Sting on his Sydney yacht

Rock star Sting has hired one of the most expensive yachts on Sydney Harbour as a floating palatial home base for his family ahead of the Australian leg of The Police’s world reunion tour.

Sting, 56, accompanied by wife Trudie and their four children, flew into Sydney and headed straight to the sumptuous Phoenix 1 at the Rozelle Bay Super yacht Marina.
Not short of a dollar after the North American, European and South American legs of The Police’s concert tour, Sting can easily afford the 35m yacht’s whopping daily charter rate of $13,200. Sporting a short beard and spectacles, the singer looked relaxed and buffed as he sipped wine with Trudie and then strolled around the aft deck of the Phoenix 1 as it toured Sydney Harbour. The couples were later joined on deck by various members of the pair’s clan – which includes Bridget, 23, Jake, 22, Eliot, 17, and Giacomo, 12 – all in Sydney with their parents.

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Camilla’s ‘cursed’ cruise ship is struck by winter sickness bug

A cruise ship launched by the Duchess of Cornwall less than a month ago has been hit by a potentially fatal stomach bug that left almost 80 passengers confined to their cabins.

Three weeks ago, superstitious seafarers speculated that Cunard’s MS Queen Victoria, which cost £300 million, was cursed after the bottle of champagne used by the Duchess at the naming ceremony failed to smash against her bows. Now, at least 78 passengers have been struck down by norovirus, more commonly known as the “winter sickness bug” that causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Three thousand passengers, including Sir Jackie Stewart, the former Formula One motor racing champion, paid up to £33,000 to go on the 16-night voyage. The Queen Victoria, on its second cruise, was moored at Lanzarote while 25 passengers suffering the virus were recovering in their cabins and crewmembers disinfected the vessel to prevent further spread of the infection. Voyagers have been given antiseptic lotion for washing their hands and warned not to use the vessel’s public lavatories.

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The final curtain

Just after midnight, the last yacht, Capriccio of Rhu, with the indomitable Michele Colenso at the helm, crossed the finish line to bring down the curtain on the Rolex Sydney Hobart ocean-racing classic for another year.

It was a fine achievement by this cruising yacht, the only one in its division, especially as Capriccio or Rhu lost considerable time taking an injured crewmember into Wollongong for medical treatment on the first night. Moreover, it was another personal triumph for Michele who was diagnosed with breast cancer just before last year’s race. Also at the tail end of the fleet, in fact the last racing yacht across the line was Huckleberry, one of four entrants from West Australia. For Steve Humphries and his crew it has been a long haul, having aborted their delivery trip by sea because of bad weather and resorting to the long road trip across the Nullabor. For John Walker, at 85 the oldest skipper to have competed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, this year’s race may not be his last.

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