Hamilton Island Race Week proves food, fashion and sailing are a hedonist’s heaven
The pearl in Queensland’s sporting calendar has made a triumphant return.
SPF 50+ and a fresh pedicure are essential considerations if you are invited to attend one of Hamilton Island Race Week’s exclusive events, which may involve socialising barefoot under the glorious north Queensland sun or on a flawless timber boat deck.
Long-sleeved outerwear is also suggested, lest a competing yachtie overhears you bemoaning the day’s perfect trade winds.
After a pandemic-induced two-year hiatus, the annual regatta event is back.
Festivities began on Saturday, with the first contingent of social identities, business and political figures and media descending on the Whitsunday Island to celebrate its grand return.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Zac and Jordan Stenmark, sailing veteran Rob Mundle and Deborah Hutton were among the first wave of attendees welcomed back to the idyllic island by the Oatley family and the island’s new CEO Peter Brulisauer, whose team put on a seafood-laden welcome feast for more than 150 guests on the shores of Qualia resort.
After what has been a rough period for Queensland’s tourism industry, Brulisauer said the return of the long-running event, now in its 36th year, was a welcome boost for the region. “It’s wonderful see Hamilton Island looking so spectacular,” he continued.
"The energy on the Island this week has been incredible. It has been a delight to welcome over 200 boats, 2,000 yachties and so many friends back to Hamilton Island …”
Former Momofuku Seiobo chef Paul Carmichael designed the Caribbean-inspired menu, marrying locally sourced, native ingredients with the traditional Barbadian flavours of his homeland.
“I just wanted to do something that was a little bit fun, a little bit messy and a little bit out of the ordinary... so you could step outside and be in a fantasy within a fantasy; because Hamilton Island is a fantasy,” he said.
The feast began with sharing towers brimming lobster curry, delicate scampi sashimi boats, Haitian pikliz-dressed mussels and torched abalone, followed by generous platters of aromatic lamb and freshly baked roti from portable wood-fired ovens which had been temporarily set up on the beach.
It was a glorious prelude to the first official day of sailing, with more than 200 yachts heading out into the pristine Whitsunday waters for a short around-the islands race.
For Paspaley, a long-time supporter of the annual regatta, it was also chance to showcase its latest collection aboard glamorous superyacht Quantum and introduce new face Leila George to its stable as guests sipped Tanqueray gin cocktails and enjoyed the world class sailing.
Creative Director Christine Salter said George’s dancing and acting background was a key reason for her casting as Paspaley’s latest muse, explaining that the brand’s decision to use actors over models was down to a desire to evoke emotion in its customers.
“We’re not trying to show a beautiful woman, we’re trying to emit a feeling so that women look at our images and relate our images to a feeling,” she said.
The intimate showcase was a precursor to its lauded White Luncheon, which will take place this Friday around Qualia’s beachside infinity pool, with the hotel’s executive chef John Kennedy curating a lunch featuring pearl meat, once considered a mere by-product of pearl production but now a favourite ingredient among Aussie chefs.
Model Lisa Seiffert, who arrived on the island after completing a gruelling yacht race from Brisbane to the Island on yacht Stefan Racing (part-owned by her father, Adrian), managed to steal a break from the sea spray and attend Sunday night’s Peter Gilmore-hosted dinner with her partner, Winning Appliances heir John Winning.
The pair was among the 140 guests who were taken on a culinary journey by Gilmore, a regular fixture of the Week. Before sharing his inspiration behind the evening’s meal, the Quay and Bennelong chef praised Australia’s advancement in ingredient diversity and availability.
“It wasn’t that many years ago that there was one type of lettuce at the supermarket, and two types of potatoes; dirty ones and washed ones,” he mused, “and carrots only came in the colour orange.”
A selection of fresh truffle-laden canapes preceded the impressive sit-down meal, which began with a delicate bowl of scallop sashimi with bonito cream and sea cucumber crackling and ended with a classic angus beef main and Bennelong’s signature dessert, ‘the chocolate crackle’.
With opulent dining events taking place daily throughout the week-long racing event, it’s not uncommon to overhear guests guiltily confiding that they’re almost sick of drinking Champagne, such is the continuous flow of Piper and Charles Heidsieck.
Not that bubbly is the only drop available. In fact Darren Jahn, who has worked with the Oatley family for many years and attended, he guesses, about 15 Race Weeks in his role as Oatley Wines’ resident expert, ensures attendees experience the best selection of wines from the family’s vineyards.
“More often than not I just choose my favourites, because I’m going to be drinking with you,” he confessed to the crowd at Sunday’s dinner, which was held at Qualia’s panoramic Long Pavilion.
Despite its two-year pause, the event stayed true to its tried and tested schedule of fine dining events featuring returning chefs and longstanding sponsors.
The timing of outgoing CEO Glenn Bourke’s retirement may have played a part in the decision to stick to the status quo until Brulisauer, who spent more than a decade running Australian ski fields including Perisher and Falls Creek before his appointment in April, finds his feet.
While perhaps a missed opportunity to shake things up, it also gave returning attendees a chance to celebrate the very things that makes this event such a standout: incredible food, wine and, of course, showstopping sporting moments.