The following article was written by PC Kelly Foust (Commodore 2009 & 2014) to describe his experience and view of the Grand 14. There are, of course, many changes in both POYC and the Grand 14 since then (some are noted after the end of the article), but this will give some perspective on the Grand 14, its purpose and value to POYC.
The Grand Fourteen
When I first thought about joining this yacht club, I was given the nickel tour and told about all of the benefits of being a member. All about the inexpensive moorage, the steak fries, the breakfasts, the cruises, and the reciprocal moorage. And oh, by the way we are also members of the “Grand Fourteen”. I thought, wow that’s cool, and thought, whatever that means. I figured that it must have something to do with the reciprocal moorage and left it at that. It wasn’t until I became an officer of this club eight years later that I finally learned the significance of being a member of the Grand Fourteen and I was curious about its history, so I started doing some research.
Here is what I learned. The interaction between the various clubs started way back in the 1930’s. It was the men that wanted to race their boats and compete against the other yacht clubs in the area and the wives of these men that wanted to get involved as well. Back then it was a man’s world and the women had little to do in the yacht clubs. So, the women started their own auxiliary organizations and started having their own social events. Hence the beginning of the predicted logs races and the WIC organization.
Before World War II there were only three clubs with a women’s auxiliary – The Bremerton Skipperettes, The Tacoma Shipmates, and the Everett Barnacles. These were the same three clubs that were hosting the foul weather/predicted log race regattas. These were annual events until 1943. Due to World War II, they suspended these meetings until the war was over. In 1946 the meetings resumed, and several other clubs began to join in. By 1958 most of the present day Grand Fourteen clubs including our own club, had annual boat races and the women auxiliaries. The women were having luncheons on a regular basis. As the number of auxiliaries grew problems arose. Most clubs only had limited space and entertaining all of the clubs once a year became financially burdensome. So, in 1961 it was decided that they would limit the membership to fourteen clubs. That decision is still enforced today. This organization of women is what we commonly know as the WIC organization. (Women’s Inter Club Council). This organization is rapidly approaching eighty years old. This membership costs our yacht club $20.00 annually and we have to be capable of hosting at least six other clubs for a luncheon, once a year, which we do. We usually have members come from all of the fourteen clubs here for that luncheon.
When our club was formed back in 1956 and Russ Sweany Sr. was elected the first Commodore, the small membership knew how important it was for our future to get accepted into this group of fourteen clubs then known as the Puget Sound Yacht Clubs. The Puget Sound Yacht Clubs eventually changed their name and were called “the Inter Club”. Another organization was formed years later. That organization also got the name Inter Club. That is when our group changed its name to the Grand Fourteen based on the decision made in 1961. The other Inter Club also changed its name later on and is now known as (R.B.A.W.) the Recreational Boating Association of Washington. That organization is very active in state legislation and is watching out for the better interests of all boaters on Puget Sound. Each of the clubs of the Grand Fourteen has an R.B.A.W. rep including our own club.
Some of the clubs have given up on hosting an annual boat race and some of the women auxiliaries have dissolved, But the WIC organization and the Grand Fourteen are still going strong and are a very important part of all of these Yacht Clubs.
As a yacht club we don’t do much with the Grand Fourteen compared to some of the other clubs. We open up our club for the Edmonds Yacht Club to visit on Memorial Day and the Commodores and Vice Commodores rendezvous here for a one-night stay in early August, prior to a meeting with the new Rear Commodores at the Bremerton Yacht Club annually. Every year, Tacoma, Queen City, Meydenbauer, and Seattle Yacht clubs go all out for the members of the Grand Fourteen and open up their clubs for the Opening Day and Daffodil celebrations.
I researched the history of Opening Day and found that the Seattle Yacht Club opened in the 1800s on Elliot Bay and later moved to their present location on Portage Bay on Lake Union. In 1920 they held the first Opening Day Parade through the Montlake Cut into Lake Washington. In 1950, they saw the significance of being a member of the Puget Sound Yacht Clubs and joined. They had been hosting spring and opening day celebrations since 1920, but it wasn’t until 1959 that they started having a theme for each of the opening day events. That year the theme was “Hell’s a Poppin’” and since then participants in the parade have been decorating their boats around a theme. It is unknown what year it was when they started visiting the clubs of the Grand Fourteen and giving them a personal invite, but they have been coming to our club for a long time.
They come every year to our club at our spring dinner meeting. Penni & I have always attended the spring meeting, but as a member I wasn’t sure about Opening Day and thought that it was just for our officers every year. I was wrong. This event is for every member of the Fourteen yacht clubs. This is a week-long event. Other dignitaries are also invited to this event, but it is the officer’s boat from each of the Grand Fourteen yacht clubs that leads the parade. Queen City and Seattle Yacht Club plan for this event a year in advance. There is plenty of free moorage for anyone that would like to come. There is no obligation by any of the boats visiting, and there are lots of events to attend at both clubs and a free shuttle between the two. There are lots of choices for food and entertainment. This is the largest boating parade in the world and has many classes to choose from if you would like to decorate and show off your boat. Tyee Yacht Club, another member of the Grand Fourteen just down the road, has an annual steak fry on Saturday evening following the parade. It is their yearly fund raiser for the money needed to host their own Commodores Ball. I always encourage our members to attend their dinner to help them out.
The Tacoma Yacht Club hosts their own version of Opening Day two weeks before Seattle. They call it Daffodil weekend. This event is very much like Opening Day in Seattle with an opening ceremony and a boat parade from the yacht club to the downtown waterfront and back. This event starts on Friday and ends on Sunday. They close their yacht basin to their members on Thursday and escort in all of the visiting boats on Friday and Saturday. The parade is Sunday morning. They have lots of events planned for your entertainment and lots of food. The moorage is free and they have lots of space available. There is no obligation to anyone once you arrive. Food and entertainment are available at a very reasonable price. It is there for your enjoyment. They also have a class for decorated boats if you would like to participate in the parade. Sunday after the parade they help you untie and escort you out.
When I became an officer of this club, I soon learned that my assumption that the Grand Fourteen clubs were just fourteen clubs that we had reciprocal moorage with, was wrong. Oh, we had reciprocal moorage with them all right, but what we really had is a well-designed network of clubs helping each other. The yearly calendars of each of these clubs are planned a year in advance and are woven together around each other’s club’s events. In that first meeting with my counterparts from the other clubs we were told about the rich history of the Grand Fourteen and how our clubs had been working and playing together since 1949. This weekend is designed for the incoming officers to meet their peers, have some fun performing menial tasks, and have some bonding time. The incoming Rear Commodores of each year are referred to as “The Class of (year)” meaning the year in which they will end their Commodore year. During this bonding time a name for the group is chosen. Colors and a mascot are also chosen. The weekend ends with a briefing on upcoming events, dress codes, and what our expenses will most likely be.
This is what is important for our members of the Port Orchard Yacht Club to know and understand about the Grand Fourteen. To be a member of the Grand Fourteen there are no yearly dues to pay. Our only obligation is that we host a yearly Commodores Ball, a Junior Officers Ball every other year and we host a yearly WIC luncheon.
Every year we ask a member and his or her spouse to step up and volunteer four years of their life to be an officer of our club. We are a big club and it is a lot of work to keep this club running smoothly. Everything we accomplish is from volunteers and we have some great members helping us out, but it is our officers that are our managers, and it is their duty to see to it that everything does get done. Being a member of The Grand Fourteen sets our yearly goals and gives us our direction. We have annual events that must happen, and it is up to our officers to see to that they do. Our new officers get to visit seven of the fourteen clubs in their first year and the other seven in their second. They get to see how the other clubs operate and accomplish their goals. With that, our officers bring back fresh ideas to our own club. They learn from their peers and get to compare similar situations and solve similar problems that each of the clubs’ experience. Every year we invite the officers from the other clubs to visit our facility. This is what gives us the incentive to maintain and consistently upgrade our facility. It comes from pride of ownership. We started out as a very small club and mostly blue collar. It is that pride of ownership that the Grand Fourteen has provided us that has helped us grow into one of the top five healthiest and wealthiest clubs not only in the Grand Fourteen, but in all of the clubs on Puget Sound, while maintaining very low moorage rates to our members.
Our Officers soon learn that the Grand Fourteen social events are their reward for dedicating four years of their life to this club. Without that interaction and direction, this club could have easily fallen into bankruptcy years ago, as we would have a difficult time finding or keeping good managers. If it had not been for the friendships that I had gained attending the Grand Fourteen events, I would have resigned as an officer at the end of my first year. By being a member of the Grand Fourteen I believe it has secured our past and it guarantees our future. Without being a member, our future would most certainly be in jeopardy. Being a member of the Grand Fourteen is our strength and not a “Oh, by the way”.
Respectfully submitted,
PC Kelly Foust
NOTES:
WIC annual dues are now $50 per year, and POYC hosts a WIC luncheon every other year, in odd numbered years. Attendees pay to attend.
At one time POYC had a ladies auxiliary group known as the Commo-Dears. That no longer exists.
POYC still hosts the annual Fall Round-up predictive log race in conjunction with the IPBA.
Opening Day is now just a weekend event and is open to all yacht clubs, not just the Grand 14.
TYC’s Daffodil Marine Parade weekend is also open to all yacht clubs. There is now a small fee to take a boat for the weekend.
Reciprocal moorage is not a Grand 14 privilege. It is open to any yacht club that is willing to grant our members reciprocal moorage at their club. We now have reciprocal arrangements with over 70 yacht clubs up and down the west coast of the US and Canada.
Our club calendar is not locked to the Grand 14 calendar, but we do try to minimize conflicts between our events and theirs.
Class members of the Grand 14 are required to pay annual dues to their class. This funds their contributions to the 7 Junior Officer Balls each year and other class expenses. POYC reimburses the Vice Commodore and Rear Commodore up to $900 each for these dues. The Commodore class dues are significantly less ($165 in 2024-25) and the POYC also reimburses those. In addition, POYC allocates $1,400 (2024-25) for other expenses related to participation in the Grand 14.
POYC has changed its management structure so that the Commodore is no longer running the club, with the assistance of the Vice and Rear Commodore and the consent of the rest of the Board of Trustees. The Club’s finances and facilities are now managed by the 4 non-flag officer Board members. The Commodore, VC and RC are now in charge of social activities but also sit on the Executive Board and each have a vote equal to the other trustees. As such, the financial and infrastructure health of the club is no longer dependent on just the Commodore. Most other clubs have also adopted similar changes.
The tradition of being Fleet Captain then moving on to Rear Commodore is no longer applicable.