There’s no higher praise in the wooden boat world than being called the Q Branch — the brilliant, boundary-pushing division that makes the seemingly impossible look effortless. That’s exactly how Classic Boat Magazine described Van Dam Custom Boats in its November 2024 roundup of the finest boatbuilding yards from around the globe.
The feature highlighted Victoria Z, Van Dam’s then-current build: a 35-foot, all-wood mahogany runabout with a traditional utility-style profile and decidedly non-traditional performance. Designed by Michael Peters and powered by twin 427 Ford Cobras channeled through Arneson surface drives, Victoria Z was built to exceed 110 mph on the water. That kind of contradiction — a boat that looks like a gentleman’s launch and performs like a racing machine — is the Van Dam hallmark.
Classic Boat featured yards from Suffolk, Scotland, and Southampton alongside Van Dam, placing Boyne City, Michigan firmly on the world map of extraordinary wooden boatbuilding. Not bad company for a shop tucked deep in the woods of Northern Michigan.