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The most prominent Caribbean Yacht Club celebrates 110 year anniversary
On July 27, the Puerto Olvidar Imperial Yacht Club will hold a festivity to commemorate the founding of the society. A rousing reception
is sponsored by Britches Rum Distillery, and the opening address will be delivered by the Minister of Environment, Land and Marine Affairs,
the Honorable Desiderio "Desi" Bontequ.
When strolling along the quay in Puerto Olvidar, the capital of St.Tosia, and ogling the gigantic mega yachts where gazillionaires, magnates,
moguls, and tycoons from all over the world hold hoity-toity cocktail parties, one will understand that this is all unified in a social
alliance called the Puerto Olvidar Imperial Yacht Club.
| the typical yacht lineup in Puerto Olvidar |
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Founded on July 27, 1914, by 23 gentlemen interested in sea yachting. Membership was restricted to those who owned a vessel explicitly not
under 10 tons. The original members decided to meet to discuss yachting over dinner. In 1914, they acquired what is now called "Harbor Court"
and they are considered to sit on one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Puerto Olvidar. The POIYC became an exclusive private
club where the "real deals" were done. For that particular purpose the Yacht Club provides unique biometrics-protected club card for its
members, embedded with a dynamically adjusted significant global credit line to accommodate members interested in making a down payment
on a yacht purchase without the need to carry around all that cash.
Historically, the Yacht Club tended to focus on a membership exclusively composed of yacht owners and was attracting the aristocracy or the
upper class and leaving small boat owners out of the circle. The Imperial Yacht Club is the ultimate showcase of snobbery. It has a fraternity
membership of no more than 150 members and about fifty yachts.
Nowadays it doesn't even matter if one doesn't own a yacht. Any owner of a yacht will confirm anyway that their yachts spend most of the
time tied to a dock. The Club is more about exclusive access to real inside information through ordinary opportunities to meet and network
with some of the world's real insiders i.e. nobility, influential government officials, corporate chiefs, and successful businessmen.
It is an élite place to meet, drink and schmooze with friends in a congenial atmosphere. It has five-star gastronomy that is inspired by
its French haute cuisine Chef Bernard Chalot Lazare who turns French dining into a belle époque UNESCO Cultural Heritage Item. The members
and guests are under the illusion that one is better than everyone else.
President of the yacht club is Commodore Horatio Dawson, a distinguished Flag Officer and a grizzled sailor who always has a briar pipe in
the corner of his mouth. He indeed possesses the dignity of a typical Navy Chief. He is the living proof that great looking over-grown bushy
eyebrow hair never goes out of style. In one of the membership meetings of the Yacht Club, Commodore Dawson was caught in an unguarded
remark on open microphone, saying that "the quite ordinary cruising sailors have a tendency to become unbearable once they gained admittance
of the Club. They don't know ships from horse droppings".
| Commodore Horatio Dawson |
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The yacht-clubhouse deck-style viewing balcony perches above the white fiberglass landscape of luxury yachts and their ever-chic inhabitants.
The architecture with its teak wooden decking and hull-shaped exterior that resembles that of a vintage yacht design. It was created by the
Italian designer Aleandro Gamanoni del Lusso.
Because of their enormous size, some super-yachts stay anchored side by side in front of the harbor of Puerto Olvidar. It looks like a show-off
for which billionaire has the nicest boat with the most luxury, helicopters, and jet skis. "My yacht's bigger than your yacht" and, "my entourage
is better looking than your entourage."
The anniversary celebrations will be concluded with a breathtaking extravagant firework display that will light up the evening sky over the
waterfront. It will have a jaw dropping array of dazzling pyrotechnic sparkle patterns, copious flashes, vibrant colors and big bangs and
rattling sounds. Following the light show there will be heaps of parties in Puerto Olvidar where revelers will have fun and enjoy merriness
until the wee hours. After all, the open skies concept means that everyone can enjoy the striking dramatic visual experience that paints the
skyline without being a member of the yacht club.
Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
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