Bathurst Mount Panorama Lap Records rewritten

Laurens Vanthoor in his Audi R8 LMS Ultra (R Eime)

The Mount Panorama circuit in Central New South Wales has always been a great leveller. The steep upward climb and precipitous downward plunge, has humbled many of the world's great drivers.

Last weekend's Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour saw several historic milestones fall.

Two of the three Bentley Continental GT3s brought out from England to compete at Bathurst for the first time. (R Eime)

It was the first appearance of the Bentley marque at the mighty mountain, with the prestigious British brand sharing the lead at several times during the race, including the controversial dash to the finish.

It also saw the fastest qualifying time by a race car ever, including times laid down prior to the introduction of 'The Chase' in 1987, designed expressly to slow cars down on the long, downhill Conrod Straight.

Audi factory driver Laurens Vanthoor blasted his Audi R8 LMS Ultra around Mount Panorama in 2:02.5, eclipsing the time of 2:02.6701 set by Simon Hodge in an F3 Racing Car last year. The car continued its pace on race day with a lap record of 2:03.3091 (Lap 29) and finishing second outright.

Jensen Button at the wheel of his 2011 MP4 setting the fastest unofficial lap time around Bathurst (News Ltd)

The fastest unofficial time still stands at a mesmerising 1:48.88, set by Jensen Button in a publicity event for McLaren and Vodafone in a 2011 MP4 Formula One car.

Chartering Superyachts - The Life Aquatic

By Roderick Eime

There's a tired old saying in the private yacht business that goes: "A boat is just a hole in the water you pour money into."

Owning the superyacht of your dreams is a defining symbol of your arrival. It's the ultimate imprimatur of success and your membership card to the super elite club.

The world's richest men are in a continual, never-ending contest to build and own the largest, most expensive superyachts on the ocean. Roman Abramovich's $500 million 162m Eclipse currently holds top honours and Larry Ellison's 138m Rising Sun, recently changed hands for a rumoured $300 million.

For even the most successful of businesspeople, ownership of a massive superyacht is an unrealistic exercise. Even for those particularly well-healed captains of industry with a high enough Plimsoll line on their pockets, the logistic and adminsitrive issues are prohibitive.

According to Hugh Simson, general manager of Australian yacht brokerage GTIM, you can quickly estimate the build cost of a large superyacht.

"After you reach the critical length of 100' (30m) it can safely be estimated that build cost is around $1 million per metre."

But don't take your hand out of your pocket yet.

"You can then budget for annual upkeep of your vessel at around 10 per cent of the build cost," says Simson.

It can be easily deduced then that the size of any superyacht is directly connected to the net worth of an individual, or in many cases, their exposure.

So, if the pleasures of a 50 metre floating pleasure palace appeals to you, but the ongoing fiscal commitment does not, chartering is a realistic option.


What does chartering involve?

Chartering any vessel is just a nautical term for 'hiring' and that hire can come with or without lots of options. From 'bareboat', where you are effectively handed the keys to an empty ship, to a 'time charter' where, as the term suggests, you hire the vessel complete with all crew and facilities for an agreed period.

You can charter anything from a dinghy to an ocean liner and many people and corporations do just that.

Want to take a few friends or family fishing? Then a 10 or 15 metre sport cruiser with game fishing chair will get you started.

Organising a global sales meeting at sea? Then, look at a 100m mini cruise ship for 100 delegates complete with catering, entertainment and conference facilities.

There are lots of good reasons to charter besides dodging the hassles of ownership. Your CFO can probably tell you that chartering can be tax efficient under certain circumstances.


What does it cost? (ex-Singapore source: http://www.boatbookings.com)

A smaller power boat with crew suitable for fishing or simple excursions should start at around SGD$2000 for a decent vessel.

Getting fancy with a proper superyacht for around 30 persons on a day trip will set you back around SBD$15000.

Looking for a longer experience? Here's an example. The ex-Jack Nicklaus superyacht 'Sea Bear' is based in Singapore. This 40m Westport vessel was built in 2005 and sleeps 10 guests in five luxury luxury. With a crew of seven, it's yours for US$80k a week. You pay for fuel and food.

Going a bit crazy, or looking for a corporate gig? The two luxury twin cruise ships from the SeaDream Yacht Club (call them megayachts if you like) carry 112 guests in 56 twin staterooms. In between scheduled cruises, you can charter the entire vessel, with all 95 crew and everything on board from around $500,000.

Yacht Speak

Walk the walk, not the plank.

A superyacht, while not a precise term, is generally understood to mean any vessel over 24m (79') in length. It should be privately owned and is almost always crewed by professionals. Can apply to both power and sail.

A megayacht is another term that came into popular usage to describe the largest superyachts of which there are around 25 currently operating. Again, not a precise term, but anything over 50m can be called a megayacht.

The term gigayacht has also appeared to describe apex vessels 100m and over.

Vessels up to 100 feet (30m) are commonly measured in feet, and over that, in metres.

The entertainment area on a superyacht is called the saloon (not salon) and beds are called berths. Fancy cabins are often called staterooms and those with private facilities, just like a hotel, are called ensuite.

A vessel with a 'flybridge', or more correctly, 'flying bridge' has a separate set of controls on the cabin roof to allow the skipper a full 360 degree view. Otherwise, it's just a normal enclosed 'bridge' with limited field of view.

Princess Seeks a Prince

By Roderick Eime

While it may be an ‘entry level’ superyacht when stacked up against the likes of Roman Abramovich's ‘Eclipse’ or Larry Ellison’s ‘Octopus’, the Princess V85-S is still a ‘whole lotta boat’.

High up on the flying bridge you can still hear the simmering anger of the twin 35 litre MTU V16s deep in the hull. There’s close to 5000 horsepower on tap, just waiting for you to push the throttles forward. Forget Formula One, these kinds of numbers are reserved for top fuel dragsters.

The revolutions build gradually to a satisfying crescendo as the full 60 tonnes of glorious mirror-finished fibreglass and teak thrust forward to a maximum speed of almost 40 knots. Yet, the ride is so smooth, the champagne barely splashes.

This is the kind of unmatched experience delivered by the superlative Princess V85-S. I’d wager even Roman or Larry would be impressed with this level of performance.

The half-century old British marine marque is about as old as the famous James Bond 007 franchise and is part of the massive Paris-based luxury group, LVMH, which includes Moët, Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. While rival British brand, Sunseeker, have stolen the limelight in recent 007 movies, real life villains have taste too. Kim Jung-un was spotted touring his fiefdom in 30m Princess last year.

Princess V85-S saloon

At around 26m length overall, there’s plenty of room inside for the good stuff. Four guests can sleep in two double staterooms and a further four in two twin cabins, all with private facilities. The master stateroom is especially impressive with panoramic hull-side windows, a king-size bed, walk-in wardrobes and a marble en suite with monsoon shower. Just remember to draw the curtains. A crew of four have their own quarters.

The V85-S can be extensively customised. At the top, you can choose between a sun deck with a dining area and sunpads or a three-seat bridge with a helm control station and relaxed U-shape seating. If surveyed for commercial use, the V85-S would accommodate 35 persons comfortably in the saloon and sun deck.

There’s a cavernous garage for water toys, complete with winches that can be filled with Jet Skis, a RIB or diving equipment.

While there will always be a short wait as your personal V85-S is built to order, perfect examples can sometimes be found at the better brokerages. While waiting for her new home, Princess Yachts Australia have dubbed their unchristened V Series simply P1.

At a replacement cost of around $8 million, P1 offers a lot of excitement plus the opportunity to christen her with a more suitable moniker. Priscilla, perhaps?

Princess Yachts Australia

Commissioned for: Robb Report

Bentley: Marque of Success

 

Nothing signals your arrival quite like a Bentley

Easing my bottom into the diamond quilted hide seats is the first installment of my all-sensory introduction to the mighty Bentley Mulsanne. We all remember that ‘new car’ smell from our childhood when we all too willingly assaulted ourselves with the pungent aromas of plastic, vinyl and sundry acrylic sealants. In the Bentley, however, my nasal passages are delicately caressed with nuances of century-old burled walnut and perfumed Scandinavian leather.

To Infiniti and Beyond

Test vehicle: Infiniti FX37 – 3.7L Petrol

Roderick Eime

One year into Nissan's premium brand Australian relaunch and already prices are falling.

The mysterious Infiniti brand of luxury automobile may be familiar to globe-trotting car-spotters as it's reasonably common on the streets of the USA. Remember back in 1989 when a smart new species of luxury limousine appeared on our streets as if out of nowhere? Yes, I'm talking about Lexus. And while the badge never made it to our shores, the sleek and futuristic Acura vehicles materialised on US and Canadian roads about the same time.

It's all about perception. Toyota needed to be taken seriously as a builder of ultra-premium cars and move out of the 'trusted and reliable' headspace of Corolla and Corona. Enter Lexus. Same with Honda. Now Nissan are back in the fray with a relaunch of their own prejudice-busting brand, the big-ticket Infiniti.

“Relaunch?” I hear you ask. Yes, you could be forgiven for forgetting Infiniti's first foray into the Australian market in 1991 when the Q45 full-size V8 luxury sedan was briefly here. It was meant, like Lexus, to go head-to-head with the big German brutes like the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series, but with a $140,000 price tag, the offensive withered.

Now with Infiniti revisiting the UK market, a range of RHD models became available for export and we now have the G coupe and convertible, the M large sedan and FX mid-sized SUV. The cars all share the 'FM' platform, short for 'front midships' as in use for Skyline and 370Z sportscar.

The futuristic-looking and boldly styled FX SUV is available with a whopping 290kW V8 as well as the more economical 3.7l V6, which we tested on an extensive, sealed road drive out to Mudgee. The low profile tyres and massive 20 x 8.0-inch alloy wheels mean offroad is not really an option for this SUV. That said, the on-demand all-wheel-drive system and 7-speed auto is brilliantly stable and confidence inducing. If you want to bush-bash, get a Nissan Patrol.

The 90-litre petrol tank didn't need refilling, so with careful highway driving, fuel consumption below 10l/100kms is achievable and quite remarkable for a two tonne petrol powered beast. City dwellers, however, can expect closer to 17l/100. The V6 is responsive and zesty with DOHC, variable timing, 4-valve technology putting out a respectable 235kW and 360Nm of caravan-lugging torque.

Some of the driver assisting aids can be a bit hard to get used to with the audible lane guidance a bit like a nagging spouse until you know the secret to disabling it. Otherwise, the interior is immaculate, featuring keyless ignition, supremely comfortable multi-adjusting electric seats with leather trim and oodles of boot space. For the driver, there's a virtual armoury of electronic aids from ABS to advanced traction and dynamic control that tames this beast.

And in a consumer-friendly footnote, Infiniti has just announced substantial price cuts across the range, lopping $7500 off the FX37 pricetag to $76,400.

For details, see www.infiniticars.com.au