SINCE OSO NOW DOESN'T SEEM TO ALLOW ANY LINKS IN POSTS, I advise You to add an H in front of mine below if you like context to my post.

The story: H ttps://ca.news.yahoo.com/sold-yacht-waterfall-price-19-121406270.html

John H. Ruiz's response to the media was surprising, though anybody could obviously claim they don't follow the news or their wife's business.

"Mayra Ruiz did not respond to requests for comment. Christine Lugo, a lawyer for John Ruiz, said her client was “not interested in making any statement other than the fact that he has already publicly disclosed that he does not know who George Santos is and has never contributed to his campaigns and has never done any business with him.”

John Ruiz will in the near future not have access to 'easy money', so he and his business partner Ophir Sternberg will have to do with eating at Ophir's hamburger joints instead of steakhouses. Who will soon buy Cigarette Racing Team is anybody's guess, but I bet there will some experienced boating industry individual/individuals. The SPAC that Sternberg and Ruiz created together flopped after a week and MSP Recovery Inc. is now worth a dime on the dollar. Sternberg's Lionheart Acquisition Corp II is doing better, but must really regret getting into the boating industry & healthcare reimbursements business.

MSP Recovery Inc. stock price: H ttps://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/lifw

John H. Ruiz in a nutshell.
H ttps://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/06/06/Portfolio/NIL-side.aspx

P.S. I miss the classy, good ol' Team Cigarette days. D.S.

Classy Days ? That dude on the right bandged a bunch of dudes wives and was in bed with the mob, drug smugglers and a bunch of other shady dealings that got him killed... yeah real classy lol

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co.../NIL-side.aspx

Why can`t you post links ?

From a guy that knows little about just about anything, my money is on Fred Ross (Iconic Marine) buying Cigarette and bringing some class back to the brand. The past couple of years will just be looked at as a bad dream.

Does anyone know how much the company sold for when it was sold to Ruiz and Lionheart?

looks to me that they can’t give their donzi or fountains away either …

maybe I’m the outside looking in… most brands are played out. Boat owners , are brand loyal. Skater owners buy boats because of Peter, his story, and his way of building boats. That’s it. Mti owners buy mti’s because of Randy. His story, and the product there build. Outerlimits owners , bought / buy because of what Mike created, and wanting to keep that brand alive.

have to ask… what happens then the torch change hands ?? What happens when these builders , arnt at the helm of their companies anymore?

what else is there ? Fountain? Done. Baja ? Who? Donzi? Cmon.

The boat boom, imo was because of great economy. And boating for 3 years was about the ONLY thing you could do without get in fuked with. So the wealth, congregated to the waters… why a pontoon or wake boat costs 300+ these days is beyond asinine. Majority , of these boat owners buying new boats , it’s just another toy. That’s why the OB fad exploded. These ppl got In, wrote checks , and that’s all anyone saw. We had big block power for 30 years. And all of a sudden no one cares about big blocks. The OB buyers , will come and go.

imo , the market is RIPE for a tide change. Some new products. Bang for buck. Not who can spec the most expensive boat. Who can fit 78 speakers. Who can build a quality piece, and start the clock on 20 years of boat building , and customer service. Like boat buildings been done for generations. Ppl buy boats, because of the company , culture, and the product. The market adjusts itself.

As far as Don Aronow; friends of mine and my extended family happen to know the Aronows from back in the '60s, and I've talked to his eldest son Michael a couple of times over the last 15 years. Don was extremely competitive to the point of being ruthless to guys that challenged him, but as far as he, "was in bed with the mob, drug smugglers, and a bunch of other shady dealings", I strongly disagree with this. You're right about him cheating on his wives, even with other fellows' wives is correct. He never slept with his best friends' wives though, and he had plenty of close friends. The '60s, 70, and '80s was an era when social norms changed in plenty of areas of the U.S., though not nearly to the point of the wild rivieras of Southern Europe. Don Aronow probably hurt the egos of other guys that thought that they were tough, but I don't feel sorry for them. We all better realize that the sooner we lose to a champion or about to be champion, the closer to being a true contender we'll be.

Trying to post these links now to see if it was a temporary server or database issue again for OSO at the time of my posting. This has mainly happened on and off the last three months, but not previously.

https://www.boatinternational.com/ya...champion-death

https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/b...der-don-aronow

At least over here, the people who own old Cigarettes are not the people who would buy new Cigarettes.

The people who would be able to buy new Cigarettes largely own cats.

I agree with everything you said except that outboards are just a fad. Even though they ruin the looks of a boat and kill the ability to use the swim platform, they're relatively cheap to maintain and get good fuel economy.
Ten years ago, this message board was busy but a lot of those guys have gotten old. Their generation worked hard, getting ahead was easier, and a dollar went a lot further. Those guys have phased from offshores with big blocks to center consoles/pontoons with outboards for family time or if they're still into going fast a small cat with outboards. The performance boat industry shifted towards following that generation into their golden years rather than trying to lure in a new young customer base.

Never cared for companies where the Owner/CEO/President gets more press than the product.

They know they don’t have the tide (drug smuggling cash/culture, miami vice glitz etc) running with them regarding new young customers.