Donald Joel Aronow (March 3, 1927 – February 3, 1987) was an American designer, builder, and racer of

Formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

, Donzi, Magnum Marine, Cary, and Cigarette Racing Team

speedboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the intern ...

s. Aronow built speedboats for the Shah of Iran,

Charles Keating Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. (December 4, 1923 – March 31, 2014) was an American sportsman, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, financier, conservative activist, and convicted felon best known for his role in the savings and loan sc ...

Robert Vesco Robert Lee Vesco (December 4, 1935 – November 23, 2007Lacey, M. and Kandell, J. (2008 ''New York Times''. May 3, 2008. Retrieved 5/3/08.) was an American criminal financier. After several years of risky investments and dubious credit dealings, ...

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, which was founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He repres ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

Early life and education

Aronow was born in the

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * '' Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

,"How a Kid From Brooklyn Put Go-Fast Boats On The Map" By Capt Ken Kreisler
''Power & Motor'' July 2000 the son of Russian–Jewish immigrants
''People'' March 30, 1987. Herman and Ruth Aronow. He had two older sisters, Sylvia and Lillian. Aronow graduated as a top athlete from James Madison High School in 1944, worked as a life guard at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

, and enrolled at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. In 1945, he joined the

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

and worked overseas until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1947, he returned to the United States and completed his studies. He graduated from

in 1948 with a physical education degree, earning letters in football, wrestling, and track.

Career

After finishing school, Aronow was briefly a physical education teacher before working for his father-in-law's construction business. In 1953, he established a construction company, the Aronow Corporation. Following the success of his construction company, Aronow moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in 1959, where he began racing boats as a hobby. Aronow's hobby evolved into a business, and by the end of 1962, he had formed the Formula Marine boat company. He sold Formula Marine to Alliance Machine in Ohio. In 1964, he started Donzi Marine, which he sold to Teleflex Inc. in mid-1965. In 1966, he founded Magnum Marine and in 1967 won his first world championship. Due to a

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

following the sale of Magnum Marine, Aronow was not permitted to build boats for several years. Despite this, in 1969 Aronow built the first Cigarette boat under the name ''Cary'', in Elton Cary's

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

facility. In 1969, Aronow won his second World Championship and third consecutive United States Championship. He was the second American to win the

Union Internationale Motonautique The Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) is the international governing body of powerboating, based in the Principality of Monaco. It was founded in 1922, in Belgium, as the Union Internationale du Yachting Automobile. History Member nation ...

's Gold Medal of Honor. In 1970, after the non-compete clause expired, Aronow started the Cigarette Racing Team. Having sold Cigarette in 1982, Aronow formed USA Racing Team and built the Blue Thunders, 39-foot catamarans used by the

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal in ...

to patrol U.S. waters for illegal offshore activities, especially

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

. Aronow's close friend at the time, Vice President

George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, was a former Cigarette owner and was involved in testing out the 39-foot catamarans prior to government approval.

Murder

On February 3, 1987, Aronow was murdered in his car at the end of 188th Street in North Miami Beach, where his boat companies operated. Aronow had just come out of a meeting. Witnesses said a blue Lincoln pulled up next to Aronow's car. When Aronow rolled down his window, the Lincoln's driver shot him. In 1995, Bobby Young admitted to the shooting and pleaded

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, ...

, eventually providing a full confession in 2009 shortly before his death. Ben Kramer, winner of the 1986

American Power Boat Association The American Power Boat Association (APBA) is an American membership-owned corporation. In 1903, New York's Columbia Yacht Club had formulated a constitution for what ultimately became the APBA. It is the United States sanctioning authority for the ...

Offshore Championship, pleaded no contest to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

in 1996. Kramer had a business dispute with Aronow after buying Aronow's USA Racing Team, but was forced to sell it back after the Customs Service refused to do business with him. Kramer was already in prison on a life sentence with no possibility of parole following 1988 and 1989 convictions for drug smuggling and gun charges, as well as receiving a 1990 conviction for a failed escape attempt by helicopter from a federal prison near Miami. The story was also the basis for the 2009 documentary film ''Thunder Man: The Don Aronow Story'' and the 2018 movie ''

Speed Kills ''Speed Kills'' is a 2018 American crime drama film directed by Jodi Scurfield and starring John Travolta. It is based on Arthur J. Harris's book of the same name about the life of Donald Aronow, fictionalized as "Ben Aronoff". Plot Speedboat ra ...

'' with John Travolta.

Personal life

In 1948, Aronow married Shirley Goldin, whom he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. They had three children: Michael, David, and Claudia. Aronow and Goldin were divorced in 1979. Aronow's second wife was Lillian Crawford. He and Crawford had two sons, Gavin and Wylie.''New York Times'': "Paid Notice: Deaths KAYES, CECILY ELMES"
February 4, 2004

Early life and education

Career

Murder

Personal life

References

Further reading