He mustered a meeting in London with a number of Rotarians and, for constitutional purposes, solicited the aid of Stanley Leverton, then the Chairman of District 13 and together they prepared the constitution and by-laws of our friendship.

Creating a title was no easy matter but, finally, Rotary International approved the name "The Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians."

It is interesting to note that this was the first of the many recreational Fellowships within the Fellowship Activities of which over forty exist today. This fellowship quickly spread all over the Great Britain and then throughout the world.

At the R.I. Convention in Paris in 1953, the Rotary Burgee was flown on the River Seine. Similarly, at a regional in Ostende, Belgium, Rotarian A.N. Cooke in "Silver Dolphin" was accorded a civic reception by the Burgermaster and it is recorded that at one time there were no less than seven different nationalities of Rotarians on board.

In 1956, at the Golden Anniversary Convention, the first International Commodore from outside Great Britain was elected and Bob Stuart from Chicago, Illinois, took over the helm. It was also about this time the name was changed to "The International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians." (IYFR)

The first international randevous of IYFR was held in 1964 in conjunction with the R.I. Convention in Toronto, Canada.

Since that time the Fellowship has greatly expanded with many fleets being added under enthusiastic leadership of the many Past International Commodores, who have been elected from a diversity of countries with in the world of Rotary.

Today, we have throughout the world some 80 active fleets and our membership, including some 250 "Members at Large", is now in the region of 3000 members.