More Champagne
A social highlight of the week came on day six, when tuxedos mixed with miniskirts and ball gowns at a dinner for Sydney designer Collette Dinnigan, who put Madonna into a bustier and Halle Barry in her trademark sequins. Judging from the figures of some SWAGs in their skintight dresses, one suspects that the humpback’s migratory dietary habits were being mirrored on land.
In the middle of the long table, Francesca Packer Barham, Kerry Packer’s granddaughter, canoodled with her tattooed rocker boyfriend, Tyson Mullane, while vintage 1999 Piper-Heidsieck rosé champagne was generously poured. “Drink carefully,” the marque’s managing director, Robert Remnant, yelled in his Old Etonian accent. “Sandy bought out almost all our cases, so this is the last time we’ll get a chance to drink it.”
Meanwhile Sandy’s daughter held court with the family business's brand manager, Vogue-cover beautiful Nicky Tindill. Most of the partygoers were Tindill's friends. “I’m in an interesting position,” she said, nodding at her new husband, Troy, who works for the America’s Cub Syndicate. “I don’t even like sailing.”
On the Water
Despite all the island’s wealth and glitter, Kwok, Oatley, and their fellow billionaires were facing spartan conditions on board their stripped-down championship boats. Many had stuffed sandwich rolls into their pockets, since even the plug-in microwave oven’s on Oatley's craft had been jettisoned to minimize weight. Such furnishings as there were consisted of narrow, tennis racket-like mesh boxes: the bunks. From the shore, I could hear the captains bellowing orders to trim sails and shift sides during tacking maneuvers.
“On the boats, there are the professional skippers,” said Hamilton Island Chief Executive Officer Glenn Bourke. “Everyone else, including the owners, are treated as ballast.”
Collisions and the unpredictable winds—which brought top speeds of around 23 knots (for comparison, the average weekend sailboat cruises around around 6 knots an hour)—weren’t the only hazards last week. The islands are the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, visible on clear days by waves breaking over coral on the horizon. Unmarked underwater obstacles usually claim a keel or two.
“We’ve got unique tactical sailing conditions out there,” noted Bourke on the appeal of the regatta. “With all the changing winds around each island, underwater obstructions, and the strong currents, it’s a real navigational challenge getting around.”Final Tally
On Saturday, the closing day of the race, the SWAGs wore designer gowns while the sailors kept to their jeans and t- shirts for a final, rowdy beer and champagne presentation dinner. This year, as in the last one, Karl Kwok picked up the big A Division trophy and split modest AU$20,000 purse. Matt Allen, a former investment banker and head of UBS Japan, now overseer of Australia's Olympic racing team, came in second with his new racer, Ichi Ban.