DelawareRiverRunner

Did Donzi ever make a 24 footer?? If so, did it have a 7' beam? The 24's and 27's seem to be the topic of great conversation here. I am trying to find out for sure when the very first 24'/7' beam offshore boat came out and who built it. I think it had to be the man, Mr. Aronow...

Marlin275

Yes Donzi made the
Doral 24,
Spitfire 24,
El Pescador 24 open fishing boat,
and Spirit 24
1974-77
All share the same Harry Schell hull with different deck config.
LOA 24'2"
Beam 8'
Draft to keel 20"
To bottom of outdrive 33"
Weight, single 3950 lbs

From the Donzi.net website search
To quote Olered, "This is one of the driest 24' hulls ever made". Bill's got a beautiful fishing boat version of the Doral- the El Pesc. Here's some info from one of Bill's posts:
------Roy Farmer, General manager of DONZI for years,loved fishing down in the Keys. In the early 70s there really wasnt a hull conducive to conversion to a center console that DONZI was building. Roy felt that the St.Tropez was too small for what he wanted and anyone could see the trend to longer boats. Im sure that over a few lunches with the boss, John Chisholm, a plan was hatched to do a whole line of 24s, with the El Pescador as the starting point. I was around for some of those early lunches when Roy would tell us he wanted a bigger center console boat for his excursions.
------Im not sure when Harry Schell, the designer, got drawn into the plans but he designed the the 4-boat package that became the 24ft. line.
--------1.El Pescador
--------2.Spitfire
--------3.Doral
--------4.Spirit
------It really was an inspired plan. Harry designed an absolutely killer hull, but the deck design was truly revolutionary. All 24s were built with the El Pescador inner hull. There was an indented lip all the way around the circumference of the inner deck. That indented lip accepted the other three design deck caps.
------Had production really got cranked up it would have allowed the factory to build spec hulls to a more finished degree. Ordered boats could have been built faster.
------I dont know why the sales plans didnt work out. DONZI may have priced them selves too high. I cant remember, but maybe there was a market downturn around then. Maybe Brownie would have some input on this subject. His knowledge of this stuff is so deep. In any event the 24 line was sold to Sonic sometime in the late 70s. I have a friend from Ft.Lauderdale who bought the first 24 Sonic SS (Spitfire) out of the (now) Sonic molds. It unfortunatly got destroyed. I dont know how many other SSs were built. I also dont know if Sonic ever built any of the other deck plans. In any event,the 24 is no longer built by anybody and it is truly a shame. I havent talked to anyone from Sonic but was told by my friend that the hull mold(at least)exists. Who knows what shape its in though.


http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell621.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell526.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell517.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell564.jpg

cuda

Is the second pic a Spitfire or a Spirit. Great looking boat imho.

Marlin275

Second pic is the Spitfire 24

DelawareRiverRunner

THANKS for the pics and info. In the early-mid 80s there was a 24' Sonic around here called "SMUGGLER"...I believe it had twin big blocks and ran somewhere in the 80s. It must have been one of the early Sonic 24s...I never knew this was actually a Donzi boat originally!! It had the same windscreen and overall design of the Spitfire 24. Didn't have the raised/rounded/"bubble" deck of the later Sonic 24s.

Scott B

Sonic had the4 El Pescador molds and the Spitfire deck molds. They left them outside their plant for years and years. I tried to buy them a few years ago, they wanted stupid stupid stupid money for them, we parted ways. When they did the Doller whatever merger/move the molds were sent to the dump I heard... what a bunch of freaking maroons....

fastdonzi

Ok, I Know where they went. In the mid 80s Allen Piche & his brother, who owend " Fed Co" otherwise known as Performer got the molds for the 24. Sold them to a Virginia Buisnessman who bought the molds and the performer name. Made a couple different versions of it, one was a center console. the other a cuddy. Totally awesome boat, NO WOOD, other than the transom. Built one to race the Rudee Run 200 mile race. Had twin staggered big blocks & #4 drives. 114 on radar with the tabs all the way down. It porpoised really bad with all that weight. I Know the speed cause I Held the Gun. If you can find one of these Performers, Buy It! It is a Hell of a Boat....

Scott B

Err, no.....

fastdonzi

"WE" At Performer in Richmond, VA. Built "That Same Harry Schoell 24' Hull" Up till 1995. Performers where sold mostly on the east coast. are they the one's(molds) from Sonic?Who Knows? But it's the same hull. We Made two different decks. One a center console. The other a cuddy. As I said in a earlier post the only wood in the boat was in the transom. All the hulls where cored, some balsa, some synthetic. They are Very well built boats. Rock Solid But Reasonably Light. 55 MPH with a 225 outboard. Mid to upper 60's with a big block.You can look in the "Blue Book" for the Prices. If I can Find a Brochure laying around I'll try to post a pic in the next couple days.

So, Uh, Yeah!
Brownies Son-Fastdonzi! (Really)

Scott B

The hull and deck molds were at Sonic as of three years ago.. And had been for some time. Did they get them from Performer? Maybe that is the quesion here...

And yes, I know Performer...

BTW, Brownie keeps telling me about your 18.. When is it coming to a Donzi meet???