The Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance began when a few wooden-boat owners came together to share their passion. Since then, Concours has raised the bar year after year and earned the title of North America’s premier wooden-boat show.

The show has spanned four marinas and nearly five decades. In 1972, a handful of Tahoe Yacht Club members and friends gathered at Chambers Landing for the first Concours. The event moved to Tahoe City’s Tahoe Boat Company in 1976, then to Sierra Boat Company in Carnelian Bay in 1993. In 2014, Concours returned to the West Shore—birthplace of wooden pleasure boating on Lake Tahoe—and now calls Obexer’s Boat Company home. Obexer’s was the lake’s first wooden-boat dealership and is as classic as the Concours vessels themselves.

In 1994, Concours gained a cause with the founding of the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation (TYCF). The Foundation’s mission is to preserve the environment and history of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance is TYCF’s largest event. Since its induction—and thanks to the Concours community—the Foundation has awarded more than $410,000 in grants to maritime-related, charitable, and cultural organizations.

From the start, the purpose of the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance was simple: celebrate wooden-boat tradition. The show quickly became a must-see display and a way to educate the public about classic watercraft, past and present. Over time it also became a way to give back to Lake Tahoe. Today, the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance is a benchmark in the wooden-boat community, renowned worldwide for exhibit quality and rigorous judging standards. Through all the prestige, Concours remains true to its roots—sharing a passion for wooden boats with the world.