In 1967 there was a General Manager from a famous boat company known to most as Thompson Boats. Mr. Jack Dallman who was employed by Thompson decided to venture on his own and manufacture a new glass line known today as Yar-Craft Boats.

 

In 1969 Mr. Dallman and his family left Thompson to start their own family business in Menominee, Michigan. He called his new boat company Yar-Craft Boats. The word ‘Yare’ is an eastern expression meaning a graceful, safe ship responding quickly and truly to the helm. This is Yar-Crafts legacy.

 

Runabout style boats became a very popular first boat for Yar-Craft in the 70’s, but by the early 80’s Jack was forced to reinvent the wheel and offer a deep V fiberglass fishing hull that appeared to the fisherman who were demanding a boat that could stand the test of Mother Nature. Fishermen wanted a boat that was designed for bigger waters and harsher conditions. By the mid 80’s the company was out of the runabout business and into the deep V hull series boats still know today as “The Dry One”. This slogan is an example of history in the making carried on from fishermen that use the product and know what they want in a boat and its performance.

 

In the mid 90’s Jack Dallman passed away and the Dallman family business was purchased in 1995 by Mr. Bob Schutte from Menominee, MI. Jack’s fiberglass fishing line continued to live on with Mr. Schutte and he grew the company with his own hull design know as the Storm Series hull. Yar-Craft Boats continued to operate in Menominee Michigan until 2004 when a young businessman from Wausau Wisconsin purchased the company. Mr. Corey Suthers, a previous owner of the product, now the owner of the company.

 

Mr. Suthers who also owns a second family business know as Norlen Inc brings 45 years of experience and product knowledge to US and International companies. Norlen Inc. is a state of the art steel and stamping business that his grandfather started in 1964. Mr. Suthers is making his mark in the boating industry by introducing the all new TFX series, a faster, smoother and stylish series that will be with the company for many more years.

 

Almost everything makes a full circle in life. In the fall of 2006 Corey Suthers and his team ventured out to purchase the Thompson Boat Company. Thompson was located in St. Charles, Michigan and now being built in Wausau Wisconsin. Yar-Craft Boats will be building the 210, 240, and the 260 Fisherman Hardtop models that Mr. Dalman once managed.