[C320-list] Catalina Yachts

[Allan Field via C320-list]

This is brutal:
https://teaksteel.com/sailboats/2026/the-butcher-of-catalina-yachts-a-boardroom-autopsy/


Allan S. Field

[Jack Brennan via C320-list]

It's sad. Catalina was one of a kind. I remember calling with a stupid question and having Gerry Douglas, the designer of the 320, answer the phone. He called me an idiot for about 20 seconds and then gave me the answer I needed.

I know nothing of Catalina's travails, but I can sympathize with the Catalina workers. I was witness to what these financial wheeler dealers do when my own employer was taken over 17 years ago by a short, fat, foul-mouthed private equity guy named Sam Zell.

I worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a big newspaper owned by Tribune Co., the second-largest newspaper chain. The principal owners wanted out, but couldn't sell their stock without the price plunging. So they let Zell take the company private, largely with the employees overfunded pension plan.

Within a year, what was once the nation's most profitable newspaper chain was bankrupt. Zell and his buddies plundered Tribune of its property assets and loaded it down with debt so they could collect huge fees. Thousands of journalists, including me and my wife, lost their jobs. Zell, already a billionaire, stuffed his pockets with more cash.

The world need more Frank Butlers and Gerry Douglases. Zell is dead, so all that extra money did him no good at all. I hope they turned the temperature up high for him in hell.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.



________________________________
From: C320-list <c320-lis...@lists.catalina320.com> on behalf of Allan Field via C320-list <c320...@lists.catalina320.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2026 12:57 PM
To: Catalina 380 List-Serve <catal...@groups.io>; Catalina 320 International Assoc, Inc. <C320...@catalina320.com>
Cc: Allan Field <allanf...@gmail.com>
Subject: [C320-list] Catalina Yachts

[Ferris Wills via C320-list]

So disturbing to read this - I feel similar things are happening at the highest levels of our current government. Back to the robber baron days of the 19th century!

Ferris
Argo, #505

Typos by iPhone

> On Jan 8, 2026, at 1:45 PM, Jack Brennan via C320-list <c320...@lists.catalina320.com> wrote:
>
> It's sad. Catalina was one of a kind. I remember calling with a stupid question and having Gerry Douglas, the designer of the 320, answer the phone. He called me an idiot for about 20 seconds and then gave me the answer I needed.

[Karl Krueger via C320-list]

Yes, a sad situation.

Thank you for keeping us informed.

Regards,

Karl Krueger

--



Karl W Krueger - ABR, CRS, GRI,
RE/MAX Lakeside Realty
Phone - 414-322-6541

Have a smooth sailing day.....

[John Cheek via C320-list]

Indeed a sign of incompetence.
If we had detailed investigative facts, then the class of Catalina boat
owners and depositors might be able to take action.

[Michael Stumpfoll via C320-list]

The most lucrative way to retire is to sell your business. Perhaps the most responsible way to transition to retirement is decades of development of the next generation of ownership within your business. Early buy-sell agreements that mean you won’t have as large of a golden parachute, but the business will outlive you. Early acknowledgement of how and who will be part of the transition. I don’t know how much of this is relatable to Catalina. But I think the attitude is prevalent, “I built this business, I deserve the most I can get out of it”. Google “succession gap” or look at the senate hearings on small business succession planning. Half of all private sector employment is owned by boomers. Mergers and acquisitions will mean local knowledge and relationships and mentoring will be lost as more businesses become owned by larger regional and national players. And many acquisitions will be cash-out wind downs with no intent to continue operations.

Thanks,
Mike Stumpfoll

On Jan 9, 2026, at 1:11 PM, John Cheek via C320-list <c320...@lists.catalina320.com> wrote:

Indeed a sign of incompetence.