Photography by Brad Hagadone

Syd Young Fuels the Wooden Boat Revival.

Even as they first take form, Syd Young’s boats begin to beckon.

You can imagine the sun glowing on their mahogany decks and glimmering on their chrome fittings. You can hear the throaty rumble of their exhaust pipes. You can almost feel them fly.

When it’s a hot sunny summer day with white caps on the lake, Syd Young wants to see owners of his boats out having fun. If they are not out, he wonders if there is something wrong.

From The Boat Shop in Post Falls, Idaho, where Syd operates his full service boat shop, he sees new boat purchases sitting idle on beautiful summer days, when they should (be) in use because they ride through white caps like a roller coaster.

The 29’ Stan-Craft Torpedo that Syd Young built for Gil Amoroso in 2003 has been continually refined since Syd’s father, Stan, began building Stan-Craft boats in 1933.

In the 1860s, prospectors discovered gold in Idaho and before long, thousands of miners gravitated to this Rocky Mountain state to strike it rich. Farmers, cattlemen and ranchers soon followed. As the mines were depleted, many of the get-rich-quick prospectors moved on.

When it became time for me to make my initial purchase of a classic boat in 1991, I was completely blown away when I first saw Big Sky. You could say it was love at first sight. I was fortunate to know the owner, Alan Furth, and when he decided to trim his collection, I was one of the first to get a shot at buying the boats he had decided to let go.

Classic mahogany speedboats have come a long way since they surged in popularity in the 1930s and ‘40s. Their once-knocking ride has been smoothed out to an effortless skim across the water–silken, fluid, and elegant.

Granted, she doesn’t look like a workboat but given her job of carrying passengers for hire, that’s what she is.