In the depths of Woolwich Shipyards, where the River Lane Cove flows into Sydney Harbour, valuable objects are given new life.
The patient is Wild Oats XI, a supermaxi yacht awarded so much in the annual Sydney to Hobart regatta that it is almost as well-known as the regatta itself, owned by the young of the late businessman Bob Oatley.
Its rebirth is not easy. Specialized marine engineers even performed ultrasounds to diagnose the problem preventing the Wild Oats from running. The yacht is now fit to pass if, and this is a big if, the billionaire family decides to race it in the next regatta. from Sydney to Hobart.
Wild Oats broke apart last year at Hamilton Island Regatta Week, the same year another Oatley ship caught fire and sank at Woolwich Dockyard after a vacuum cleaner battery exploded on board. It was also the year the family thought they would abandon their crown jewel, Hamilton Island, a dazzling beach destination off the coast of Queensland.
Sandy Oatley on the site of a family-owned hotel being built on Hamilton Island, called Sundays Hotel. James Brickwood
Bob Oatley made his first fortune promoting coffee and cocoa beans from Papua New Guinea. He then sold his wine business, Rosemount, to ASX-listed wine giant Southcorp in a $1. 5 billion deal in 2001.
When he died in 2016 at the age of 87, Bob left an estate that included vineyards and the Woolwich Wharf to go to Hamilton, the largest inhabited island in the Whitsundays Islands, located in the turquoise waters of the Coral Sea.
Oatley had heard of Hamilton for sale, and rightly so, while sailing. Last year, for the first time since the family acquired the island, the Oatleys envisioned a long-term lease without Hamilton in their portfolio, hiring UBS to price the property.
But just as Wild Oats was given a new lease of life (the challenge was a repairable crack in the deck, rather than the hull), so too will Hamilton. Instead of selling, the circle of relatives invested more money in the island through construction. A luxury resort. And they have come out of their same old reluctance to communicate their projects with AFR Weekend.
The Sundays, as the new $30 million progression is known, will be a family-friendly luxury hotel on Hamilton’s picturesque Catseye Beach. It will have 59 rooms and will open its doors in the first part of next year. The station is expected to employ up to one hundred full-time employees.
“Since COVID, other people have moved away from big hotels and moved to smaller, more intimate spaces,” says Bob’s 72-year-old son, Sandy.
Although potential buyers showed up in Hamilton last year, Sandy says the impetus for the sale didn’t come from him.
“It kind of came from other people who came to us, not talking about how to get the island, and we had no idea what it cost. We conducted [UBS’s] strategic review to understand what it cost; We never intended to do so. sell it,” says Sandy, the eldest of three siblings and the most interested as chairman of the island’s board of directors.
“[The review] assured us, or my father’s vision, for the island, and with our fair control team that we have there, we will continue our strategy of managing the island to its fullest capacity. “
Bob Oatley, third from left, in 2004 at Wild Oats Hamilton Island Race Week. Louie Douvis
Sandy speaks to AFR Weekend from his office in Sydney, which serves as a sort of headquarters in Hamilton, and Bob’s memories are important. A huge portrait of Bob dressed in his Wild Oats hat looks down at the desk. “For us, [Hamilton is] an investment in the legacy that Dad left us, and we’re going to manage it. This can continue in perpetuity if necessary.
Sandy’s siblings, Ian and Rosalind, sit on the separate board of directors of their family office, Balmoral Australia, along with former Virgin leader John Borghetti, former Deutsche Bank chief executive John Macfarlane and Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, a billionaire businessman in his own right.
The Oatleys have already spent more than $85 million to expand the Hamilton Island Yacht Club villas, completed in 2009; $45 million for Hamilton Island Golf Club, an 18-hole championship golf course; and $100 million for the structure of Qualia, the luxury hotel on the northern tip of the island, which caters to adults.
Sandy says the family circle was “taken by surprise” by Qualia’s request after the COVID-19 pandemic. Sundays will be reserved for families.
“We didn’t have a really high-end product,” says Peter Brulisauer, CEO of Hamilton Island.
In addition to marking a shift in the Oatleys’ position as the resort’s current gatekeepers, the resolution also demonstrates how operators are paying more attention to room rates and improving the market in a more challenging economic environment.
“You have to rate the room very well. . . otherwise it’s very unlikely to make any money,” said Wayne Bunz, national director of CBRE, which has sold several islands in the Whitsundays.
Whitsundays beach resorts have seen a boom as pandemic-related restrictions began to ease. “We had an exceptional industry in 2022. They came back a little bit in 2023, and in 2024 the market is normalizing quite a bit,” says Greg. Shaw, Chief Executive Officer, Mulpha Australia.
Mulpha is an investment vehicle controlled through Malaysia’s billionaire Lee family, whose portfolio is the InterContinental Hayman Island, north of Hamilton.
The Qualia Hotel in Hamilton is an adults-only destination. Janie Barrett
Glenn Piper, managing director of pub group Meridian Australia, recently bought a hotel on nearby Hook Island and plans to build an eco-lodge. Piper claims that the breakthrough will also focus more on the luxury market. “There is a need for a more specialized supply of goods, as well as a more effective structuring methodology. “
What makes the Oatley family’s resolution more significant is that cyclones and other natural forces that accompany the tropics will worsen with climate change. Due to the lavish expenses involved in development, many other resorts have avoided the venture: all fabrics and appliances will have to be transported by barges, even when structural prices have increased.
Lindeman Island, off the coast of Airlie Beach, has been empty since 2011 and was bought last year for $10 million, well below expectations, through Singapore’s Well Smart Group. Double Island, north of Cairns, bought through Hong Kong billionaire Benny Wu in 2012, but is now empty. The South Molle island hotel was purchased in 2016 through China Capital Investment Group (CCIG) but never opened or put up for sale last year.
“You’re going to have to have significant monetary means. . . and you’re going to have to get it right if you need to survive,” Sandy says.
Even if the Oatleys manage to renovate and open, there is no guarantee of success. CCIG also owns Daydream Island and spent $100 million on the renovation. It has faced poor reviews from travelers and staff, and the island is back on the market.
“Our islands are more pristine, our sand is pure, our climate [is perfect]. . . the Whitsundays are one of the most beautiful places in the world,” says CBRE’s Banz. “But logistically, it’s not that simple, it’s expensive. “
The islands remain popular with some billionaires. ” For someone with a disposable income, paradise islands are very appealing,” says Jock Langley, who sells Hayman House, a luxury villa on Hayman Island, for the coal-producing Peabody family. If you’re looking for a refuge to disappear into, places like Hayman are very appealing. “
Annie Cannon-Brookes bought Dunk Island off Mission Beach, south of Cairns, for $23. 6 million in 2022. Andrew and Nicola Forrest spent $42 million on Lizard Island in 2021.
“There’s this fantasy, romance and excitement about owning an island,” Bunz says. Every time you list an island, you get a flood of queries. “They need to exchange an emerald for the island, they say they have $13 billion in the bank and yet they have $2 in assets, of all kinds. “
One thing Sandy doesn’t need to talk about is who in her family circle will play a more active role in controlling the island. Her daughter, Nikki Oatley, is no longer worried and works in Sandy’s wine business.
“We have an excellent leadership team on the island, as well as the structure of our board of directors and our committees that family circle members participate in,” Sandy said. “There is an option for other members of the family circle to sign up for those committees. “as long as they have the skill for those roles, but that can continue seamlessly in the existing design. “
There is no doubt that some interests are slowly separating between siblings. The Australian Financial Review revealed last year how Sandy bought his brother and sister from the wine company his father founded. The venture has emotional significance, as it marks Bob’s return to the industry. after moving up to Rosemount to Southcorp.
“I’m more interested in it than my brother and sister, and I wanted to expand the songs. So it’s less difficult than asking them for money,” says Sandy, who started managing her father’s vineyards at age 18.
“I bought them back and then I can expand it and do what I want if I want to. I do not wish to ask your permission.
Another unanswered question: Will they ever be tempted by Hamilton again?
“You know, you don’t know how long a piece of string is,” Sandy says.
Copy link
Copied
Copy link
copied
Subscribe to this article
Gift five items to the user of the month of your choice when they subscribe.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Keep track of topics, people, and what matters to you.
Retrieving the Items
The habit of successful people.