Hamilton Island Race Week rivalries reignited – Sydney Morning Herald

Its been a long time between drinks: Paspaleys White Luncheon in 2019.Credit:Kara Rosenlund

Winning has also enlisted three of Oatleys former crewmen, who have effectively jumped ship from the Wild Oats family to join their old rivals, including sailing superstar and tactician, Iain Murray.

Winning says: Sailing is a pretty small world. Its not unusual for crews to change, for sailors to go on different boats throughout their career, but theres no bad blood in that, its just the way it is.

Winnings good friend, Nicky Oatley, concurs, saying the family has nothing but love for the big fella, the term of endearment she uses for Murray, an Americas Cup and Sydney to Hobart veteran.

Nicky Oatley says the family has nothing but love for the big fella, Iain Murray.

Meanwhile, the race to the champagne bar on Hamilton Island this year is shaping up to be an interesting one too. A gaggle of Sydneys red carpet regulars is en route including Kate Waterhouse and Luke Ricketson, Deborah Symond and Ned ONeil, Nadia Fairfax and former US InStyle editor Laura Brown, who is spending time in her homeland following her all-star wedding.

No doubt theyll be match-fit for the hectic round of cocktail parties and banquets culminating in the exclusive Paspaley White Luncheon on Friday, when millions of dollars worth of South Sea pearls will be unveiled.

Lachlan Murdochs award-winning Istros, a 1954 classic superyacht heading for Hamilton Island.Credit:Boat International/Guillaume Plisson

PS also hears one eye-catching boat, not competing, is also steaming its way to Hamilton Island, in the form of Lachlan and Sarah Murdochs newly acquired classic cruiser Istros.

No word on who will be on board, though Murdoch jetted back into Sydney on Wednesday, and is a keen yachtie himself.

Feted as the darlings of Sydney hospitality since opening Palm Beachs Boathouse in 2008, only to then weather one of the industrys biggest storms, Andrew and Pip Goldsmith have quietly left the business that has become one of the hottest players in town.

The Boathouses original owners, Andrew and Pip Goldsmith.

Their exit comes three years after the Boathouse Group dining empire collapsed owing 500 creditors a staggering $21.5 million. The group eventually fought its way back and under new ownership continued to expand, opening the historic Manly Pavilion site in a multimillion-dollar deal earlier this year and lodging plans for an ambitious new project in Dural, where landscaper-turned-restaurateur Andrew Goldsmith grew up.

In August 2019, it emerged Sydney property developer brothers Ben and Jono Isaac had become part owners of parent company Palm Group Holdings, in a syndicate with Sydneys Sorensen family, and which previously included Pip Goldsmiths father, former trade minister Andrew Robb and his wife Maureen, though they appear to have left the business last year according to ASIC records.

The syndicate stepped in to save the chain of popular seaside eateries after mounting debts and a wind-up action by the Australian Tax Office forced original owners Andrew and Pip Goldsmith to look for outside investors.

Ben and Jono Isaac in 2019 when they stepped in to save the Boathouse group of restaurants. Credit:Nick Moir

Andrew Goldsmith declared himself bankrupt in May 2020 but remained in a senior management position with the group, telling PS a year ago: It has been a challenging two years for the hospitality industry. However, in the same breath, we are excited to have something positive for our team to work on.

In a joint statement to their customers, the Goldsmiths said: Our words and appreciation for our guests, supporters, friends and families, will never be enough. And to all of the team members we have worked alongside you were our inspiration and we are lucky to have shared the journey with so many of you.

Clearly, cactus was never going to cut it when it came to creating a floral tribute inspired by the one and only Kylie Minogue, one of 15 installations paying homage to trailblazing women unveiled yesterday at the Royal Botanic Gardens Calyx greenhouse.

The floral tribute to Kylie Minogue at The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens.Credit:Wolter Peeters

The tributes are part of the international Fleurs de Villes installation, which has been held around the world since 2015, and is now making its debut in Sydney.

The Jenny Kee tribute installation at The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens.Credit:Wolter Peeters

For Kylie, the team at Don de LAmour Bespoke Blooms fashioned the tribute out of delicate vanda orchids, tiki fern, Singapore orchids and pieris.

Other tributes in the show, which runs until August 28, include Carla Zampatti (Lisianthus, staticespray, chrysanthemums and sago), Jenny Kee (Geraldton waxflowers, banksias, Cymbidium orchids and wattle), Olivia Newton-John (blanca roses, statice, double tulips and carnations), Nicole Kidman (Banksia coccinea, magnolia and Cymbidium orchids), Ash Barty (Geraldton waxflower, kangaroo paw, daisies and octagon flowers) and Nancy Bird Walton (Everlasting daisies, cordyline, Spanish moss and delphiniums).

Finishing touches being applied to the Nancy Bird Walton floral tribute on show at The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens.Credit:Wolter Peeters

The recently installed US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, has fast become Sydneys most coveted dinner party guest.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy greets the press at Sydney International Airport in July before taking up her post.Credit:Brook Mitchell

On Monday, Kennedy met University of NSW leaders, researchers and students at the Randwick campus and attended the graduation ceremony of her friend and alumna Dr Melissa Chiu.

Art collector Danny Goldberg. Credit:NIC WALKER

Chiu is director of the Smithsonians Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, which includes international modern and contemporary art, based in Washington DC.

Her friends, leading Sydney art collector and executive chairman of private equity firm Dakota Capital, Danny Goldberg and wife Lisa, hosted an intimate dinner at their Vaucluse home afterwards, at which Kennedy was among the guests.

PS hears guests were particularly enamoured with Kennedy confirming that she was the inspiration for Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline, which the showman wrote after seeing a photograph of her when she was a nine-year-old girl.

Endless charity committees, gala dinners, red carpets, boutique openings, a month on the Amalfi ... life in Sydneys pointy end sounds exhausting. So, who could blame the Real Housewives of Vaucluse for wanting to let off a bit of steam?

The real housewives of Vaucluse from left: Marly Boyd, Alina Barlow, Sarah Carroll, Terry Biviano, Maree Andrews, Sophie CurtisCredit:Instagram

Thats precisely what they did when party planner Maree Andrews threw her fancy dress Dark, Dangerous and Decadent themed 40th last weekend in the carport at Darling Points Swifts mansion, which she had ambitiously renamed Chateau M for the dimly lit, Eyes Wide Shut soire.

The gals clearly pulled out all the stops as a fleet of limos disgorged the society types wearing lacy lingerie, diamonds, heels and not much else on a particularly chilly night. Bizarrely, their husbands turned up in blazers and chinos.

Andrews herself appeared to be channelling both Cher and Celine Dion in her homage to the Rankin Sisters, while veteran social fixture Barbara Coombs had clearly been busy plucking chooks for her giant feathered wings she flapped about in.

No wonder the neighbours were hot on the phone to PS wondering what the likes of Russian heiress and Sydney FC owner Alina Barlow, in a racy onesie, retired WAG Terry Biviano, in her Cirque du Soleil cast-off, Sophie Curtis, wearing a glorified lace hanky, and PS regular, Double Bay eyebrow technician Kristin Rio Fisher, stuffed into a rubber dress, were getting up to inside. Bow chikka wow wow.

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Hamilton Island Race Week rivalries reignited - Sydney Morning Herald