The 2023 ACBS Annual Meeting and Vintage Boat Week brought the finest classic and contemporary wooden boats in the world to Bay Harbor, Michigan — and Van Dam Custom Boats was right at the center of it all.
Van Dam brought an extraordinary collection of its builds to the show: Catnip, Adieu, Italmas, Dreamboat, Chiara, and Lightning Strikes were all on display, with multiple boats earning Platinum Contemporary winner status. Italmas, Van Dam’s 44-foot cold-molded sloop, was singled out for her world-class design — described in the awards as a hull “born from restrained overhangs and subtle tumblehome,” featuring a custom wooden spar with a carbon fiber roller-furling boom and a sail plan tuned for ease without sacrificing performance.
The Van Dam shop itself served as the venue for the ACBS scholarship fundraiser, giving attendees a rare behind-the-scenes tour of the design and build process — from raw wood planking to metal fabrication to varnish and finish work. The evening’s live and silent auctions raised over $10,000 for boatbuilding schools and their students, a cause deeply aligned with Van Dam’s own apprenticeship mission.
The event was, by every measure, a celebration of what’s possible when passion for craft meets a commitment to legacy.