Alan's Boat For Sale

The late tycoon Alan Bond's floating palace is for sale if you have $17M to spare  Once named the Southern Cross 111 in honour of his yachting success with the America's Cup the 181-foot long yacht accommodates 12 guests in 6 cabins and has a crew of 15. 

 Built in Japan in 1986 for the subsequently disgraced Australian tycoon who died in 2015, the vessel was bought by Lord Alan Sugar after Bond's death.

Lord & Lady Sugar

Sugar, better known as the host of the British reality TV series The Apprentice re-named the boat   The Lady A after his wife Ann and it's described as a “unique market opportunity” and “one of the most distinctive yachts on the water” by brokers.

When Sugar is not castigating President Donald Trump he indulges in an on-line battering of the UK TV host Piers Morgan who in the past he has called a "Trump toady". Now he has decided the yacht is surplus to his needs. It's moored off the romantic Isle of Capri where Sugar has a holiday home.

You can find more information at the ship brokers Edmiston. 

We've provided a few snaps of the luxury interior which one wag described as "looking like it was furnished by Ikea". How rude! Mind you those 'art deco' Lady Lamps look suspiciously like the floor stock from the legendary 1970s London department store BIBA which lasted about 3 years before closing with the fittings sold off for a song in a fire sale.

Nicole Channel's Eliza

That's Eliza Doolittle of course and we think it's Nicole Kidman. She had rather a waxy look about her, a slight touch of the Madame Tussuad's.
Flemington's Derby Day is the smarter race meet of the Melbourne Cup racing season. It's a bit more refined. After today it all goes downhill and Melbourne Cup next Tuesday is best avoided.

The Shuttle has covered more than out fair share and even provided the "celebrity" visitors on two occasions. Now we find the races rather tiring, It's better to find a local Sydney party for the day and hang out there. That saves the trouble of booking flights and hotels in Melbourne which are choc-a-bloc.

On Tuesday Flemington is packed with humanity-hundreds of thousands of them,. Fascinators are so thick on the ground one could take your eye if you turned your head quickly. On Derby Day virtually every Sydney celebrity, news reader, weather girl and so on is in Melbourne as Sydney's gossip set flies down to file reports on the same Sydneysiders they saw last week. There is usually an obligatory mention of Eileen Bond.

Italian designer Robert Cavalli was at the Derby, cleverly shouting the word Lavazzi (who paid him to turn up) into any microphone that would listen. As well as telling us about his glamorous new range soon to be had at Target.

Getting to the Cup on Tuesday is a bit of a nightmare unless you happen to be staying with Captain Peter Jansen (right) in his magnificent 4 story city building, where once past the front door you find yourself  in an eccentric English country style manor house complete with stuffed bears and hunting trophies.

Jansen is a Racing Season regular and once raced Jaguar cars in England. One year with Jansen behind the wheel of an XJ Sports and English milliner to the Royals, Freddy Fox beside him, the Shuttle crouched in fear in the rear seat as Jansen floored the Jag and got us to Flemington in under 15 minutes, waving aside policeman who jumped out of his way. Leaving the Jag purring right at the main entrance of the racecourse the three of us belted through the course to the Myer enclave so Freddie and Peter could judge the first rounds of Fashions In The Fields.

The highlight on Tuesday is of course, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall who will present the Melbourne Cup..

Jerry Hall's new Aussie bloke

Jerry at a Sydney party last month

Warwick Hemsley

The rumour began just over ten days ago-Jerry Hall was being squired around town by a new man. This week his identity was revealed : Warwick Hemsley, a millionaire Perth businessman who is on the board of numerous A- listed companies. 

Jerry is residing in Perth for an upcoming appearance of her memorable role in The Graduate, in which she appears nude on stage and which opens tomorrow night.  

Eileen Bond

Hemsley has impeccable art credentials as well. He is on the Council of the National Gallery in Canberra and was Deputy Chairman of the West Australian Opera Company and was Chairman of the Australia Day Council of Western Australia. He was instrumental in bringing about the current exhibition in Canberra :Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond: Post-impressionism from the Musée D’Orsay.

Hall and Hemsley were spotted arm in arm at a party given in Jerry's honour at Eileen 'Big Red' Bond's up-market Peppermint Grove mansion on Tuesday night. Bond, ex-wife of Alan Bond and Hall are old friends-they met through theatre producer John Reid, the former manager of Elton John.