The Empress is run by her owner. I'm Shawn Isakson, and I've always been drawn to the classics. Wooden boats, good tailoring, music on vinyl, a gin and tonic at sundown. My first boat was a wooden drift boat in Alaska, bought when it was more money than I had, and it set the pattern: while everyone on the lake was buying the new wake boat, I went looking for a Hacker-Craft. She rides to the water behind the Land Rover I'd wanted since I was sixteen, which tells you most of what you need to know about how this operation is run.

I bought the Empress and restored her completely, down to an entirely new bottom, which any wooden boat person will tell you is the whole job. She has since taken People's Choice at Whitefish Woody Weekend, and in 2025 I was awarded the Commodore's Award. I'm a husband and a father of four.

I built this because the evening I wanted on this lake didn't exist. Now it does.