By Capt Ken Kreisler (Power & Motoryacht/July 2000)
Herman
and Gertude Aronow emigrated from Russia to the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of
Brooklyn in 1900. After a succession of jobs, Herman wound up working in and
then owning a gas station and then, in the 1940s, a taxi company. On March 1,
1927, Gertrude gave birth to Donald Joel, the couple's third child, who joined
sisters Sylvia and Lillian.
Even
as a young boy, Aronow displayed the personality of a highly motivated
self-starter by helping out in his father's gas station, where he had a knack
for working with engines. So much so that in the early 1940s, the
entrepreneurial teen had a nice little side business going: He bought used and
junk cars, fixed them up, and sold them at a profit.
But
there were other things in Aronow's life, chief among them athletics. By the
time he graduated from James Madison High school in 1944, he had been named the
borough's all around top athlete, had received the prestigious Wingate Medal for
his accomplishments, and was Coney Island beach's chief lifeguard. Little wonder
Aronow entered Brooklyn College that fall as a physical education major.
It
may have been his restless spirit or the tenor of the times, but 1945 found
Aronow leaving his studies and enrolling at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings
Point, New York. Shortly after that, Midshipman Aronow was transferred overseas.
He
returned to Brooklyn College in 1947 and resumed his studies, getting back his
lifeguard job for the summers until graduation. In 1948 he married Shirley
Goldin, and by the time Aronow received his degree in 1950, he'd earned letters
in football, wrestling, and track. After briefly working as a physical education
instructor, Aronow received an offer from his father-in-law that not only
changed his life, but also helped him transform high-performance powerboating.
The offer to take Aronow into his
southern New Jersey construction business could not have come at a better time.
The strong post-WWII economy meant lots of work for the company. So much work
that Aronow struck out on his own in 1953, by establishing the Aronow
Corporation. Within just seven years the Aronow Corporation became one of the
most successful builders in the state and made its owner a wealthy man.
Aronow, at the helm of the new Maltese Magnum, took second place, moments behind a Donzi, in the 1966 Gateway Marathon race
But
there was a price to pay for all the sleepless nights, long hours, and anxiety.
At 34, Aronow, burnt out and suffering from ulcers, decided to pack it in and
moved his wife and three children to Miami Beach. For a while he enjoyed the
sunshine and slower pace of life and spent much of his time aboard his 40-foot
sportfishing boat. she was berthed at a small marina on the Miami River that
happened to be located next door to the Prowler Boat company. And Prowler built
race boats.
Getting
friendly with Prowler owner Forest Johnson, Aronow began to pick up on all the
talk about the upcoming 1962 Miami to Nassau powerboat race. It didn't take long
for his competitive spirit to kick in, and he soon found himself with ace
mechanic Dave Stirrat in the Shop of celebrated custom boat builder Howard Abbey
designing Claudia -- named after
Aronow's then-nine-year-old daughter. Aronow was about to get his first taste of
powerboat racing.
The 28-foot, semi-V wooden boat, equipped with triple 327-cid Chevy V-8s, did 60 mph during sea trials, a prodigious accomplishment at the time. With the race a few days away, Stirrat asked Sam Sarra, another marine mechanic with a stellar reputation, to have a look. Sarra thought the boat would do better with a pair of 409-cid Chevys he had just modified. Aronow agreed..
Claudia
as in the lead with about 10 miles to go when
one of the engines
blew a clutch. Aronow and crew managed to finish fourth. But the near victory
had him hooked. Applying the same determination that had propelled his
construction business to the top, Aronow built Claudia II, a 27-foot deep-V fiberglass boat designed by Peter
Guerke and powered by a pair of 427-cid Ford Interceptor V-8s. In early 1963 he
rolled her out of the facility he had built on a deserted corner of North Miami
Beach's NE 188th Street. The boat, designated the Formula 276, became the
prototype for Aronow's first boat company, Formula Marine, a name he chose
because it utilized the talents of such soon-to-be legends as Stirrat, Jim
Wynne, Walt Walters, Buddy Smith, and Jake Trotter. For Aronow, this was the
right formula. The shop would be the first of many that would make NE 188th
Street known as Gasoline Alley and Thunderboat row and Don Aronow as its
reigning monarch.
Aronow sits on the bow of Claudia, his first raceboat, as she crosses the finish line in the famous 1962 MIami-Nassau Race
Formula
Marine's race-tested production boats were an immediate success, and in 1964
Aronow sold the molds to Thunderbird while he and his team were busy moving on
to the next phase of making racing history.
Aronow
kept a 17-foot hull mold after the Formula sale and trimmed it to 16 feet.
Launched early in 1964, the Sweet Sixteen
prototype became the first boat from Donzi Marine, which got its name when
record producer Morris Levy ribbed Aronow about the new boat being another Donzi,"
a critique of the Formula 23's less-than-macho plush interior. By the end of the
year, Donzis were a force in powerboat racing.
After
making Donzi a success, Aronow sold it and moved on to Magnum Marine, where he
built 35-footers in a new factory next to the formula and Donzi plants on NE
188th Street. Using the same "formula," he then started and sold
Cigarette -- named for a famous prohibition-era rum runner -- with Squadron XII,
Cigarette II, and USA Racing Team.
By
1987 Aronow had become an acquaintance of celebrities and leaders the world over
and even had a personal relation-ship with President George Bush that reportedly
helped secure a contract to build catamaran patrol boats for the U.S. Customers
service for USA Racing Team. It all came to an abrupt and tragic end on February
3, when he was shot to death while sitting in his car on the very street he had
made famous. Theories abound regarding the cause -- many surrounding Ben Cramer,
who had been a partner in USA Racing and was later convicted of
smuggling-related irregularities associated with another boat building company
-- but the case has never been closed.
Over the years Aronow's powerboats won more than 350 races both at home and abroad, accumulating more than 11 world championships and 25 U.S. championships. They have also held 25 world speed records. Whether serving as a driver or a builder, Don Aronow was the kind of guy who left a wake others could only hope to follow.