StanCraft Wooden Boat Company was founded back in 1933 by W.H. “Billy” Young and his son Stanley C. Young. Stanley later married Delores and had three children Joyce, Syd and Bruce. The company was originally built on the shores of Caroline Point, Flathead Lake in Lakeside, Montana. It was Flathead Lakes first boat building factory. A regional builder, Stan created some of the most iconic designs in boating history. The 22′ Torpedo in 1945 was a true head turner for the time.
The business was purchased by Stanley’s oldest son Sydney H. Young and his wife Juliette in 1968.
As Syd took over the helm he took the company into the age of fiberglass. Creating models like the 260 Norwester, the 19′ Veruna and the day cruisers. 100’s of the 260 Norwester can still be found fishings the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and on Lake Coeur d’ Alene. In the early 1980’s Syd & Julie and their two daughters Sydney and Amy moved the company to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. After the movie “On Golden Pond” came out in 1981, Syd will tell you the classic wooden boat revolution was started. Syd is credited with re-finishing and really bringing back to life over 250 Centuries, as well as countless Chris Crafts, Garwoods, Rivas, and any other brand of wooden boat brought to him in the 80’s and 90’s. Syd and Julie created an incredible business of restoration, storage, service and of course producing sometime one, and sometimes five custom wooden StanCrafts per year. One of Syd’s main focuses in the late 1990’s became redesigning boat bottoms to achieve better performance and provide a more enjoyable ride. Syd’s design contributions completely changed the future of StanCraft with their soft, and most importantly level rides. In 1997 Syd and Julie sold The Boat Shop to Duane Hagadone. The exception being the name and brand StanCraft. They sold all the property, service, storage, and restoration businesses but kept the family heritage in tact and allowed Syd and Julie to continue the family business in a small way at their home in Post Falls, Idaho. From 1997 to 2003 Syd and Julie occasionally built a new spec StanCraft and few per custom orders while enjoying their semi-retired life.
The current and third generation of StanCraft started in 2003 when Robb and Amy Bloem moved back to Idaho after being away for 12 years. We came back with the intent to start a new era in the wooden boat building world. We started with 3 guys in a 2,000 square foot shop in Syd and Julie’s backyard. Syd Young, Tom Baldwin and Robb Bloem set forth building some new boats on “spec.” Amy and Julie manned the office, in the house, all while watching the new edition and 4th generation River Bloem who was born in January of 2003. After a year or so of work in the backyard it was time to move out and into our Post Falls, Idaho location. We went from 2,000 to 8,400 square feet thinking that would last us another generation. Soon thereafter we built another 8,400 square foot building on the same property for boat storage. Within a year we converted that building to manufacturing giving us just under 17,000 square feet to work with. During that same time we started building our Hayden storage facilities. After 10 years we started construction on our new corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility that will give us just under 45,000 square feet of manufacturing and over 136,000 square feet of storage and service facilities. In February of 2016 we moved into our corporate headquarters. Over the past 12 years StanCraft has built over 150 new large custom mahogany boats, 30 of our Little Boat series, and over 75 of our Pontoon Editions. We have also started 3 dealerships in Coeur d’Alene ID, Portland OR. representing such brands as; MasterCraft, Formula, Chris Craft, Manitou, Premier, MB Boats, and multiple other brands. The new facility will allow for another decade of growth and property around us to expand. Today we employee over 60 people and looking to grow to over 100. Our pride in craftsmanship and pursuit of perfection will continue for generations. We are very excited for the future of StanCraft as the worldwide recognition of the brand continues to grow!
