StanCraft Boat Company

StanCraft Boat Company is an American boat design and manufacturing company based in Hayden, Idaho.

StanCraft Boat Company
TypePrivate
IndustryBoat manufacturing
Founded1933
FounderW.H. "Billy" Young
Stanley Young
HeadquartersHayden, Idaho
Key people
Robb Bloem
(Owner, president)
Amy Bloem
(Owner)
Number of employees
65 (2015)[1]
Websitestancraftboats.com

History

StanCraft was founded in 1933 by W.H. "Billy" Young and his son Stanley Young, when they handcrafted their first mahogany wood speedster in Lakeside, Montana, on the shore of Flathead Lake.[2][3] Over the next 35 years, they constructed over 800 wooden boats,[2] with Stanley Young as head designer and builder.[4]

In 1937, when StanCraft built its first factory near Somers, Montana, it was the only boat-building factory in Montana.[4] Stanley and his brother Donald Young operated the factory until the beginning of World War II, and resumed operations after the war. During the war, Stanley operated a plant on the West Coast, building boats for the US Coast Guard. In 1948, StanCraft's sales offices and headquarters were moved from Somers to nearby Polson, Montana.[5] On March 9, 1966, a fire burned down the StanCraft manufacturing plant in Somers, destroying 11 boats that were in storage.[6]

Stanley Young and his wife Delores had three children, including Syd Young,[7] who took over the business in 1970.[3] As fiberglass boats grew in popularity, the company began building fiberglass boats in addition to wooden boats.[2][8] Syd Young moved the company to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 1981.[2][8] The company's main business at the time was restoring wooden boats, building only a few new boats per year.[3] The 1981 film On Golden Pond, which features vintage wooden boats, was credited in part with sparking renewed interest in the vessels.[3] In 1997, Syd Young cut back on operations and sold much of the company's assets to Hagadone Marine Group. Robb and Amy Bloem (Billy Young's great-granddaughter) took over what remained of StanCraft in 2003, rebuilding the custom manufacturing operations while expanding the company's storage and restoration services and adding three brands of fiberglass boats to its offerings.[3]

References
  1. "StanCraft to move to Hayden," Coeur d'Alene Press, August 23, 2015.
  2. Neil Rabinowitz, "Stancraft Wood Boats: Classic and Curvacious," Yachtworld.com, April 22, 2015.
  3. Mike McLean, "StanCraft boat manufacturer rides wave of growth," Spokane Journal of Business, May 8, 2014.
  4. "Only Boat Factory in State on Shore of Flathead Lake," Independent Record, February 14, 1938.
  5. "Stan-Craft Boat Co. To Build New Plant At Polson," Daily Inter Lake, September 11, 1947.
  6. "Blaze Destroys Stan-Craft Plant," Daily Inter Lake, March 10, 1966.
  7. "Stancraft Boats," Inland Empire Chapter Antique & Classic Boat Society, 2015.
  8. Lynnette Hintze, "Boating has always meant good times on Whitefish Lake," Daily Inter Lake, June 22, 2013.
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