Have you heard the news?

[Mr X]

The Donzi factory is moving to North Carolina.
Many of us here (on the registry) saw this comming. I am surprised it did not happen sooner.
It makes perfect business sense.
I am sure that in the long run, the boats will just keep getting better and better as we have seen in the past. I wish everyone involved all the best!

[Marlin275]

Donzi changes all the time
I hope it's for the better?

[GBond]

Actually, not surprising. Glad the option was there in the present economy.

Best of Luck Donzi....:crossfing:

[Carl C]

I saw it coming. Are they moving into the Fountain facilities?

[CHACHI]

I wish everyone involved all the best!

Ted, by this statement, are you no longer employed by Donzi, or are you not going to be employed by Donzi, ie, you do not weant to move.

Ken

[gcarter]

Didn't this come out in some trade journal about 5-6 months aggo?

[Mr X]

Ted, by this statement, are you no longer employed by Donzi, or are you not going to be employed by Donzi, ie, you do not weant to move.

Ken
Ken, you are correct.....

George, no. Actually, just the opposite.

[Ghost]

Ken, you are correct.....

George, no. Actually, just the opposite.

Very sorry to hear that. Sad news. Wish you the best of luck. -Mike

[The Hedgehog]

I am sorry to hear that. I wish you the best of luck.

Bill

[Planetwarmer]

Why has everyone seen the move up north? Is this due to the recent purchase of Donzi?

What difference does it make where Donzi is located?

[mrfixxall]

Why has everyone seen the move up north? Is this due to the recent purchase of Donzi?

What difference does it make where Donzi is located?

When i went to donzi years ago they seem to have everything scattered all over Sarasota..If they move to NC in the fountain plant they will probably have better QQ to over seeing everything in fountains facility. plus this way they can also build their new line of FONZI boats, :biggrin.:


Good luck Mr X sorry to see them move..

[CHACHI]

Ted, good luck in your future endevours. With your talent, I am sure you will land on your feet if you haven't already.

Ken

[Carl C]

Good luck,Ted. And also to anyone else who lost their job.

[CAPTBEACH]

NC has a long history of boat building...lots of skilled craftsmen...NC is business friendly and has lower costs of living...hope lots of employees make the move... good move for Donzi...I know you might feel settled in Florida Mr X but NC is a great place...try it for a while...but I know sometimes change is hard...

[CHACHI]

Ted, you staying within the industry?

Ken

[RickSE]

Sorry Ted and all the local FL guys and gals.

My concern would be that the lines between Donzi, Fountain & Baja will now start to fade and the boats will eventually all look the same if not be the same.

Legend may have bought Donzi's physical assets but the true assets were in the people and history.

Cheers to the folks that built Donzi into a company to be proud of, Ted, Mike Collins, the Miller Bro's, Steve Simon, Tony, Bill, Ryan, Dan, Paul, Josh, Mario, Gene, Gus and Mr. Kimmell are a few that stand out in my mind.

What about Proline?

[hdsadey]

Mr. X is it possible that Donzi will be liquidating any merchandise before the move so to not have to move it?

[BUIZILLA]

what's going to happen with the Classic tools?

[boxy]

what's going to happen with the Classic tools?

Poodle, Cliff and Lenny are still going to be around ..... :D

Ted, best of luck in the future, I guess we will have to wait and see what happens in NC.

[cutwater]

Poodle, Cliff and Lenny are still going to be around ..... :D

:rlol: I almost spewed my coffee everywhere!

Best of luck to all the Donzi employees.

[Marlin275]

Best to you Josh,
are you making the move?

[Mr X]

Guys, Mr. X hasn't worked at Donzi in quite a while; he's not a casualty and hasn't been affected by the announcement. Expect some official news soon. The news is true, however.

J.
Thanks Josh, you beat me to it. I have been running my own small business,
rigging and maintaining high performance boats for over a year now,
and had been doing some subcontracting work for Donzi.

Again, best of luck to all who are directly affected.

[fasttrucker]

Went to two of them and had a great time.Sarasota will be missed!:wink:

[HOWARD O]

Can anyone enlighten me on the arrangement between Fountain and Donzi? I am assuming Donzi is headed to Washington....what we call "little Washington" around here. Will be interesting! Happy to have them here, but a shame they are leaving Florida.

[LKSD]

I am not terribly surprised about the move, I actually am surprised it didn't happen sooner.. J

[gcarter]

I am not terribly surprised about the move, I actually am surprised it didn't happen sooner.. J

If nothing else Jamie, you'll be closer to one of your parts sources.

[LKSD]

If nothing else Jamie, you'll be closer to one of your parts sources.

Well, actually, not really... :D

I pretty much was only needing to call my rep @ Donzi when I may need something with their Logo on it that they currently offer if it wasn't at my shop..

Even though I do a good amount of work on Donzi's and other Performance boats.

I have little need to get much from them or any other boat manufacturer at all..

I usually just go to the same vendors that supplied them with the parts to build the boat in the first place.. I also deal with other vendors that some companies didn't even know they used in the past due to, poor record keeping, corporate or ownership changes.. If it is beyond that I have capabilities of custom recreating a part if needed, however that just sometimes gets pricey if we have to go that way..

We offer so many different items and services for Donzi, Cigarette & other small to mid size performance boats. I have actually been working on a large catalog for aftermarket replacement and custom parts on them.

I have info going back to the 1960's for some of the boat lines, and I have been compiling this info for over a decade. I hope to have something together by the end if this winter to release to the public..

Jamie / Lakeside Restorations :)

[Greg Guimond]

Jamie,
Any chance in your bag of contacts you have someone who can supply this 1" rub rail pictured below? Sorry to hijack the thread.
Thanks

[LKSD]

Jamie,
Any chance in your bag of contacts you have someone who can supply this 1" rub rail pictured below? Sorry to hijack the thread.
Thanks

Yes Greg I do, Me.. :) Feel free to give me a call if you need it.. :) Jamie / Lakeside

[Greg Guimond]

Super, I'll buzz you monday and leave you a PM with more details. Thanks!

[LKSD]

Sounds good.. talk then.. :D J

[bertsboat]

It will now be a fonzi named after the good old happy days .

[FISHIN SUCKS]

Back in February of this year when Jeff (Tamburello) and I attended the Los Angeles Boat show, The Livorsi rep was telling us then that Donzi was moving to NC from Sarasota. He also said that the changes to happen were that Donzi would continue to be the high performance line with a couple Donzi cats and only the 22 classic of the classics, no more 16 or 18 or Donzi fish boats. Fountain would be fish boats and express cruisers, no more go-fasts (I found this hard to believe, but thats what he said). Pro Line would still continue to be fish boats. The Baja line would still continue to be what it always was.

I wish Donzi would stay in Florida, I like owning a Florida boat (I'm a native Floridian). I wish everyone the best, but I am happy that Donzi will still exist.

[RickSE]

Some official media news on this subject.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/506405-pro-line-donzi-eye-move-to-north-carolina

[gcarter]

Doesn't mention Reggie anywhere.
Maybe that's true.
I wonder what people w/that large of an ego do in retirement????
I know the answer, as I have a number of customers that are interchangable w/him! :(

[Last Tango]

Guys, guys, guys..!
You are missing the whole cool opportunity here for a NEW location for the HOMETOWN GATHERING.

The old location had gone stale and nobody was coming anymore. And we NEVER had a real Hometown Gathering in the real original hometown, anyway (50-whatever Street pier).

New water to play in, new restaurants to run to together, and a whole lot more participation opportunity for the folks up north to attend. I see the move as a big PLUS for future Donzi events. Longer tow for me? Sure. But a hugely shorter tow for so many others.

NC is a great place to boat.

UPSIDE! UPSIDE!

We need our NC bretheren to tell us WHERE to MEET early next summer!

[mike o]

:party: Reggie's House:kingme:.

[Mr X]

YEA BABY!! Fresh Water!!:yes:

[Pismo]

I hope they don't start to build the Donzis as thin as the Fountain..

[Marlin275]

I hope they don't start to build the Donzis as thin as the Fountain..

all the glass
was in the beak?

[mike o]

all the glass
was in the beak? Big factory tours with Josh.:yes: White Knuckle Hell rides provided by Mr X :kingme:. But in the Fall before the snow:yes:, for us Yankees.........:kingme:

[ACE51]

Guys, guys, guys..!
You are missing the whole cool opportunity here for a NEW location for the HOMETOWN GATHERING.
We need our NC bretheren to tell us WHERE to MEET early next summer!

Washington is down east, I haven't boated much down there but its not that far! (3 hours). I know there's someone right down near there that probably knows some good spots...

[Last Tango]

Uhh... well early Fall might sound good to Northerners, but if we were to do it, oh, say, a year from now... it is after all, the dead square middle of Hurricane Season, with the Outer Banks normally Ground Zero about this time of year for at least one or more.

I boated this past Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida, three days after a hurricane passed BERMUDA a thousand miles away, and it was windy and wild out on the river all day.

But I digress...

MIKEY! WHERE ARE YOU? TIME TO COME OUT OF THE 'DEAD' AND GENERATE... "THE SEMI-OFFICIAL, NEW DECADE, NEW HOME TOWN, NEW ATTITUDES, NEW FACES, POST-RECESSION, ULTIMATE DONZI GATHERING (EAST COAST)2011!"

LET'S INVADE REGGIES BACKYARD WITH DONZIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET'S SHOW THOSE FOLKS IN NORTH CAROLINA THAT THE DONZI PARTY IS NOT OVER UNTIL WE SAY IT'S OVER!!!!!!!

http://www.originalwashington.com/

P.S. Mr. X, Last I heard, Pamlico Sound and the Pamlico River were still the dreaded salt water. Could change in a year, what with all this climate change and stuff going on... but right now still salt water...I know...I know...(heavy sigh)

[ezervos]

i'm here, just 12 miles from Reggie's factory - perfect location as I am the only Donzi owner that I know of. Fountain factory is a graveyard right now - I was looking to pick up a 35' executioner on the cheap a couple weeks ago. You guys will LOVE it here - fresher water, great boating. Welcome DONZI, welcome ProLine. We need you in Eastern NC!

[HOWARD O]

I'm in New Bern, where are you? We have a few Donzis down here on the Neuse. A 22' just left, but there's Tom Smith with his 18' Barrellback and another 16' upriver.....and me too!

I think a meet in New Bern would be better than anywhere up on near the Pamlico River. It's a perfect town for it. Lots of hotels, restaurants and great launch facilitiesl It'd be a fun ride from New Bern out to Cape Lookout.....at least that's one of my favorite rides and lots of stops in between.

It is great boating here. Pretty unregulated, actually. Not a lot of water cops, hardly any no wake zones and very little traffic too.