roadtripse

It isn't. Direct copy of the 16 Classic bottom. Identical. Splash. Copy. Rip-off of a timeless design. Understand? Cool with you? Maybe. Not with me and many other Donzi owners. A complete intellectual property rip-off. Call it a "17", but anyone with knowledge of a 16 Classic bottom will see right through it. Nope.

Scott B

Bingo...

SHARKEY-IMAGES

I would think a company would have written permission to produce this hull as is from the company that originally manufactured it.

If not, I do believe an Anti-Splash Law did go into effect some time ago and the 10% change Rule went out the window and called for a full plug to be built from scratch.

I had my Bullet splashed by a company in NC with my knowledge. Unfortunately some of the verbal commitments were not lived up to and shame on me for not getting something in writing.

Hornet Marine

The hull bottom is not a copy. We did build the tooling ourselves and made some changes. We agree that the boat does have a timeless design. There are significant changes to the cockpit and topside. The construction process is also very different.
We would expect a serious Donzi enthusiast to recognize some similarities. Those are also found on numerous boats that had Wynn-Walters designed or influenced. We are not the first company to make a similar boat, It has been sold under several brands throughout the years and actually ours is the most unique.
This is not an intellectual property rip-off in anyway.
I do appreciate the feedback. We know there are some enthusiasts that may not like our plan in the beginning. Our goal is to win you over by being professional and trying to be the best boat company possible. Our only choice here is to prove it to you over time.
As far as respect for the industry. I grew up with Donzi purists so I understand. Jim Wynne who I have met, was a friend of my fathers. Walt Walters, I had never met until this year, seemed pretty happy with what we are doing.
Feel free to contact me directly anytime and if you are ever in CT please stop by and see the facility. The boat design is a very small part of our business model. Our manufacturing process and customer service programs will also be world class.

David Hartmann
860 516 3141

Hornet Marine

Here is a link that goes into more detail about our business.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/compon...trarian-timing

bluellama

David, is that Hull #1 in the Miami Boat Show pic? Too bad Sharkey couldn't have got pioctures of the complete boat.

Donziweasel

Nice article, but I do have some issues with it.

You neglected to mention that this design was first produced by Don Arronow and Donzi in 1964 and has been produced off and on over 46 years.

Did I miss something? How about the Donzi 16. That comment is a plain lie.

Once again, you fail to mention that the Hornet might have been a Wynne/Walters design, but was produced by Donzi. It has been a Donzi staple. It even evolved into the Hornet II and Hornet III.

Now to your website-

http://www.hornetmarine.com/

For the love of god man, do you have no shame? You even ripped off the original Donzi script.

David, while I appreciate anyone trying to start a company in this economy, it has become clear you are simply a rip off artist. No originallity. Simply take a proven hull design, make a few changes, rip off Donzi names, scripts, logos, and call it YOUR new boat. Sad my freind.

What's next a Hornet 2+3? 22?

Hornet Marine

That is Hull Number One. At that time we did not have the topside. We were working 16 hour days for weeks and literally pulled this piece two days before driving to Miami from CT. Hull #2 comes out of the mold next week. Jet black to prove out the mold.

Hornet Marine

You neglected to mention that this design was first produced by Don Arronow and Donzi in 1964 and has been produced off and on over 46 years.

...
That was the way the article was written. We made it clear that it was a Wynne / Walters Design that Donzi produced


"There's really no other boat on the market that's in that category,"
"Did I miss something? How about the Donzi 16. That comment is a plain lie."
....
Again this was the way the article was written. Other than the Donzi there is no other boat on the market like it. Actually, I make the assumption that the 16 is available somewhere, I am curious if there are any currently on the market.



"Once again, you fail to mention that the Hornet might have been a Wynne/Walters design, but was produced by Donzi. It has been a Donzi staple. It even evolved into the Hornet II and Hornet III. "
...
No one was hiding anything the discussion was around where did the Hornet Name come from. What I said is true. Actually the conversation revolved around the fact That I own a St Tropez which was based on the original Hornet model.



"Now to your website-

http://www.hornetmarine.com/
For the love of god man, do you have no shame? You even ripped off the original Donzi script. "
....
While there are MANY reason to dump on our website. This was not what I expected. We love the script logo.



..."it has become clear you are simply a rip off artist. No originallity. Simply take a proven hull design, make a few changes, rip off Donzi names, scripts, logos, and call it YOUR new boat. Sad my friend."
...
This is the big piece of the puzzle we have a great boat but the real meat of the business is the business model. The only way to impress you here is to execute the model as planed. It is challenging change business practices in this industry but we have a great plan and we feel that all boat owners will benefit from an improved focus on the customer. It will take us a lot of work and a lot of time but I do hope you hold us to these comments. We feel we owe it to you to "prove it"


"What's next a Hornet 2+3? 22?"
...
The original plan was to build a cross between a Hornet III and a St. Tropez. So something like a 23' with three topsides; Fishing, runabout, and sport. This was 5 years ago when we started the planning. As we learned more about the market we realized that this was a highly competitive market and required significantly more production resources. We needed to become profitable to implement our business model before we started building bigger or more complicated boats. The business model is really what we are bringing to the industry. So eventually we will come out with something like a 2+3 but it will be 3 years away

I hope in time we can demonstrate that we have a tremendous amount of respect for the history of performance boating

David

bluellama

David, this quote and the following quote from the Soundings article you posted seem to contradict each other......

"Hartmann says he's not spending a lot of money on R&D. "We've got a proven hull," he says."

If it's a brand new hull how is it proven?