 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Fame
is Fleeting
New Asian Cuisine Scene May/Jun 98
The elite of the yachting world took to the great oceans in their quest for victory in The 1997/1998 Whitbread Round the World Race, for the Volvo Trophy!
Ocean racing has been taking place for some 150 years. It has been a real sport for large corporations to pit crew against crew and come up with the fastest boat but as far as for round the world racing, the idea has been tossed around many times but the cost of holding such an event has always been beyond the grasp of its dreamers.
In 1997 / 1998, the $120 million Whitbread Round the World Race lures 10 teams, all of whom are keen to race against the wind for some 60,000 km - from Southampton England on 21 September 1997 and hopefully arrive at the finish line back in Southampton around 24 May, 1998.
Australian skippers and crew abound on the 60-foot yachts competing in the current race. And it's no wonder - Australia is a great sailing nation. They are all sailing in this ocean adventure for nothing more than the Volvo Trophy and a handshake!
Four
Aussies are working hard on the Norwegian-built yacht "Kvaerner Innovation".
Sail Manager Jim Close comes from Buderim in Queensland, crewmen Alby Pratt
and David Witt hail from Sydney and Ian "Barney" Walker comes from
Melbourne. Innovation Kvaerner is exactly that, total innovation. Imagine,
some 30 days at sea on certain legs, with little more to eat than the rations
allocated. Weight on all these yachts is a major concern, therefore all food
is dehydrated and then reconstituted. Working with a major sponsor in the
development of this type of food, the crew of "Innovation Kvaerner"
are trialing new concepts and styles of foods that will one day be implemented
in a number of areas.
The race is divided into nine legs of varying distances. From Southampton the yachts made their way to Cape Town, South Africa. Then onto Fremantle, Western Australia. A huge crowd was at the Pyrmont Marina in Sydney to celebrate their arrival into the 2000 Olympic City.
While in Sydney the Whitbread fleet berthed at the Pyrmont Marina, west of Darling Harbour, in an area which was transformed into the Volvo Race Village and Marina. The village took on an international flavour with non stop family entertainments, events, exhibits, food, activities and shopping.
The fleet then left Sydney to sail to Auckland, Sao Paolo in South America, up to Fort Lauderdale and Baltimore on the east coast of America and eventually across the Atlantic from US to the south of France and then arriving home in Southampton.
As a multi-national company, the sponsors of Innovation Kvaerner, Norwegian company Kvaerner, enabled me to partake in this event by arranging a series of dinners in some unique off-site venues and re-start luncheons aboard classic sailing vessels of by-gone days in both the Freemantle and Sydney. Working with Rolf Kjeseth, planning began in early 1997, Anton Mossiman was placed in control of events in Southhampton, Garth Stroebel and the Mount Nelson handled the VIP's in Cape Town, South Africa and in Australia I found myself working with Chris Taylor from Fraser's restaurant in Perth and Detlef Haupt at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The dinners in both Australian ports featured foods of regional Western Australia and New South Wales as well as great wines from downunder. The guests were flown in from cities throughout Asia and Australia as Kvaerner continued there team building efforts with the personal who run this worldwide company. Credit must go to the many people in upper management at Kvaerner who had the foresight to support such an event and turn it into something that the company personnel could feel apart of. Management within all business should adhere to the fact that without a great team, a company will not prosper and grow !!
Archive: