Sailing Magazine
pic by Bob Grieser/PPL
By Richard Crockett
Here’s another one of those easy-to-read features, this time written by international sailing scribe Barry Pickthall who was in the land of the long white cloud for the Millennium party, and of course the America’s Cup.
It was dubbed the ultimate party: forty of so yachting megalomaniacs who presumably paid for it all, plus 900 friends, crew and wannabe socialites who braved the possibilities of seasickness and salt spray on an overnight ‘race’ from Auckland to Kawau Island and back.
Set against the backdrop of the America’s Cup, the event gave a sense of gravitas to the Billion Dollar fleet that turned up in New Zealand to watch the long drawn out Cup series unfold in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. You could argue that it was a lot more competitive, with wealthy owners setting private wagers over pre-race cocktails on their yacht beating a rival further down the dock. It was certainly a lot more fun.
READ MORE HERE: Pages from 2000 04 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
pic by Bob Grieser/PPL
