This is one of the most depressing threadsI have read on OSO.

Padraig

Donzi Baja Fountain
 

I just went by the Donzi facility a month ago for the first time. I thought it was pretty good size with a couple of large paint booths still out front near the entrance. There were a couple of guys sweeping up inside the facility. While the facility looked a little forlorn, it also looked like a great facility to build boats, even right now. Looks like the real estate around it is selling well too as the area continues to grow. As a Donzi fan and owner, I always wondered if you could put a large group of owner/investors together to get it back up and running. I'm quite sure its only a romantic idea in my head but one can only hope.
I know that wherever we took our former 26ZX or our current 38ZR, it draws lookers and people that want to talk about the boat and boating in general. I agree with Matt, that currently the market supports the "order a boat now and we will build you one type of business". I took a couple of pictures of the plant just before I left and thought its a shame we cant get some people back to work, help the economy and industry. Padraig I know what you mean, chin up, hang in there, lol

Agree Padraig but as Kenny Chesney once wrote in a song:

"Reality, yeah, sometimes life Ain't all that it's cracked up to be"

You referred to Mr. Fountain in this quote so I assumed he was the "leader" you were alluding to in making your point. (And for the record, yes, a great leader in great company ... Steven Jobs at Apple would have been a great example ... can do amazing things.) Sorry if I offended you, but I did "read the posts."

Steve Jobs failed miserably with Next Computers in the 90's. I do understand a charismatic sales person can add to a company, but usually they can only go so far. As Apple is still somewhat successful, if measured by their share price, Jobs was only a small part of their success.

I also often dream of some of us Donzi enthusiasts buying Donzi and bringing it back to life

I used to teach at Apple's health clubs. Suffice it to say that, while they didn't necessarily love him, the employees I got to know there really well saw it differently. Most of the tech people I know in the Silicon Valley also don't share your opinion of Jobs as "a smart part of Apple's success," but you are of course entitled to your opinion.

So Matt catch us up on what Reggie is doing! :)

I bumped into him at the Hooters-Instigator camp in the dry pits in Key West last month. Even in a driving rainstorm, Reggie Fountain attracts a crowd of admirers. He's a living legend in our world, that's for sure.

As for what he's doing right now, other than managing the properties he owns, I have no idea. The last time I spoke with him in any depth was during lunch with him and Doc Jansen during the Outerlimits kilo record runs in North Carolina. At that point, while he previously had talked about plans to get into the boat building, he said he no intention of getting back into it. I took—and take—him at his word.

Funny addition (at least I think it's funny): During the Miami Boat Show that year, Reggie was giving me a mock hard-time about reporting his plans—I'd call him, he'd talk about what he wanted to do or planned to do and I'd report. (Public figures have to deal with that, I guess.) We both laughed, and I promised him I would not report anything on his boat building activities until he "actually built a boat." We laughed again.

Reggie Fountain made the go-fast boat world a lot more interesting and compelling—and yes, sometimes aggravating and challenging—for those of us lucky enough to cover it. Frankly, I miss talking to him.

That was more in response to some earlier posts. Reggie is 75 years old I believe.