Norm Blanchard, 1911-2009: ship builder’s passing marks the end of an era
The Northwest lost one of its most prolific and respected boat builders and designers with the death last week of Norm Blanchard.
Blanchard died July 9. He was 98.
Blanchard was the son of Norman J. Blanchard, who founded the Blanchard Boat Company. He inherited both his father’s name and his talent and passion for boat building, working alongside him for many years.
Considered by many the most prolific builder of boats in the Northwest during the first half of the 20th century, the Blanchard boat Company built nearly 2,000 boats ranging from small dinghies to luxury yachts.
Dick Wagner, founder of The Center for Wooden Boats and a friend of Norm Blanchard, said the father and son team distinguished itself by bringing the designs of naval architects such as Ted Geary to life with impeccable craftsmanship.
“Norm and his father in many ways put Seattle on the map as a place where you can get really high-quality built boats,” Wagner said. “They set a standard in the production of yachts and workboats that they built.”
Norm Blanchard as a child beneath the sailboat Sir Tom, designed by Ted Geary. Blanchard Boat Company photos, MOHAI.
The Blanchards’ attention to detail was unparalleled, Wagner said.
“It’s all those details that really make a difference between a boat that is functional but plain and a boat that really has a fantastic appeal, through lights and shadows and the sweep of planking and decking and all those details around the ports and companionways,” he said.
“Those just give it that feeling that this was really built by craftsmen and not just knocked out.”
The Blanchard Boat Company was the choice of designers including Geary, Edmond Monk, Ben Seaborn and Bill Garden, and of renowned shipwrights attracted by its reputation for high standards.
But the Blanchards’ success also stemmed from an ability to switch gears as the market changed. In the heady days of the early 19th century, Blanchard built luxurious yachts for nouveau riche shipping and timber magnates. As the economy continued booming, the company turned out skiffs, government boats and the famous Sir Tom, a 38-foot racing sloop designed by Geary.
But the yard went bust after underbidding the contract to build a 130-foot freighter for famous Seattle architect John Graham. After working for two years in a local shipyard, Blanchard Sr. was back in business, building the 62-foot schooner Red Jacket and more opulent yachts: a 90-foot vessel for Seattle Yacht Club Commodore and lumber tycoon C.D. Stimson, a 115-foot yacht for California oilman Willits Hole.
During Prohibition, Blanchard Boat Company produced rum-runners designed to swiftly carry liquid contraband across the Canadian border. By the mid-1920s, demand for megayachts was waning, while interest in boating by more middle-class professionals grew. In response to that demand, the Blanchards began producing a smaller motoryacht with a high deck and vertical bow. The design was replicated by competitor Lake Union Drydock and named the “Lake Union Dreamboat.”
Another beautiful boat is launched from the N.J. Blanchard boatyard. Blanchard Boat Company photos, Museum of History & Industry.
But it was hard times brought on by the Great Depression that spawned some of the company’s most popular boats. In response to tighter boating budgets, Blanchard Sr. decided to build an inexpensive sailboat with a cabin. The resulting Senior Knockabouts, ranging from 22 to 26 feet, proved a huge hit. The company also developed the Junior Knockabout, a 20-foot daysailer without a cabin.
“What they wanted to do was make a better boat for the size and performance than was available at a slightly cheaper price,” Wagner said. “It was a way that they got through the Depression,” Wagner said.
Despite their pragmatism, the Blanchards never sacrificed aesthetics, said Lew Barrett, commodore of the Classic Yacht Association’s Pacific Northwest fleet.
“If you look at a Blanchard boat, they’re just beautiful. You look at his standard cruiser and every line’s right. It’s sparse, it’s lean, straightforward, well done,” he said.
“It’s almost like (furniture designer) Gustav Stickley on the water. For me, that’s the appeal.”
The advent of mass-produced fiberglass boats after World War II radically transformed the boating industry and rendered the Blanchards’ brand of custom craftsmanship obsolete. In 1969, Norm Jr. sold his late father’s company.
The crew takes a break at the boatyard. Blanchard Boat Company photos, MOHAI.
Today, the surviving fleet of Blanchard-built boats are beloved by classic boat aficionados and frequently turn up at wooden boat shows and rendezvous. Blanchard-era boats were only intended to last 25 years or so, Barrett said, and their continued existence speaks to the quality of the Blanchards’ work.
“They were, as it turned out, built better than anyone thought at the time,” he said. “You could argue whether the materials and technology today are an improvement or just substitutes for the type of things they were doing years ago. It’s testament to the way these guys where thinking and what they were doing.”
In his later years, Norm Blanchard became a frequent visitor to The Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, where he sailed well into his nineties and always insisted on taking the helm. Center volunteer Vern Velez recalled one of Blanchard’s last sailing trips at the center, when he and his wife were out on a 24-foot Blanchard Knockabout.
Blanchard turned to his wife and said, “Mary, I think we made these seats too high,” Velez recalled. “These boats were built 65 or 70 years ago and he’s still thinking about how to improve them. He was always thinking about his boats.”
The Center for Wooden Boats will hold its annual Norm Blanchard WOOD (Wood Open & One Design) Regatta on Sept. 25 through 27, which usually draws a few Blanchard sailboats. As always, there will be racing Saturday and Sunday, and a dinner Saturday night.
This year, Velez said, attendees will be invited to share their stories about a local legend whose passing marks the end of an era.
“We’re going to make it a celebration of Norm Blanchard,” he said.
Fantastic article, keep up the good work.
Norm had a twinkle in his eye and a constant smile. He was generous to my children often leaving a folded bill in a handshake. He always had a story to tell of other people who had made great contributions to the Northwest, and who often bought a boat. He is gone now leaving memories for many of us but ending a personal era. For me, and maybe others, there is a regret for not taking the time to make more memories with him.
Norm’s passing did not follow a “lengthy illness” per se; rather, it was a five-or-so-year-long age-related shutting down of necessary functions such as ambulation and communication. His widow Mary told me that he went peacefully when she called to inform me of his death.
By the way, in the third photo it is a young Ed Monk leaning against the door with arms folded.
I’m not so sure that the Blanchard yard can be called “. . .the most prolific builder of boats in the Northwest during the first half of the 20th century.” That claim might better be made for the Grandy Boat Company, a Blanchard competitor on Lake Union.
The pictured boat above young Norm is the Sir Tom, a very successful Ted Geary Design that dominated West Coast racing for some 30 plus years. A near sister ship was lovely restored by the Center for Wooden Boats where it can be viewed. Norm not only raced on the Sir Tom, he also sold the boat in the late 1940s for the value of the lead in it’s keel!
my condolences to the Blanchard Family
I will carry on the Tradition of West Coast Builders because of Legends like Norm & his father
It’s really sad to me that Michael Jackson’s death got ten days or so of national maintstream media coverage and I’ve yet to to see an obituary in the paper of a man who had such an incredible impact on Northwest maritime culture.