs..

How about the boat w/the co-driver riding in the cage bolted to the boats transom!
Had seen pixs before but not in yrs.

Or the turbine boat which I’d never hear of.
Pretty amazing technology for that long ago.

Watching today’s races, it’s tough to imagine having to navigate, or actually getting lost, missing a turn etc.

I remember hearing in the early Bimini races the racers figured out the secret to crossing the Gulf Stream was to head above/bellow your target and allow the Gulf Stream to guide you to it.
Saved fuel and time over fighting the current.

The boat we traced to Australia was the 32 foot Cary that Don used in 1969 to win his World Championship.

That boat was the third boat to use the name...... The Cigarette

The boat in the video was the first boat he named ........The Cigarette

RE the Bimini info you have here, go back and read the li
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nk on post #25 that has a link to a story about the Bimini race. The navigation info is in that story.

Big Broad Jumper was a 31 foot Maritime owned and driven by Bill Wishnick. Photo is from a race in California and another team of mother and daughter Rene and Gale Jacoby traveled all the way form Florida to race and their engine broke. So Bill Wishnick invited the two of them to ride with him and his crew that day. See how loaded the cockpit is.

https://themaconcountynews.com/macon...werboat-racer/



Siesta Key local.

Broad jumper is running inboards with V-drives ?

Great piece!

I think a lot of them did in that era.

Before IO’s we’re dialed in and could handle the power.