In 1966 Don Aronow, now offshore champion and boat builder, built himself a new 27′ race boat, which he named “Maltese Magnum”. The boat became World Champion and Don Aronow built a small factory to build more boats just like it: Magnum Marine was founded.
All of Aronow’s brands were winning offshore races and all were characterized by very similar deep-V hulls; the last three companies Don Aronow founded were next to each other on one street, which became known as “Thunderboat Row”—the street in North Miami where Magnum grew, under the steerage of the Theodolis, into the international icon for performance yachts.
When Don Aronow launched the Maltese Magnum 28′, also later known as the Magnum 27′, it immediately set the tone for the company as a builder of strong and reliable power boats. The first Maltese Magnum had long, sleek lines and a narrow eight-foot beam and although comparable to earlier boats Don Aronow had raced with his Formula and Donzi brands, the Magnum developed a mystique that has long outlived those earlier boats. This is in large part because of the 27’s success on the offshore race circuit where it either placed highly or won many of the races, often against larger boats with greater horsepower.