MAINE BOATBUILDERS SHOW Page 21. Boatbuilders Who Have Passed over the Bar
significant other, Lisa, of Bucksport, and grandchildren, Leanne, Heather and Randy, and Zachary and Lisa, Tracy Crabtree and husband, Jeff, of Franklin, and grandchildren, Dustin and Sara; Kelly of Bristol, Conn., and Travis of Buxton; brother, Colby Young and Nana of Corea, and nephews, Leonard and Colby Jr. and nieces, Marcia and Nancy; sister-in-law, Laverna Young of Scarborough; stepchildren, Margaret Holler and Shawn of Ellsworth, and grandchildren, Hannah, Rachel, Samuel and Eli, Richard Graves and Erikka of St. Paul, MN, and grandchildren, Thomas and Jack; great-grandsons, Isaac and Colby Simmons; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins; and special nephew, Michael Light and his wife, Tammy, and their children, Chris and Kerry. Arvid was predeceased by his parents; and twin brother, Arvin. A graveside committal was held 2 p.m. on Friday, September 16, at Corea Cemetery, Corea, with Pastor Charles Kelley officiating. A potluck will be held immediately after the ceremony at 41 Cranberry Point Road, Corea. Remembrance donations may be sent to American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718. Services are under the direction of Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Home, Milbridge. * * * * *
It was sad to hear of Vid’s passing. Over the years it was always interesting to sit down Vid. We would talk lobster boats, lobster boat racing or naval history in the Pacific during World War II.
Anyone that has been along the coast of Maine very long and loves lobster boats certainly knows who the Young Brothers
are, especially if you followed lobster boat racing in the 1970s and ‘80s. The Young Brothers, was made up of three bothers, Colby, the oldest and the twins, Arvid and Arvin. They come from a boatbuilding family and when young always visited the area boat shops. Their great grandfather on their mother’s side came from Finland to New York on a sailing ship when he was about 15 years old. He took passage on a boat from Jonesport, which needed crew member and promised him he could return on their return voyage. Well, when he landed in Jonesport he liked it so much he never left.
This was Herman Backman, known as Jack, who became a fisherman. It is thought that he never built boats, but he had five sons, and three of them certainly did, Benny, Otto and Herman Jr. Benny built boats and also worked at the Boston navy yard. Otto worked at Southwest Boat in Southwest Harbor during World War II. Herman Jr. spent the World War II in the Coast Guard, but came back and built a number of boats. The Young Brother’s father was born and brought up at Corea. Colby added, “The only thing he could build was a lobster trap. When he married our mother he said to her ‘All I do is fish, that’s what I do. Want anything done you gotta do it or get it done,’ and he went fishing.”
All three brothers spent some time on Beals Island, but Colby more than his brothers because he spent a lot of time with his grandparents. When they got older they visited any boat shop that was busy.” All three Young Brothers loved the water and their country and when they got
out of high school they joined the military. Colby joined the Navy in 1956 hoping to be a bosun’s mate. However after the tests they wanted him to be an engineer and he ended up a pipe fitter.
Arvid said, “We come home after our first stitch in the Coast Guard and things wasn’t good on the coast of Maine, so we went back and re-enlisted for six more years.”
During boot camp Arvid had the top
bunk and Arvin the bottom. But of all the nine years the twins spent in the Coast Guard they only spent a month together on one ship, a weather vessel out of Portland. The Young Brothers started building boats right out in their dooryard. They started with a Newman and Webber’s Cove hulls. First for themselves and then for a customer from New York, which was 1974. Arvid added, “I think it was Vin who said to our mother, ‘if we are going to build boats let’s build them for ourselves.”
Colby added, “They were up on the wharf one morning, chewing the rag, and I walked up and they said, ‘what do you think about building a boat? I said, ‘What do you mean build a boat, we just did.’ ‘No, build our own.’ ‘Well, I guess if you want to do it I’ll go with you.’
A local fisherman had one of Osmond
Beal’s 38 footers in the harbour, which was three years old. At that time she was a big boat, with classic lines. They asked if they could use his boat as a plug. He said that he needed something to fish in and they told him that they would take care of that. Colby added, “We didn’t know diddly squat about building boats.”
In the fall of 1976 they hauled the boat out, took off her guards and put her in their shop. When she was launched they sold six boats, four hulls and two completions. Arvid added, “It was now fish or cut bait and we went building boats.” When the Young Brothers looked for their next model, enter Ernest Libby Jr. of Beals Island. Arvid said, “Nernie came to us. One day he was putting his shoes on and Myrtle said, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I am going to the Young Brothers.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because they can do a lot more with my model than I can and he come up to see us.” Libby was building the 33 in his shop
and the Young Brothers asked for a few changes. They removed the tumblehome, added a fuller bow and some other minor changes. Arvid said, “We did the 33 and then we did the 45, the 40, 38, 30 and 42 and we built about 550 boats over 32 years.” There is no question that the Young Brothers had a good model and built a good boat. However, in business one needs to market and they did this with a passion of theirs, racing. Arvid said, “The racing part was mostly Vin.”
“The first race they had at Winter Harbor Festival I was in it,” added Colby. “There were three boat and I came in third.” They would pull out an engine one evening and be on the race course the next day. It was their SOPWITH CAMEL, I and II, which would make headlines for over a decade. Their biggest competitor was Corliss Holland’s RED BARON and between the two they certainly made the headlines. They also sold a lot of boats because of it.
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