Don Aronow Article

[Carl C]

Found this on another site. Thanks to "DonMan". This is one long ass address I hope the link takes! here it is: http://www.mensvogue.com/business/articles/2006/12/18/don_aronow?currentPage=1

[gold-n-rod]

Great article. Thanks for posting the link, Carl!!

I liked this line: "Aronow's appetite for women, like his thirst for speed, went way beyond what most men are capable of sustaining. He had a false wall built in a closet in his office on Thunderboat Row, Crouse told me, which led to a hidden suite complete with a bed and custom-made shower. Friends said that he sometimes slept with three or four different women a day." :eek!:

:)

[Carl C]

"Aronow's appetite for women, like his thirst for speed, went way beyond what most men are capable of sustaining. He had a false wall built in a closet in his office on Thunderboat Row, Crouse told me, which led to a hidden suite complete with a bed and custom-made shower. Friends said that he sometimes slept with three or four different women a day." :eek!:
:) Live fast..........Die young:( He was providing speed boats for drug runners and police.:eek!:

[need for speed]

cool i got to ride in this one but i was too young to remeber much

[mrfixxall]

cool i got to ride in this one but i was too young to remeber much

looks like a midnite express,,,,fast boat!!

[Lenny]

First clue: Blue Thunder...

Second clue, two hulls ;)

http://www.donzi.net/photos/FCivitano16.jpg

[mrfixxall]

Third clue,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,IM BLIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I DIDN'T SAY IT WAS ONE IT LOOKS LIKE ONE FROM THE SIDE.:lookaroun:

[chappy]

Definitely one to print for the collection. Thanks for posting it Carl.:shades:

Rich

[Donziweasel]

Good find Carl.

One question, why did Customs buy the Blue Thunders if they new the top speed was only 70 mph? They had to know the Cigs, Apache's, etc... were running way faster than that.

[Carl C]

Good find Carl.
One question, why did Customs buy the Blue Thunders if they new the top speed was only 70 mph? They had to know the Cigs, Apache's, etc... were running way faster than that. I'm not so sure they were running way faster back then. BTW, the Coast Guard is really watching the border here on Michigan waters. A chopper flew directly over my boat very low to get a good look. I figure he was looking to see if my boat was full of duffel bags or something.

[Donziweasel]

They were running much faster back then. Here is a snippet of an article I found-

The Customs soon found that the Blue Thunder catamarans were highly unseaworthy and highly unsuitable for the task of chasing down other speedboats, including above all Aronow's earlier model Cigarette boats, which were now produced by a company not controlled by Aronow. Blue Thunder was relatively slow class, capable of a top speed of only 56 miles per hour, despite the presence of twin 440-horsepower marine engines. The design of the catamaran hulls lacked any hydrodynamic advantages, and the boats were too heavy to attain sufficient lift. The stern drives were too weak for the powerful engines, leading to the problem of "grenading" : when the drive shafts severed, which was often, the engines began to rev far beyond their red line, leading to the explosion or disintegration of the engines and the sharpnel-like scattering of red-hot steel fragments through the boat. This meant that the boats had to be kept well below their maximum speed. Most Blue Thunders spent more time undergoing repairs than chasing drug runners in the coastal waters of Florida. Blue Thunder was in boating parlance "wet," a complete lemon, useful only for photo opportunities and publicity shots.