SIGHTLINES Don Aronow: The Legend in My Corner
Don Aronow was a largerthan-life personality the likes of which the boating industry has never seen before or since, equal parts tough off shore racing legend and notorious womanizer. Standing 6-foot-3, with Hollywood good looks, Aronow was the creator of a string of famous boat companies including Cigarette, Magnum, Donzi, and Formula. He was the swashbuckling embodiment of off shore racing in its earliest and most glorious years. He was my childhood hero.
By late out from California and Halter had agreed to take an option on my invention. Don Aronow, was coming to town for the Ali-Spinks fight and he was going to personally test run my boat. Aronow ran the boat with me for a few minutes on Lake Pontchartrain, then casually declared, “Nice boat, but don’t waste your time on this kid.” With that one sentence he drove a spike through all my dreams and pronounced my invention dead. My years of hero worship were over in an instant. I wanted him dead, dead in the worst way.
