Prestige Magazine by Neo Africa Publishing

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TIMELESS BARDOT Bentley is Back

Champagne

Giants on Safari

PANTHALASSA

• Collectible Vintage Watches • Luxury Diesels • Moving Sushi Expedition • Wayachts’ Wake 66 • Bob Geldof • Panerai • Robin Hood • Grande Utopia • Gobi Desert Dinner • New Vehicle Technologies • Nedbank Golf Challenge ISSUE NO. 43

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South Africa’s Premier Luxury Lifestyle Magazine

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contents 56

SAILING & Yachting Panerai Regatta – Cannes 2010

Sovereign of the Seas – Sailing Yacht Panthalassa

L’Hydroptère – Flying Trimaran

New Wake 66 – Sea Different

Business & CSI A Place in the Country – Enviro Investment

Green is the New Gold – Sustainable Assets

Haute Horlogerie & Audio-visual Grande Utopia – Defining the State of the Art

Vintage Watches – For Old Times’ Sake

Military Pedigree – Origins of Officine Panerai

SPECIAL FEATURES

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Brigitte Bardot – Early Environmentalist

All that Glitters is Gold – Armand de Brignac

Global Philanthropist – Sir Bob Geldof

Moving Sushi Expedition – Marine Conservation

Robin Hood – Outlaw Hero

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TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE Giants on Safari – Camp Jabulani

You Rang, Sir? – The Return of the Butler

Get into the Swing – Nedbank Golf Challenge

Gobi Desert Dinner – With Mumm and Mike Horn

Inspired Leaders – Dr John Demartini

Mental Rental – No More Tiresome Hire Cars

Motoring & Aviation Bentley Mulsanne – More to Enjoy

Emissions Laws – Not the End of Four-Wheeled Frolics

On the Rise – Luxury Diesels

Keeping Blue Skies Green – Efficient Aviation

Regulars

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Letter from the Chairman

Letter from the Editor

Live the Life

Premier Travel Portfolio

Making Waves

letter from the

chairman

The new catchword gaining momentum globally is ‘green’, which is very quickly becoming the new ‘black’, even in our racially conscious environment. With the mushrooming of new industries in an effort to curb the harmful effects of climate change and to ensure a sustainable planet for generations to come, so many new opportunities have emerged for innovative companies to provide services in a totally new market. What has happened, though, is that we are now forced to look at industrial and commercial activity with a fresh set of eyes. The viability of many projects will depend greatly on energy efficiency and lowest cost of production given the punitively high costs of transportation, electricity and other resources. We will have to come up with ingenious ideas to make things happen. With the imminent roll-out of a new tolling system, recent changes in the state of our power utilities, the financial position of many local and provincial government departments, who are struggling to stay afloat and keep up on operational costs, the capital costs of keeping up with global best practices may seem too far out of the reach of South Africa. Socially responsible is now synonymous with environmentally responsible. With the advent of emissions tax in South Africa in recent months, it is with dismay that our ‘yuppies’ driving their big machines complain about the quantum of the tax, not realising that buying a more environmentally friendly vehicle will reduce the long-term cost. Big engines are a privilege one has to pay for, my friends. Our dilemma on the African continent is that too many enterprises

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are grabbing onto the so-called green technologies of Europe and Asia and have been attempting to peddle such technologies in the local market. It is a pity that in a country renowned for practical ingenuity, we are somehow so dependent on foreign innovation in this sphere. Many are now realising that the carbon footprint of importing such ‘green’ technology in some instances far outweighs the benefit we will get. With the lack of funding in this sector, and legislation to enable its growth, the powers that be finally have to support local entities to enter the space. Government and large corporates have realised that the ostrich technique of burying our heads into the ground, hoping the problem goes away, will not work. We need to go about our business with a clear and consistent green angel hovering over our shoulders about doing the right thing from an environmentally sustainable perspective – and for once, every little thing will matter, be it recycling domestic waste or reconsidering a flight to a meeting that can be done via teleconference. Our way of life will change dramatically in the next few years, and more and more people are recognising this. Very soon the cost of ‘green’ goods will finally become less than the costs of not-so-earthfriendly items, as volumes grow. So let's all do our bit and show the world some leadership. Our children will love us more for it!

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PRESTIGE i n

letter from

the editor “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defence of our resources is just as important as defence abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?” – Robert Redford

With this in mind, Prestige decided to look at who’s doing what to preserve our planet, given that this is currently a much-discussed subject from international motor shows to aviation expos to political world summits. But rather than bring everyone down with talk of all that’s doom and gloom, we opted to look at some of the good that’s being done, and talk to and write about the people doing it. The beautiful Brigitte Bardot has been championing animal rights for years now, and with good reason. Her enthusiasm is shared by Sir Bob Geldof, though he prefers to fight the philanthropic cause, over the years having initiated numerous live concerts in an effort to raise piles of cash, which indeed he has done, and repeatedly so. Enjoy their interesting life stories featured this month. We sent our motoring journalist in search of the latest developments in vehicle technologies, and told him to find the best of the current luxury diesel models while he was at it. What he found will not disappoint. Similarly, our aviation writer covered the latest goings-on in the air, from new aircraft designs to alternative fuels aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making air travel more efficient in every way. Our own country is a leader in this field, having recently flown a Boeing 737 from Lanseria to Cape Town using 100-percent, fully synthetic jet fuel. We also met two intrepid young South Africans who spent 24 months travelling from the Mother City to Japan to raise awareness of the ocean’s dwindling fish stocks. And we had our property and business writers respectively delve into the pros and cons of pretty and pristine golf estates versus open and simple eco-property developments, and why investing in green initiatives can herald better results than anticipated. Of course we have the latest from the world of luxury too, including news of the world’s number one champagne – Armand de Brignac, which is now available in South Africa but in very limited supply; the most expensive loudspeakers on the market today; the latest from Crewe, England in the Bentley Mulsanne; and details on the fastest sailing yacht to ever navigate the seven seas. And ever in search of exceptional experiences, our contributors uncovered for you a sailing regatta in Cannes, an elephant-back safari in the African bushveld, insane muscle-car rental across the US, and revealed how poring over an auction catalogue can have you swooning over treasures you never knew you’d find. As always, please do enjoy. Toni

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PUBLISHER – Neo Publishing (Pty) Ltd Tel: +27 11 484 2833 Fax: +27 86 699 2266 CHAIRMAN – Vivien Natasen vivien@neoafrica.com EDITOR – Toni Muir toni@prestigemag.co.za TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY EDITORS – Charl du Plessis – charl@prestigemag.co.za Tanya Goodman – tanya@prestigemag.co.za ADMIN & CIRCULATION – Adesh Pritilall adesh@prestigemag.co.za MARKETING & EVENTS – Brandon Mcleod brandon.mcleod@neoafrica.com ADVERTISING Adie Ceruti Tel: +27 83 601 2291 / +27 11 465 1572 adie@prestigemag.co.za Katy Essa Tel: +27 82 633 2962 katy@prestigemag.co.za Rui Barbosa Tel: +27 84 290 2070 rui@prestigemag.co.za DESIGN & LAYOUT VDS Design Studio Liesel van der Schyf Tel: +27 82 336 7537 liesel@vdsdesign.co.za Proof-reading Beth Cooper Howell Print Paarl Web, Gauteng SUBSCRIPTIONS R480 for 12 issues; R840 for 24 issues To subscribe, send us an email with the words SUBSCRIBE PRESTIGE in the subject line, and your name, email address, cell number and delivery address in the body of the email. Send it to mail@prestigemag.co.za. DISTRIBUTION Prestige is available on newsstands and through subscription. Free public space distribution includes charter fleets operating in the Southern African region. Top five-star hotels and all major business class airport lounges nationally receive free monthly copies. Also look for Prestige in upmarket coffee shops, spas and private banking waiting areas. Cover Images AP / Picturenet; Bentley; Armand de Brignac; Camp Jabulani; Perini Navi

All rights reserved. Prestige is published by Neo Publishing. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or any of its clients. Information has been included in good faith by the publisher and is believed to be correct at the time of going to print. No responsibility can be accepted for errors and omissions. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information and reports in this magazine, the publisher does not accept any responsibility, whatsoever, for any errors or omissions, or for any effects resulting therefrom. No part of this publication may be used, or reproduced in any form, without the written permission of the publisher. Copyright 2010. All copyright for material appearing in this magazine belongs to Neo Publishing and/or the individual contributors. All rights reserved.

livethelife Gucci Cruise

Collection 2010

Stylish travel has always inspired the House of Gucci. So with an elegant voyage very much in mind, Creative Director Frida Giannini has interpreted the contemporary female wardrobe with faultless nonchalance, alternating between an edgy-chic urban attitude and an ultraglamorous spirit. The choice of fabrics keeps the mood light and subtle, with natural and classic materials ranging from linen, cotton and washed silk, to new, delicate leather with remarkable, ultra-fine consistencies. The colour palette features two complementary directions: an urban sense runs through light hues and more vivid, intense colours based on opaque earthy tones, floral vibrations and military green, while dyed, iconic graphics and elaborate animalier prints capture a sense of allure. Available exclusively from Gucci Boutiques. Visit www.gucci.com or contact +21 421 8800 (V&A Waterfront), or +27 11 784 2597 (Nelson Mandela Square).

Introducing the New Look

Johnnie Walker Black Label Johnnie Walker has boldly re-invented its classic square bottle to ensure that this super-popular deluxe blended Scotch whisky continues to stride ahead of the rest. The new bottle embraces a more dynamic and stylish form – easy on the eye and pleasing in the hand. The Striding Man, who was created 101 years ago by famous cartoonist, Tom Browne, remains at the forefront of this whisky’s branding. Other products in the Johnnie Walker range of awardwinning whiskies include Red Label, Black Label, Green Label, Gold Label, Blue Label, Premier and Swing. Together they account for 16.3 million cases annually, making Johnnie Walker the most popular Scotch whisky in the world.

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Delicious DV Artisan

Chocolate

Crafted by the De Villiers family in the seaside town of Hermanus, DV Artisan Chocolate is the only ‘Bean to Bar’ chocolate in South Africa. The family practices the ancient way of making chocolate, combining age-old stone grinding techniques with the precision of modern technology, using machinery and equipment they have custom designed and built themselves. More than 30 different origin beans were tested over an 18-month period before just five were chosen: Trinidad, Sao Tome, Madagascar, Venezuela - Rio Caribe, and Venezuela - Caracas. The beans are roasted, refined and conched on a micro-batch scale in the factory, to best reveal the flavours inherent in the cacao bean, with no added flavourings or emulsifiers. The result: a sophisticated and flavourful, rich and pure chocolate, not to be found elsewhere in the world. Visit www.dvchocolate.com, or contact +27 28 316 4850 for more info.

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BARDOT

BRIGITTE

S TA R E

Brigitte Bardot is best known, without much design on her part, for being at the forefront of a whole revolution on sexuality and public mores. Yet later, her fierce campaigning for animal rights helped set the tone for a debate that eventually grew to include non-sentient beings and spawned the green movement.

S TA R E

Words: CHARL DU PLESSIS Images: © AP / PICTURENET; CORBIS/GREATSTOCK

he had the pout – naturally. Her lily-white skin could have launched a thousand beauty products in our era of more vanity. Her golden messed tresses cascaded down soft shoulders to a provocative length where they just hid the start of curves that drove men dilly. Brigitte Bardot – summer girl, Saint-Tropez, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. St Trop, as it is know by locals and regular visitors, is a playground of the rich and famous. Jack Nicholson and George Clooney both drop in here over summer, as do thousands of mere mortals (with deep pockets, one should add) hopeful of having a bit of sun and summer magic rub off on them. To Brigitte Bardot, this coastal town has been home for most of her life, and more than anyone else, she has helped to place it on the map. In a period when Puritanism still ruled strongly, a voluptuous young Bardot helped all Western men (excluding, of course, the French) embrace the inferiority complex-driven belief that sex, real sex, only happened in France. It was the 1956 Roger Vadim film, Et Dieu... créa la femme (And God Created Woman) that catapulted the 21-year-old sex kitten to instant stardom. Shot in Saint-Tropez, Brigitte played the role of a barefooted, 18-year-old orphan with multiple suitors. Described by some of the harsher film critics as no more than a little Gallic erotic movie with Bardot in various stages of undress, it did, however, become a box-office hit. This part of the Riviera would never be the same again, and it became a regular setting for the international film industry. Young and beautiful, Brigitte had the world (or at least most of its men) at her feet and St Trop became synonymous with her name. As the world unshackled itself from the Puritan grip and the media brought voyeurs and exhibitionists closer to one another, a new idea of feminine beauty and sex appeal

developed, shaped around Brigitte and somewhat modified by the assault on curves from across the English Channel by Twiggy and other waif-like friends. If one had to compare photos of Bardot from that era with familiar faces on the catwalk today, one would clearly see how significant her contribution to our idea of beauty remains. The pout, the perfectly symmetrical face, the perpetually adolescent chin, the prominent cheekbones and the catlike eyes are still visible in our modern times. Rubens, he of meaty Flemish painter models, would turn in his grave. As the sixties unfolded, tanned

perhaps also to spot the star herself, in all her nude sunbathing glory. Sadly, by the 1970s, as Brigitte started her quixotic battle against the ravages of time, St Trop itself became congested, and postcard and icecream vendors gave it a sense of yesterday’s news. Only in the past decade has the place managed to reinvent itself. Brigitte Bardot might not go down in history as Tinsel Town’s best actress, despite the box office successes of her silver screen forays. Yet, more than anything, she initially helped set the tone for a world obsessed with outward appearances, only to come back to show the world

bodies roamed the Riviera and upper middle-class Americans jetted over the Atlantic to come and experience the sense of self-indulgent freedom that Bardot and company initiated;

how outer beauty could play a more meaningful role when she took on particular causes that were close to her heart. Her epic battles for animal rights are well reported. Despite her age, Bardot remains ever so controversial. Her latest tirade is against Islam in France. The world has changed because time did not stand still, and let’s hope that this seventy-something-year-old’s contribution to our ideas about sexuality and environmental rights and issues will be all that she’ll be remembered for eventually. 

Young and beautiful, Brigitte had the world (or at least most of its men) at her feet and St Trop became synonymous with her name.

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RACE

Panerai Regatta

Cannes

2010

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RACE

The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge calendar for 2010, sponsored by Italian luxury watch manufacturer, Officine Panerai, drew to an end this year with the 32nd edition of the Régates Royales in Cannes, and Prestige was out on the

here is an old saying that ‘sailing is the only sport that wishes for bad weather’, yet this year in Cannes, as the season drew to a close, wishes were not to come true as the final day of sailing was blessed with an unseasonably beautiful day. Over 70 classic and vintage yachts, some of them dating back to the late 1800s, were idling around on sparkling Mediterranean waters waiting for a starter’s gun to blast once the wind picked up over six knots. On the beaches of Cannes, visitors and residents were squeezing in one last day on the beach before kiosk and beach operators could pack up for the season. One perfect day, however, cannot detract from a season of riveting classic yacht sailing. Beneath the miles and miles of square white sails and tackle that are hallmarks of

classic sailing crews, experienced an exciting season that kicked off in April with the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. Participants started the Mediterranean Circuit in Antibes, the very next bay to where they would end several months later in Cannes. The yachts moved on to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Mahon in Minorca, Spain and Imperia in Italy. On the other side of the Atlantic, after Antigua, line honours were chased at Marblehead and Nantucket in Massachusetts and at Newport, Rhode Island. The vessels taking part in the Panerai Challenges are divided into categories: ‘Vintage’ (built before 1950), ‘Classic’ (built between 1950 and 1975), and ‘Spirit of Tradition’ (replicas of old designs launched after 1975). ‘Large Boats’, with hulls measuring more than 30 metres long, make up a separate category. What surprised at Cannes this year was the

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Words & Images: © CHARL DU PLESSIS

water to witness this spectacular affair.

EILEAN Panerai CEO Angelo Bonatti first spotted this yacht in the harbour of Antigua in 2006. It was a rust bucket kept afloat only because it was chained to the dock. Yet, he recognised its pedigree despite the evident state of disrepair – she was a 22-metre Bermuda ketch designed and built in 1936 by legendary Scottish boatyard Fife of Fairlie. Dragged across the Atlantic with buoys to keep her nose above water, she was meticulously restored to her original splendour by the Del Carlo boatyard in Viareggio. Eilean was re-launched in late 2009 and celebrated her return to sea by participating, under the captaincy of Andrew Cully, in the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge in 2010.

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number of small yachts, some of them with no more than a two-person crew. Every vessel is given a rating, the result of a formula that takes into account the age of the boat, the length, the rigging and the sail area and, theoretically, its potential speed. From these parameters are calculated the HPM (Handicap Per Mile), noted in a Rating Certificate that establishes how many seconds per mile have to be taken off the real time recorded by each boat when deciding final winners for each category. But, even if the owners and crews may be serious about their racing, the event is so much more. The craftsmanship visible on especially the vintage yachts, the sight of bulging white sails on the water, the vivacious spirit of the Italian organisers and the camaraderie between the sailing and haute horology fraternities at the race make this an event that even an incidental visitor to port on the day of the Regatta would want to experience. This year, Cannes saw the return of several favourites. Among the Big Boats were Cambria (1928), Mariquita (1923), Moonbeam III and Moonbeam IV (a 2003 schooner replica) and the majestic Shamrock V from 1930, the only surviving J-Class vessel built of wood. Also present was the 40-metre Aurica ketch Thendara (1937), made with a wooden hull over a steel structure, Tuiga, owned by Prince Albert of Monaco, and the 43-metre Zaca a te Moana, a steel replica of an ancient Grand Banks schooner (1992). The Bermuda cutter Rowdy (1916),

twin to Marilee, and one of the four ‘New York 40’ vessels still sailing out of the 14 originally built, attempted to win the Panerai Trophy in the Vintage category as it did in 2008. In the Classic category the race was on between Chaplin (1974) owned by the Italian Navy and Emeraude. The first already won the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge in 2009 while the second won it in 2006 and 2007. Two of the more interesting yachts on the water were Leonore, the former Cotton Blossom II, a 15-metre, Q-Class built in 1925, which until recently belonged to Dennis Conner, legendary skipper and winner of several editions of the America’s Cup. Amadour, a Marconi cutter built in Marseille in 1938 and competing among vessels up to 25 metres, played host in a previous era to the movie diva Rita Hayworth and to Lord Mountbatten, the British Empire’s last Viceroy in India. Of special interest was the performance of Eilean, Panerai’s own restored classic yacht now participating in its first season. The final day of the meeting saw the winners walk away with a Panerai Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio – 47mm, a special edition watch produced by Officine Panerai for this season’s racing. Classic yachting is about passion, and a deep passion for beauty and perfection are shared by classic yachting and luxury watch connoisseurs alike. No other brand captures this passion in similar fashion as does Panerai. 

Grandeloquent Defining THE State of

the Art 18

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LISTEN

Developing a cutting-edge loudspeaker is a monumental task. Keeping it at the cutting edge for over 15 years is even tougher. French speaker giant Focal staked its claim in the mid-1990s with the original Grande Utopia, a gorgeous behemoth of a loudspeaker boasting all of the high-tech ingredients and refinements that the company had mastered. Their secret is never being content with the performance.

Words: KEN KESSLER Images: © FOCAL

n the heady world of cost-noobject hi-fi equipment, Focal’s Grande Utopia is a nowpermanent fixture. Its typical selling price of £110,000 in the UK, or around $180,000 in the US, places it firmly amongst the costliest loudspeakers available today. For an outlay similar to that of a new Maserati, it needs to boast great performance as a given. The added magic resides in its elegant, sculptural form, in its attention to the tiniest details, in the way it integrates into the client’s listening room. The Grande Utopia EM, or the third generation model, does all that and more. Merely viewing the three generations reveals little, for the look remains a constant. It was, after all, designed using the adage that ‘form follows function’, so its sectional side view is no design conceit: each section can be adjusted for the correct angle to ensure that the sound is dispersed correctly into the listening area. It is this capability that reproduces, for example, an ultraprecise location of each instrument in a given recording, to better deliver the sensation of real music in the home. Each generation has been defined by a new technological step. The original version was made possible by the development of a radical new speaker material, the W composite sandwich cone of 1995 – lighter, stiffer, able to reproduce the lowest bass notes with control and impact. Seven years later, the second generation arrived, featuring the pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter for even more extended, faster high frequencies. The chemical shorthand for Beryllium would provide the model’s suffix: Grande Utopia Be.

Then, in 2008, a third breakthrough merited a new model designation: Electro-Magnet woofer technology. Instead of the bass unit being controlled by a fixed-strength magnet, Focal adapted electromagnetic technology that varies magnetic strength dynamically, according to the needs of the music. Familiar to those who have known this speaker – and its smaller descendants – for the past 15 years is the superbly constructed and finished enclosure, comprising 68 MDF components. The computer-machined parts are hand assembled by Focal’s craftsmen, using computer technology to assess the rigidity of each and every cabinet. Simply assembling the Grande Utopia EM cabinetry takes 52 hours. Housed within the enclosures are the third-generation, laser-cut, 16inch W drive units, now powered by the revolutionary electromagnetic technology. So ‘intelligent’ is the new magnet system that the listener can fine-tune the character of the bass through user-adjustable controls. For the highest frequencies, Focal employs their Beryllium inverted dome tweeter, considered an industry standard. In between, covering the

crucial midrange frequencies, are an 11-inch W midbass and two ‘Power Flower’ 6.5-inch W midrange drivers. What emerges is an imposing system standing two metres tall and weighing 260 kilograms, which is so accurate, so clean and so capable that it has found its way into numerous mastering studios, impressing engineers such as the legendary Paul Stubblebine (the Clash, John Lennon and Santana). “The Grande Utopia EM is at the very top end of the speakers I have ever been able to use in my 40year career,” Stubblebine remarked. Integrating such a speaker into a studio is rarely an issue, for professionals need not worry about aesthetic concerns – only the performance. But music lovers are fastidious, too, so such features as the 1,458 possible adjustments for total sound personalisation matter equally. What transforms the Grade Utopia EM into an object of desire is an aesthetic presence that recalls fine furniture. Although offered with its cabinet sides finished in white, black, graphite or reddish orange, the customer can specify custom colour choice. Regardless of hue, the Grande Utopia EM always wows. Visit www.focal-fr.com. 

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More to

Enjoy Bentley Mulsanne

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REV

When the people at Bentley first got to have Words: ALEXANDER PARKER Images: © BENTLEY

a look at the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and when they read reports about the new Ghost, it was probably a confirmation of their fears. BMW, which owns Rolls-Royce, is not a company that habitually gets things wrong, and yet the extent to which they’ve got it right with the old British brand has been a marvel to all of us who enjoy luxury motoring.

nd what a strange feeling that would have been, because for 70 years these two brands were joined at the hip. Now, with Bentley owned by VW, they’re competitors. That’s why, when Bentley set about building an all-new large luxury car to replace the Arnarge, with its old Rolls-Royce underpinnings, it’s very clear the first thing they did was to forget about Rolls-Royce. They did not set out to build a car that takes on either the Ghost or the Phantom but merely set about building what they call “the pinnacle of hand-made British motoring”, and hang the competition. This would have given cause for a pause. The company was about to start building the first all-new big Bentley, unrelated to anything from Rolls-Royce, since 1929. They would have had to stop and dust off the archives to establish exactly what it is a Bentley is supposed to be. That would have taken the team right back to the 1920s, to the golden era of Bentley under its founder, WO Bentley, fondly known then and now as just ‘WO’. In those days the company was owned by a fellow called Woolf Barnato, the son of South African mining magnate Barney Barnato. Barney had died, drowned on the way back to the UK, not long after selling his share of De Beers to one Cecil Rhodes. He died one of the richest men in the world, and Woolf used these immense resources to fund Bentley and his Le Mans ambitions. Barnato and Bentley, for a period in the 1920s, pretty much owned Le Mans, and it's heritage to which the Bentley engineers would have looked for inspiration. They would also have looked to the famous 1929 8-litre, a car so magnificent in its day that it scared Rolls-Royce into making an offer for Barnato’s firm that he just couldn’t resist. So, they would have established that the new big Bentley, which they

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would name Mulsanne after the hairiest corner at the Le Mans circuit, would need to be large, immensely luxurious, beautifully built, British to its core and, of course, remarkably quick. So, it was with little scepticism that I pointed the nose of the Bentley Mulsanne towards the quiet, smooth roads of the Scottish Highlands and gave the throttle a big poke. It was an unusually beautiful Scottish day, with a light breeze and occasional clouds scudding across a cobalt sky. But there was no time for all of that, because the moment I pressed down on the petrol pedal, it was clear that Bentley had at least got one thing right. The Mulsanne is quick, very quick. And that’s because of what’s under the bonnet: a six-and-three-quarterlitre, (never six point seven five, please) litre twin turbo-charged V8 that produces 370kW or so, but it’s really the simply seismic 1,020Nm of torque that counts, available at just 1,750rpm. The car comes with a

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superb eight-speed automatic that is both intelligent and smooth, though with so much torque on tap, the car doesn’t often need to kick down. There’s just the gentlest of burbles from that big V8, and you’re kind of grandly whisked along, fuss-free. That’s the nature of this car. It offers mind-boggling pace (0-100km/h in five seconds or so) without the histrionics of the large German V8s from Mercedes and BMW. It redlines at just 4,500rpm. There’s pace, plenty of it, but no haste. It’s a remarkable trick, and it’s just as good in its delivery, dare I say it, as anything that resides just behind a modern Spirit of Ecstasy. Quietly, elegantly I was rearranging the space/time continuum, but had time to notice a few other things too. Like the fact that the Mulsanne is no stranger to corners. It’s a big car – significantly longer than a Range Rover – and wide too, but the steering, while light, is accurate and communicative. Load the car up gently

and drive like a slow-in, fast-out gentleman, and the car responds with lots of grip and remarkable poise for a machine of its size. It’s also beautiful inside. The inlays, all hand-made by artisans with rare skills in Crewe, are perfect. The woods and the leathers are immaculate. Even the buttons for the stereo controls are made of polished glass to ensure an earthy, lavish feel. And talking of the stereo, I have never experienced anything like it. It’s a 2,200-watt, 20-speaker affair from Naim. So they’ve pulled it off. You may or may not approve of the way the car looks, but Bentley is back. For the first time in nearly eight decades, the company has built a true Bentley. It’s fast, like it had to be, but it’s so much more than that. The Mulsanne feels like the rebirth of something very, very special. It’s an utterly glorious vehicle, the Mulsanne, and it’s also my new favourite superluxury car. 

l 16 & 17 N O V E M B E R 2 0 10

E S T. 1 9 6 8

JOHANNESBURG AUCTION

AU C T I O N E E R S O F D E C O R AT I V E & F I N E A RT S JOHANNESBURG 13 Biermann Avenue | Rosebank 2196 PO Box 52431 | Saxonwold 2132 | +27 11 880 3125 jhb@swelco.co.za | www.swelco.co.za

WA N D E R

Camp

Jabulani G i a n t s o n S a fa r i

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I won’t soon forget my first time astride a threetonne elephant. I felt a little like an Indian Princess and a lot like John Wayne, though his mount of choice was a stallion – much less of a distance for one’s aching thighs to manage. As we padded gently through the African bushveld I wondered if life could get any better.

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Words: TONI MUIR Images: © CAMP JABULANI

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F E AT U R E

n our first night at Camp Jabulani we experienced one of two noteworthy things: first, leopard tracks leading right up to the front door of our suite, and second, waking in the dead of night to a strange noise – a whooping sound, high pitched and unsettling. The first had me peering anxiously into the shadows, only to be told nonchalantly by the guide, “Don’t worry, it’s just a small female.” Just? The second had me sitting bolt upright at about 2:00am, my ears straining and my heart thumping. Whatever it was, it was close. “Don’t worry,” said my other half groggily, “it’s just hyenas.” There was that word again – just. The morning dawned bright and clear, and I was relieved to find that

where we spent some time watching the elephants from a distance, as they frolicked and kidded about in the muddy water. As the sun dipped low we donned jeans and sneakers, and set out for the day’s mostanticipated activity: our first elephant-back safari. The elephants were lined up in the shade a short distance off, ears flapping to fan themselves in the oppressive Limpopo heat. While they watched, big brown eyes wide, long eyelashes catching the sun, we were told their story. Camp Jabulani was conceptualised and created for one purpose: to support and sustain 13 elephants saved from an awful fate by wildlife visionarey, Lente Roode, founder and owner of the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC). The story

into the wild, Jabulani refused to go. He had grown fond of his human companions, his family, and reacted as though they were rejecting him. Attempt after attempt failed. News of 12 trained Zimbabwean elephants in dire need of a home reached Lente, and a rescue mission was organised. Three weeks later, all 12 animals arrived safely in South Africa. Spectators watched anxiously as little Jabulani was introduced to this new, unfamiliar herd. But the matriarch, Tokwe, reached out an immediate and affectionate welcome. Sighs of relief and tears of joy were swift in coming, and Camp Jabulani was born. Jabulani stepped forward to greet us. We rubbed his enormous ears – soft, like chamois leather, dropped a fistful of pellets into his upturned,

all traces of the leopard tracks had been swept away – literally – by unseen Camp Jabulani staff. The day’s agenda was open, time spent idling over breakfast, reading by the private plunge pool of our suite, watching tiny Blue Waxbills flitter daintily just above the surface, skimming off a sip of water, and one of their much larger avian cousins, the Glossy Starling, dive in and out to cool off. At around lunchtime we hopped aboard a Land Rover and set out for the waterhole,

began 13 years ago, with an orphaned baby elephant named Jabulani. At four months old Jabulani was found stuck in the mud of a silt dam, left behind by his herd. He was severaly dehydrated and in a state of shock. Many doubted he would survive. But Lende didn’t give up, and in close consultation with veterinary experts, developed a special milk formula for the little elephant. Just 12 months later he was in full health. But when the time came to release him back

searching trunk, and climbed the steps beside him to leap astride. I likened the sensation to being on top of a moving scaffolding, only one that rumbled deeply every now and then, the vibrations rippling through his body and making my own shiver just a little. It was an incredible feeling. Once all the guests were settled onto an elephant of their own, we set off into the bush. I was astounded by how little noise these gentle giants made as they padded through the

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veld, their enourmous feet like cushions when touching the earth. Jabulani took the lead, stopping every so often to tear a brach off a tree – ‘takeaways’ as the guide riding in front of me called them. He regaled me with fact after fact about elephants, how they can carry as much as 20 percent of their body weight on their backs, how they eat as much as 250 kilograms of food a day, and how 120 litres of blood flow through the veins of a full-grown male. But most amazing of all: they can ‘talk’ to each other from a distance of 60 kilometres. That deep rumbling in their chests – that’s them talking, and they do it at some frequencies we can’t even hear. The following morning we headed to the HESC, doing a bit of bundu bashing en route as a mother lion and her two adolescent offspring has been spotted not far off the main road. There they were under an Acacia tree and I must say, unless they’re hunting or eating, they don’t do much, these kings of beasts. After a few moments spent observing and admiring, we continued on our way. The HESC has established itself as one of the leading private research and breeding facilities for endangered species in the country. Here, we waited at the ‘vulture restaurant’ as staff threw pieces of meat into an open cemented area, upon which the hungry birds descended with wide wings flapping and sharp beaks agape. It was a feeding frenzy; fascinating albeit a tad frightening. We also saw first-hand the various projects undertaken by the Centre, including the cheetah and wild dog breeding projects. The work undertaken by the HESC is crucial to the survival of so many of our world’s species. But it was our night safari on elephant back – the only experience of this kind in the world – that left the most lingering memory. My other half being six-foot-seven-inches tall (a full two metres), insisted that we ride

on Sebakwe, the largest elephant, who happens to be 3.4 metres at the shoulder. Sitting on him we were thus eye level with whatever was at least four metres off the ground, and I found myself staring over the tops of the Acacia trees, far into the distance. Talk about a different persepective on things! We started walking, and Sebakwe gave a low rumble that I felt deep in my own chest. It was echoed by a roar in the distance. “It’s just a lion,” said the guide. It sounded far away enough not to cause concern. Until I shone my spotlight a little ways off and found, lying just there, maybe 10 metres away, a full-maned male lion. There’s no chance the ellies didn’t hear him, smell him and see him, but they showed no hesitation at all, merely plodding on slowly into the night. I looked up, the sky now completely dark, the Evening Star twinkling just above the horizon and thought well, if they’re not worried, I won’t be either, and settled in to enjoy the ride.  About the lodge Camp Jabulani, a Relais & Châteaux property, is located on a 14,000-hectare Big 5 private game reserve in Hoedspruit, Limpopo. The lodge features six large, ultra-luxurious open-plan suites with lounge area, fireplace, and spacious bathroom with free-standing stone bath, double vanity and glass-enclosed shower surrounded by African bush. Outside, the wooden deck overlooking the dry riverbed has sun loungers and a private plunge pool. The main lodge has a large dining room, lounge, open-air spa, fitness centre and sauna, and dedicated business centre with wireless Internet connectivity. Zindoga Villa features two individual suites connected by a joint lounge and dining area. Each unit has a large bedroom with en suite bathroom, wooden deck and private, heated plunge pool. Contact +27 12 460 5605, +27 12 460 7348, or visit www.campjabulani.com.

Dr. John Demartini has consulted for Fortune 500 CEOs, entrepreneurs, Hollywood celebrities, sports personalities, financiers and other professionals. He has appeared on hundreds of national and international radio and television talk and financial news shows including CNN’s Larry King Live, CNBC, CBS, NBC, PBS and more.

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AT T E N D

You Rang, Sir?

The Return of the Butler At one stage or another, many of us will doubtless have dipped into the wonderful worlds of HE Bates and PG Wodehouse – Bates for his lyrical evocations of English country life in The Darling Buds of May, and Wodehouse for giving us Bertie Wooster’s incomparable butler, Jeeves – that elegant and unflappable repository of all knowledge, who effortlessly guides his young master through life’s social ups-and-downs.

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urious as to how local butlers measure up to their overseas counterparts, and knowing that in the United States, for example, where the game of keeping up with the Joneses is played in deadly earnest, we spoke to Newton Cross and Anton van Deventer, owner and head trainer respectively of the Cape Townbased South African Butlers’ Academy, whose graduates are sought-after by the great and the good – not just locally, but worldwide too. Cross, whose illustrious personal butlering pedigree includes a stint as butler to Nelson Mandela, as well as a series of tantalisingly high-profile engagements abroad (of which he will not speak), knows his oats when it comes to the business of butlering. The Academy’s graduates are in huge demand for full-time as well as parttime employment in private residences, guest houses, boutique hotels and game lodges, not to mention cruise liners, luxury yachts and trains. While some might see this sort of training and qualification as an easy admission ticket to the lives of the rich and famous, many students drop out in the early stages of the course when it becomes apparent what qualities a would-be butler must possess in order to have any chance of success. Says Cross, “The basic attributes of trustworthiness, honesty, reliability, punctuality, confidentiality, flexibility, creativity and humility are non-negotiables. I always stress that the perfect butler must be servile, but never subservient. It’s a delicate boundary that’s sometimes challenged by the employer – and the butler must be able to resist being manipulated into the slave role with decency and

Words: GAVIN BARFIELD Images: © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

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assertion, and without giving offence.” Says head trainer and mentor Van Deventer, through whose accomplished hands every Academy graduate must pass, “You need to be well organised and a quick thinker. A background in the hospitality industry is always a plus, as are any cooking skills one might have. Some butlers will have to cook or prepare meals if the chef is absent. And, of course, it goes without saying that you need to be multiskilled.” Given that butlers are often employed by high-profile people for whom confidentiality is crucial, what assurance does the employer have that the new factotum won’t betray confidences or run to the tabloids? “Butlers in that situation are often expected to sign confidentiality agreements,” says Cross. “With the rules of ethics, discretion and confidentiality recently broken by royal butlers in the UK, the individuals concerned have caused great damage to the image of the profession. Because of that, we take these aspects of the job very seriously, and instil more than just elementary ethical principles into our students. As a more intimate and trusting relationship develops between the employer and butler, they come to rely more heavily on professional advice and input from their butler.” What does the rookie butler learn, then, in the intensive eight-week, full-time, six-days-a-week course? Every facet of household organisation, such as food and beverage service of all meals; caviar, fruit and cheese presentation; table settings, including decorations; body language and elocution; all aspects of executive housekeeping including the care of silverware, antiques and laundry; basic first aid; food hygiene

management; buying and costing; some basic cooking skills; comprehensive culinary and menu terminology; valet service including wardrobe care, dress codes, folding and storing; a very great deal about wine, spirits, beer and ‘mixology’, including fine wine and food pairing; administrative and personal assistance; secretarial work; stock and inventory control; bookkeeping; budgeting; travel arrangements; event planning; etiquette and protocol; concierge service; hotel, yacht and spa service; and special areas of expertise including cigars, cheese, tea, coffee and chocolates. And each of these topics is covered thoroughly – both theoretically in the classroom and through practical exercises, field trips, villa cleaning and styling sessions. A professional coach/psychologist consults on interpersonal and self-management skills development, including such things as personality analysis, conflict resolution and dealing with criticism. Do many women become butlers? Emphatically, yes – they are very much in demand in households where there are children, as well as in the Middle East, where interaction between female staff and the traditional Muslim wife and child is easier and less complicated. At the Academy, overall student numbers are kept to a maximum of 15, so that the would-be butlers get the personal and individual attention they need. Says Cross, “The standard of butlering in South Africa is very high, and we cater for all clientele: the affluent, politicians, the famous, the quiet

The perfect butler must be like air: unobtrusive, but indispensable.

family with kids, the jetsetters and even rural farmers. The ‘traditional British butler’ image still exists, though it’s now more sought after in the US than in Britain itself. In homes of quality there is definitely a move back to old-fashioned standards of formality and decorum. Yes, training in South Africa is based on age-old principles of perfect service, but it also includes all the modern aspects of the hectic, fast-paced lifestyle. It’s a difficult set of balls to keep in the air sometimes, and takes professional skill to manage and maintain.” So by how much should you adapt your monthly budget for one of these paragons of efficiency? For an entrylevel butler, between R10,000 and R15,000, and as much as R50,000 for a more experienced right-hand man – or woman. Butlers in Europe, Australia and the US will set you back a lot more, some in excess of R1million per year, not to mention those expected employee perks such as onsite accommodation, the use of a car, decent medical insurance and of course, a hefty annual bonus. 

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Words: TANYA GOODMAN Images: © ZEN PRODUCTION-DAN ANNETT/GIULIANO SARGENTINI/PERINI NAVI; NIGEL YOUNG/FOSTER&PARTNERS

WOW

Sailing Yacht

S o v ereign of the S eas

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WOW

At the recent Monaco Yacht Show, sailing yacht Panthalassa was awarded the prestigious Prix du Design in a special ceremony onboard the yacht, attended by His Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. This award is regarded as one of the most important acknowledgements of design innovation and excellence in the superyacht industry.

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aunched in 2009, Panthalassa is the eighth yacht in the very successful Perini Navi 56-metre series. Her name is literally translated from Greek as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;all the seaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, drawing inspiration from the vast, ancient ocean that hypothetically surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea. The Prix du Design award was a culmination of efforts from some of the most respected naval and interior designers in the business. Perini Navi's in-house naval architects, in collaboration with Ron Holland Design, are responsible for optimisation of the hull lines and sail plan while Foster and Partners, along with lighting consultant, Aqualuce, can take credit for the spacious interiors that feature a remarkable distribution of natural light into the yacht. This is accomplished by means of three large skylights, the effects of which are augmented by a careful choice of materials, tones and textures. Panthalassa boasts an ultra-light, streamlined aluminium hull with maximum displacement to guarantee both excellent sailing performance and extreme comfort. Total sail area is expected to reach 1,500 square metres. The way in which the team has blended the light-filled interior with the sleek and aerodynamic superstructure is likely just one of the reasons for the many accolades received.

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This superb luxury yacht’s palette comprises simple, natural materials, such as teak and leather, to create a sense of well-being and harmony. The central design ethic is focused on the elliptical central staircase, a theme that has been translated throughout the living spaces, which are arranged to offer a choice of smaller, more private retreats as well as flexible, open living areas. The three levels – a fly deck, the main saloon, and the guest and crew quarters below – are connected by this gently curved oval stair, which is surrounded by lightreflecting rods to mirror daylight back into the living areas. In the main saloon, the lounge, bar, library and boardroom are opened up to create a generous central space. A glazed wall between the boardroom and captain’s deck maintains a sense of continuity and a connection with the water. The deck features an informal outdoor eating area, complemented by a more formal dining space inside. There is no conventional large owner cabin with smaller guest quarters. Instead, the lower deck has been arranged with six similar-sized

Panthalassa’s palette comprises simple, natural materials to create a sense of wellbeing and harmony.

cabins for a maximum of 12 guests. In each suite, the hull has been stripped away and storage areas moved toward the centre of the boat to expose the curve of the superstructure, while maximising daylight and views from the additional portholes. An organic, curved chaise longue threads around the hull of each cabin to provide informal seating and each room has its own private bathroom, featuring a marble wall. Along with storage for jet skis, two custom-built Pascoe RIB tenders, and four Seabob underwater craft, the yacht also features state-of-the art entertainment and communications equipment, discreetly integrated into the furniture and interior panels. Kite board equipment, windsurfers, various water skis and wake boards as well as six full sets of scuba diving equipment are also found onboard. The 56-metre-long, 10-metrewide yacht has a maximum speed of 15 knots, rises to 59 metres in height, and alternates her cruise routes between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. She is available for charter through Camper & Nicholsons International at a current estimated rate of $200,000 per week. What better way to enjoy the ocean than witnessing for yourself the power and grace of a peerless Perini Navi yacht under sail. Visit: www.perininavi.it or www.camperandnicholsons.com. 

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Gold

Armand de Brignac Champagne In late 2009, the world’s most respected sommeliers and wine critics conducted a meticulous blind tasting of over 1,000 champagnes. Each was rated on a 100-point scale, the process so strict that if judges’ assessments were more than four points apart, the product was re-tested. While the top 10 included many well-known names, Armand de Brignac Brut Gold emerged as number one.

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Words: TONI MUIR Images: © ARMAND DE BRIGNAC

All that Glitters is

savour

t is quite an achievement to be pegged as the world’s finest champagne, ranked ahead of Dom Pérignon, Mumm, Cristal and Pol Roger. Jean-Jacques Cattier, head winemaker of Armand de Brignac and the estate’s patriarch said of this accolade, “To be selected as the best-tasting champagne in the world is a remarkable achievement, but to receive such an award in a large blind-tasting competition is testimony to the quality of our product. It is a further incentive to continue making the best champagne in the world.” This outstanding recognition crowned a series of accolades accumulated from expert critics, journalists, and wine lovers the world over. And the panel of judges aren’t the only ones raving about Brut Gold’s brilliance. Wine & Spirits Magazine described it as such: “Bold strokes of ginger, apple, and sweeter apricot flavours meet racy acidity in this

like falling in love all over again.” And Tim McNally, of New Orleans Magazine, proclaimed that “for those special and near-special occasions, Armand de Brignac is a must.” This superb bubbly is produced by the Champagne Cattier house of Chigny-les-Roses, France. The Cattier family has owned and cultivated vineyards in the Montagne de Reims terroir in the French Champagne region since 1763. Today, patriarch Jean-Jacques Cattier oversees the production of Armand de Brignac. Each vintage year, Jean-Jacques and son Alexandre visit the best vineyards in the three most famous terroirs of the La Marne region of Champagne: the Montagne de Reims, the Cote des Blancs, and the Vallée de la Marne. Only the best grapes are harvested and pressed on a traditional Coquart device to save only the top fraction of the first pressing. This is blended with pressings of harvests from two prior vintages, each obtained by way of

opaque gold vessel for the Brut Gold, silver for the Blanc de Blancs and pink-gold for the Rosé. Each paperless bottle features four hand-applied and hand-polished pewter labels, these possessing subtle differences in the tone, texture and hue of the finish, due to the hand-crafted, beaten nature. This detail is accented by two Ace of Spades insignias symbolising the Champagne region’s regal heritage. Every bottle comes packaged in a black, lacquered wooden gift box with velvet lining and nameplate certifying its authenticity, or in a lush embroidered velvet bag. Explains JeanJacques, “The goal in all this is to present something authentically luxurious and which does justice to the once-in-a-lifetime events at which champagne is so often present.” The cellar produces just 50,000 bottles of Armand de Brignac per year through a manufacturing process that is entirely handmade – from the picking of the grapes to the riddling of

luscious champagne. It has a bright feel, like sun on limestone, a fine, persistent bead, and the cut to match a rich preparation of sweetbreads.” Kåre Halldén, a Swedish wine critic and the author of Champagne: Your Guide to the World of Bubbles, described the Brut Gold as “balanced with a touch of je ne sais quoi, which gives an air of sassiness to the whole experience… A truly intense champagne, worth every penny… It’s

these same methods. The bottles are aged for a minimum of three years in a cellar considered one of the deepest in Champagne – 30 metres below ground – and thus most favourable to a slow ageing process. Each bottle is riddled by hand in traditional wooden racks. A staff of just eight craftsmen manages the whole process. Such a perfect product should be suitably presented, and the Armand de Brignac bottle does not disappoint: an

the wine, to the making of the bottles to the final packaged product. That it is an exclusive and delicious luxury find there is little doubt. Lauded for its classic style and perfect drinkability, Armand de Brignac is everything great champagne should be.  For more information: • Visit: www.armanddebrignac.com www.cksa.co.za • Tel: +27 21 421 9091

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COLLECT

For Old

TIMES'

Sake

Now a mature collectors’ field, vintage watches are sold by nearly every major auction house, plus a few devoted exclusively to watch and clock sales. As one New York connoisseur – a female collector, in itself a rarity – remarked with a wry smile, “I'm surprised that the writers of Sex & The City didn't set an episode at a Patek Philippe watch auction. I've never seen so many available millionaires in one room.”

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COLLECT

Words: KEN KESSLER Images: © BLANCPAIN; PATEK PHILIPPE

rior to the late 1980s the finest of wristwatches suffered (or enjoyed) relative anonymity, as they were known only to the privileged few. The offerings of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin were sold to families with ‘old money’, or to those with an eye for lesser-known but superlative items. For the rest of us there were less obscure timepieces from far more commercially-minded brands including the ubiquitous Rolex, Omega, Longines and countless others. What happened to make watches more appealing in the 1980s was the backlash against the cheap and nasty quartz watches of the 1970s. Along with retro-revivals such as vinyl LPs versus Compact Discs, and real coffee versus instant, mechanical watches were rediscovered. As with most boys’ toys (despite the jewellery aspects, women seem content with but one or two watches), a new sub-culture was created: one of collectors and investors, cognoscenti and wheelerdealers, auteur watchmakers and even counterfeiters. A major part of a watch’s appeal to enthusiasts is that you can carry your treasure with you. You don’t have to bring friends to your home to show them your latest acquisition. If your watch is ‘cool’ or interesting enough, it might even start a conversation, breaking the ice at a cocktail party. It will certainly make its presence known in the boardroom. And, unlike a selection of paintings, sculptures or vintage cars, which require special conditions or ample

display space for their housing and storage, a sizeable watch collection could fit in a shoebox. Aside from their inherent appeal to burglars and thus the need for a decent safe in the home, watches require only a reasonably constant climate and occasional servicing to survive a lifetime. Buy well, treat the watch with care, and you have something that you can enjoy on a daily basis, something that will not diminish or disappear with usage, like a bottle of wine. And it may even appreciate in genuine financial terms. This applies to both new watches and old, but the former can be purchased merely by walking into a watch store with sufficient funds. Collecting vintage timepieces requires the eye and mindset of a ferret. Vintage watches appeal for a number of reasons, not least as the aforementioned alternative to new watches, which anyone can simply go out and buy. As a statement of taste, vintage watches offer acceptable eccentricity of a far less shocking nature than, say, dressing like a character out of a PG Wodehouse novel, or wearing pince nez glasses.

Vintage watches appeal for a number of reasons, not least as an alternative to new watches, which anyone can simply go out and buy.

Another inspiration for buying vintage might simply be that older watches appeal just because they are retro, or uncommon, or plain interesting. As for the watches themselves, vintage timepieces are found solely by being in the right place at the right time. However much your heart may be set upon owning a rose-gold Rolex Bubbleback from the late 1930s, you cannot go to your nearest Rolex dealer and order one as you would a new Submariner. You may end up leaving your name with a selection of vintage watch specialists, or poring over auction catalogues for months or even years. Maintaining them is a less secure situation than looking after a new watch. Anything old has suffered a

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certain amount of wear and tear. As for the spares, don't even bother with vintage watches if you do not have access to a master watchmaker and fairly deep pockets. If your watch needs a spare part that cannot be ordered from the original manufacturer, then it will have to be made from scratch. And that means an expensive repair. So, as with vintage cars, condition is almost as important as provenance – and ‘mint’ condition adds to the cost. Because of the explosion in interest in fine watches, a vast number of important pieces end up not in the specialist stores but in themed auctions. The most collectible brands of all – Rolex, Patek Philippe, Breguet, Panerai, Omega and others of high pedigree – even warrant single-brand auctions in which the entire catalogue, or the bulk of it, deals solely with a single marque. As is the case when buying anything at auction, acquiring watches in this manner is fraught with peril, and the rules are the same: study the catalogues, know what you want, know your financial limits. The advantages, though, outnumber the risks if you have a bit of knowledge and self-control. Often, more recent watches will sell for substantially less than in stores that stock used pieces, and – unless you get involved in a battle with another bidder – you might find yourself bidding for a watch with little competition. One specialist outlined three tips for buying at auction: “First, always stick to your price limit. Second, always ask for a condition report on the items you’re after. And third, if you’re not bidding online but will attend the actual event, be sure to go to the viewing before the auction.” As the vintage watch market encompasses specialist shops, auction houses, boot fairs, flea markets and general antique fairs, and surviving old watches number in the hundreds of millions, the selection is enormous

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and the prices often attractive. As with any specialised field, whether vintage wines, art or automobiles, there is only one substitute for knowledge and experience: the advice of an expert. A trusted watchmaker, an enthusiast, an honest retailer – the guidance provided by any one of these will minimise the risks associated with buying or investing in fine watches. One vendor of high-quality, preowned pieces offered sage advice on acquiring watches for investment

rather than for their intrinsic value. He said, “Forget it. The vintage watch market has been stable for some time, so starting a watch collection today means buying at the going rate. Long gone are the days when you’d stumble across a vintage Rolex in a junk shop for $25. The only watches that will appreciate are those that can be purchased currently at their market value, unless you’re buying in the trade, or really know how to ‘win’ at auctions. So, as with wine, it means that only a lengthy passage of time will increase their value … and even that’s not a certainty. Instead, why not simply buy a watch because you actually want to wear it?” 

The World of Jo Malone

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To c e l e b r a t e t h e o p e n i n g o f o u r n e w J o M a l o n e b o u t i q u e i n S o u t h A f r i c a , w e w o u l d l i k e t o t a k e this opportunity to welcome you to The World of Jo Malone . Discover the unique collection of fragrances and learn how to create your own signature scent with Fragrance Combining . This exclusive British collection of fresh, modern scents for the bath, body and home has captured the senses of discerning women and men around the world. ™

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Jo Malone offers a personalised service and unique gift ideas to suit any personality and every occasion, with each gift beautifully presented in the signature packaging – a luxurious way to c r e a t e a l a s t i n g m e m o r y.

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REVOLUTIONISE

Emissions

Laws Not the End of Four-Wheeled Frolics

This year’s Paris Motor Show was suffused with a theme: the car world is going green, and in a rush. EU legislation regarding emissions is breathing down the industry’s neck, and car makers are responding in an array of simply fascinating ways. There will eventually be a victorious technology, but right now manufacturers are going in one of several directions: various variations on the internal combustion/electric hybrid theme, electric cars (EVs), plug-in hybrids, and downsized, full-internal combustion.

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he most famous hybrid, of course, is the Toyota Prius, but truthfully it’s little more than an automotive appliance designed with nothing at all but pure efficiency in mind. In other words, it’s not much fun. However, Toyota has recently started to apply that knowhow to other vehicles in its range. In Britain recently, Toyota released the hybrid Auris, an entirely normal car that just happens to be a hybrid. That makes it a car you might actually want to own – a pity that Toyota South Africa has no plans to import it. Good news is that Lexus built a version of the RX SUV in hybrid form and, in fact, it’s the most popular version of the RX in South Africa. The RS450h comes with a 3.5-litre V6 and

Words: ALEXANDER PARKER Images: ALEXANDER PARKER ; ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

REVOLUTIONISE

an electric motor driven by a large battery. The result is amazing fuel efficiency. Driven in Johannesburg you can expect to average less than 10l/100km, and if you do freeway driving, as I did when I had the car on test, I averaged 8.3l/100km. In a fullsize SUV at altitude, this is simply brilliant. Add the fact that the current model RX is a handsome beast, hugely comfortable and blessed with safety and space, and what you have is the guilt-ridden man’s super family wagon. Of course, hybrids can only ever be a medium-term solution to emissions, but that hasn’t stopped Toyota from taking the theme and improving it. Currently, there are 600 so-called plug-in hybrids on trial in various markets. It’s a Prius, but this time it comes with different batteries. At night, the car gets plugged into the socket at home, meaning that when you’re ready to commute to the office, there’s a significant charge available immediately. Back it up with the same 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine, and there’s real power there if you need it. As a result the plug-in Prius will manage an amazing 2.6l/100km, which, in fact, is less than a Vespa. If you drive less than 40 kilometres a day, there’s no reason to take the plug-in Prius out of full-on ‘EV’ (electric vehicle) mode. You won’t need to use any petrol at all. At Paris this year, Jaguar released a concept hybrid supercar, unlike any hybrid (or supercar) anyone has ever seen. Taking its design cues from the legendary, if ill-fated, XJ220, the CX75 is one of the prettiest cars ever built. It is capable of 330km/h and will hit 100km/h in just 3.2 seconds. It is, from any angle, a supercar. But the remarkable thing about the CX-75 is how it drives. It is what Jaguar calls an ‘extended-range electric car’. This means a big bank of batteries and four very powerful electric motors, one for each wheel. The car is capable of covering 130 kilometres on electric power alone but, being a hybrid, it has a full range of 900 kilometres.

Now this is where it gets extremely clever. Instead of opting for a trusted, if somewhat dirty, V8 or V12 to back up the electric power, Jaguar have fitted the CX-75 with two powerful gas turbines, each of which spins at up to 1,8000rpm, providing massive power for the wheels and charge for the batteries. Because of the comparatively clean source of energy (gas), the Jaguar’s official EU emissions figure is just 28g of CO2/km. Compared to a standard Prius’s 94g/km, it’s quite clear what a stunning bit of engineering and design the CX-75 is. Of course, most of us won’t be driving Jaguar hybrid supercars, and for city folk with short commutes, the full-on EV is on the cusp of reality, even in South Africa. The Nissan Leaf,

a fully-electric car, is now on sale overseas and is coming to South Africa in 2011. The Chevy Volt, too. In France today you can buy a fullyelectric city car – the C-Zero – from Citroën, which they advertise with the clever suggestion that you can fair le plein – meaning fill it up – with just €3.60. And electric sports cars are already among us, if not yet on sale here, with cars made by Fisker and Tesla blazing an EV sportscar path. Many may worry about the cost of electricity in South Africa, and the reliability of its supply, but the truth is that compared to a tank of 95, a full battery, even at Eskom’s prices, is going to be a fraction of the cost. As for reliability of supply – well, that’s in the hands of the politicians. 

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R A L LY

Arise, SIR bob

geldof Global philanthropist and shaggy-haired, potty-mouthed Irish anti-poverty activist Bob Geldofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spectacular list of honours and awards since leaving punk rock band Boomtown Rats in 1986 reads like a civilian version of Idi Aminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chest.

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R A L LY

Words: GAVIN BARFIELD Image: © AP / PICTURENET

orn in Ireland’s Dún Laoghaire (say ‘Dun Leary’) in 1951, Geldof’s acute social conscience and stratospherically successful, hands-on attitude to global charity work is eclipsed perhaps only by his eccentricity, his outspoken manner and an unfortunate propensity for giving his daughters names that even the late Frank Zappa (who called his two sprogs Moon Unit and Dweezil) would balk at giving to his pet poodle. It’s likely, however, that Fifi Trixibelle (1983), Peaches Honeyblossom (1989), Little Pixie (1990) and the youngest, one Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (1996), are proud of their famous father. And not without reason, for Geldof’s heart, beneath the gruff exterior, is as big and tender as a December pawpaw – as evidenced by his staggering catechism of fund-raising achievements and awards for philanthropy. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (in 2006 and 2008), Geldof’s complicated citizenship and residency preclude him from using the title ‘Sir’. But this evidently doesn’t worry him, according to those close to the man who, in 2006, alienated most of New Zealand by calling its government’s slender efforts in the area of foreign aid contributions ‘shameful’ and ‘pathetic’ when compared to his own. Just when Geldof’s charitable endeavours first took root is vague. Observers largely agree that it was probably in 1981, when he performed a solo version of the Boomtown Rats’ early hit I don’t Like Mondays at a benefit show in aid of Amnesty International. Following said performance this extraordinary man became really energised and began aggressively canvassing top-line pop contemporaries and badgering them to join him in one or other of the

huge-scale, star-studded – but sometimes controversial – benefits that soon followed. Sometime during 1984 Geldof, moved by what he had seen of the famine in Ethiopia, teamed with Ultravox’s Midge Ure (himself a leading light in the celebrity famine relief arena) and just about everyone who was anyone in pop music to form an outfit called Band Aid and record the cloying Do they know it’s Christmas? The song shot to the top of the UK charts and stayed there. For 13 years it held the coveted title of biggest-selling UK single before migrating to the US, where it enjoyed another runaway success before coming back to Britain for a second incarnation, where it rose once more to third position. Before the song’s popularity and public identification with the cause it espoused had even begun to wane, it had raked in more than £8 million. None of the stars charged for their services. Geldof, an astute observer, soon discovered that the key reason why African countries were always in dire economic circumstances was the enormous cost of servicing foreign loans taken from greedy western banks, coupled with endemic corruption on a grand scale. The campaign was only beginning. Spurred by the success of Band Aid, by the next year, 1985, Geldof had the bit firmly between his teeth. Persuading the BBC to clear its television schedules for an unheardof 16 hours, he and Ure organised simultaneous concerts at London’s Wembley Arena and Philadelphia’s John F Kennedy stadium. The two mammoth, co-ordinated events were, arguably, the biggest stage shows in history. They raised the staggering sum of £150 million, most of which went to Ethiopia –

“It’s not in my nature to shut up.” – Bob Geldof

and earned Geldof a Knighthood. Invited in 2005 by then-British prime minister, Tony Blair, to “come and see me when you get back from Ethiopia”, Geldof accompanied the newly-formed Commission for Africa on an intensive, year-long study tour of African trouble-spots. With uncanny insight they reached past the inessentials and determined that, at the core, something first had to be done to combat the appalling level of institutional corruption that characterised the continent, and secondly, that the world’s rich should be sticking their collective hand deeper into their capacious pockets and putting their money where their mouths were. Largely to pressurise the influential G8 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US) to do more for Africa’s starving billions, Geldof promptly mounted a controversial series of eight concerts around the world, billed as Live 8. They were instrumental in mobilising the G8 nations, then conferring at Scotland’s Gleneagles, to set up what came to be called the G8 Gleneagles African debt and aid package. With the job not yet done – perhaps hardly properly started, say some close to him – and touched by the plight of legions of single fathers who had approached him to lend his support to their cause, Geldof, himself now a single father, also finds time to champion the strident and highprofile organisation Father’s Rights. Other honours (apart from the OBE and the two Nobel Peace Prize nominations, that is) heaped on the quirky Irishman include the international Man of Peace award, honorary Fellowship of the UK Royal College of Surgeons, an honorary MA from Britain’s University of Kent, and having been voted third in New Statesman’s ‘Heroes of our Time’ awards. 

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SKIM

L’Hydroptère F l y i n g Tr i m a ra n

Making her most recent appearance in the Voiles de Saint-Tropez Regatta, l’Hydroptère entered the final stretch of her European programme, taking her from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on to Kiel in Germany for the famous Kieler Woche, before arriving to wow sailing enthusiasts and onlookers in

’Hydroptère travels on the border between reality and dream at an incredibly high speed. Regardless of whether and when she actually touches the water, she is nonetheless defined as a yacht. And the fastest sailing craft in the world, at that. She has just marked her one-year anniversary of having taken the absolute sailing speed

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record of 50.17 knots (92.91 km/h) over a full nautical mile. A delighted Alain Thébault, designer and skipper of l’Hydroptère, announced at the time, “For 30 years, passion and daring have carried me forward, but this victory really belongs to our indomitable, tight-knit team. This historic record is powerful because it lies at the frontier between the twin capacities of this

Words TANYA GOODMAN Images: © L’HYDROPTÈRE

the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.

SKIM

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extraordinary flying trimaran that is both a high-speed craft and an ocean-going sailboat.” The team now holds the top two speed records in the world: 51.36 knots over 500 metres and 50.17 knots over one nautical mile, and they have set their sights on ocean sailing next. The design and development of l'Hydroptère has been an extraordinary human and technological adventure and she represents a milestone in the hybrid sailing sector. The objective, according to Thébault, was “to build a sailing boat capable of achieving good results in flight (on the foils) and in the water (on the floaters).” Using leaps of imagination and a little patience while waiting for high-tech materials to be approved, the design team created a kind of ‘bridge’ between both elements. From the beginning of the l’Hydroptère adventure, Alain Thébault was assisted by a few engineers working on a purely voluntary basis and affectionately known as our Papés (the old guys). The majority of them are retired engineers from the aeronautics industry who actively participate in the determination of the project’s developments and also in its design. Professors and students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) also play a role, as do the major partners, in particular Thierry Lombard, the Managing Partner of the firm of private bankers Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, and watchmaker Audemars Piguet. The result: a 60-foot hydrofoil trimaran. The fundamental scientific principle of l’Hydroptère (from the Greek hydros, meaning water, and ptera, meaning wing) is based on dynamic lift, the same thing that

allows the wings of a plane to effect take-off. L’Hydroptère’s foils are actually underwater wings that lift the boat’s hulls from the water when a certain speed is reached. The foils then remain the only parts in contact with the water, which makes it possible to considerably lessen the drag and to have a potential for speed far above that of classical yachts. The geometry of the foils used on l’Hydroptère was conceived so as to limit the increase of this lift, so that the boat stops rising and is stabilised a few metres over the surface of the water. At this point, she is basically flying. This is why, as Thébault puts it, “she is capable of freeing herself from Archimedes’ thrust.” This very simple concept allows for an easy application, but the stress exerted is such that is was necessary to wait for the development of hightech materials like carbon and titanium that would allow such a large boat to fly over the waves. The advent of a 3D flight simulator, the Hydrop 6, developed by Philippe Perrier to understand and master the prototype's flying range, together with onboard measurement systems that help the sailing team to know in real time the strain values on all the boat's strategic points, also helped push making the design a reality. The wait, apparently, was worth it. But the dream does not stop here. Thébault and his team have decided to extend the technological and geographical limits of the project as they plan to develop an addition two new boats, with the objective of challenging all the oceanic records, especially those in the Atlantic and Pacific, and to sail around the world in 40 days. Watch this space to see how they fare. 

premier TRAVEL

TWELVE APOSTLES CAPE TOWN

Stand at the edge of the world where you can enjoy nature or explore Cape Town’s cosmopolitan V&A Waterfront with car transfer or helipad services. Voted Africa’s leading spa resort, the Twelve Apostles welcomes children and pets and promises an idyllic getaway for the whole family. www.12apostleshotel.com Reservations: +27 21 437 9000

FORDOUN SPA MIDLANDS

This family-run hideaway in the Natal Midlands, with its pristine country air and rolling hills, offers luxurious accommodation and some of the most advanced, award-winning spa facilities. Highly personalised service includes the very best in traditional African treatments. Fordoun is the perfect place to escape and refresh mind, body and spirit. www.fordoun.com Reservations: +27 33 266 6217

RADDISSON JHB & PORT ELIZABETH

Spas, gyms and a unique “Yes I Can” concept that includes 100 percent Guest Satisfaction, both hotels have conference facilities and free Internet and offer luxurious rooms, fine dining experiences as well as opportunities to “paint the town Blu.” www.radissonblu.com/hotel-portelizabeth and www.radissonblu.com/hotel-johannesburg Reservations: +27 41 509 5000 (PE) and +27 11 245 8000 (JHB)

THE SAXON BOUTIQUE HOTEL & SPA SANDHURST Voted the World’s Leading Boutique Hotel six years in a row, The Saxon is the ultimate city base when in Johannesburg. Close to the financial and business hub of South Africa, the lush tranquillity offers a calm retreat from a busy day’s work. Enjoy discreet and highly personalised service in a tasteful African elegance. www.thesaxon.co.za Reservations: +27 11 292 6000

OYSTER BOX DURBAN

Hovering on the ocean’s edge, the Oyster Box Hotel is conveniently close to Afro-chic Durban, yet exudes an air of charm and elegance. This iconic hotel’s dramatic revamp now offers guests a vibrant, contemporary old-world experience, while evoking the warm nostalgia of days gone by. www.oysterboxhotel.com Reservations: +27 31 514 5000

Tintswalo Atlantic

With unsurpassed views of the Sentinel, this lodge can only be described as one of the most secluded and breathtaking jewels on the Atlantic seaboard. Its 10 luxury suites and one regal presidential suite provide an environment that offers a time for stillness and reflection in total privacy. www.tintswalo.com Reservations: +27 11 300 8888

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DRIVE

Luxury Diesels On the Rise

The notion that luxurious cars are symbols of what prescriptive types would call ‘conspicuous consumption’ regrettably persists. And to some extent you can see why. But, the world moves fast and there’s increased pressure on auto manufacturers to make mainstream luxury vehicles more fuel efficient.

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DRIVE

Words: ALEXANDER PARKER Images: © QUICKPIC.CO.ZA; MOTORPICS.CO.ZA

t would be great, of course, if you could buy a good-sized German luxury car that uses the same amount of fuel as a Fiat Panda. And that’s why BMW has built one. The new 5 Series has been hailed generally as the car to beat in its segment. It’s certainly an elegant car and nothing can quite match its dynamic, razorsharp abilities on a challenging road. The car belies its size, and BMW’s insistence on sticking to that expensive, albeit winning, formula of front-engined, rear-wheel-drive powertrains means that to take a corner in this car is to experience best in class in some way. The interesting thing about the 5 Series range, in my opinion, is that arguably the best car in the range is the second-cheapest. We all know and admire the monstrous M5, and the 535i’s ability to mix old-school BMW straight-six frolics with relative efficiency in the hands of a gentleman. It’s the 520d that really raises eyebrows. An ordinary four-cylinder, 2-litre diesel doesn’t sound like a recipe for fun, but it does deliver just enough urge to amuse. It’s not blitzkrieg, but the 520d runs to 100km/h in about 8.1 seconds. It’s astonishingly frugal, using an official combined cycle of just 5.2l/100km. Driven conservatively,

drive and has that lovely interior, which is such a massive improvement on the previous model. It’s so efficient that in these modern times, where people fret about their carbon footprint, the 520d gives you one less thing to worry about. Carbon footprints are not what motivated Audi to build a V12 TDi (read, diesel!) version of its wonderful R8 supercar. Audi, in a move that certainly more than raised eyebrows among petrol heads, brought a dieselpowered race car to the iconic 24 hours of Le Mans, a 5.5-litre V12 turbodiesel, which won every Le Mans it entered. The Audi wasn’t the fastest car on the track, but it needed to refuel less often, which, in an endurance race such as Le Mans, means everything. Despite the undeniably impressive and important victories at Le Mans, Audi, in the end, decided not to put the R8 TDi into production. Perhaps, after all, the great motoring public – petrol heads all – aren’t quite ready for a diesel-powered supercar. Audi had made the point, though, that the notion of diesel engines being useful for little more that ploughing a field or towing ten tons was deeply outdated. The final luxury diesel car I’d like to mention is the Citroën C5, not necessarily the kind of car you’d

A4 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, all of which, as we know, are very good entry-level luxury cars. The thing is, of course, that BMW has won the argument on dynamics. Gone are the soft Mercs. Gone are nose-heavy Audis. They’ll all taut, firm and dynamically excellent. They’re entertaining to drive and the diesels are super thrifty. And that’s what makes Citroën’s offering so interesting. There are only three models available in the range: two diesels and a small, turbopowered petrol. Now, both the diesels are super smooth, but the 3-litre V6 comes with Citroën’s hydramatic suspension, which gives a ride so soft and so fluid, it’s an experience that usually comes with millions of Rands of car – think RollsRoyce, think Bentley. The seats are some of the best I’ve experienced outside of said hyper-luxury barges, and there’s certainly a lot of kit for the price. I once drove from a cottage in Kleinmond to Johannesburg, and it was my fortune to not be in a hardand-sporty German sedan, but in fact to be driving a V6 diesel Citroën C5. It was the perfect car for the job. You just stick the old-school slushmatic into ‘D’, set the seat massagers on, and relax. Now, this is not for everyone.

BMW say, you’ll be driving more than 1,300 kilometres between fuel stops. The real world won’t deliver those figures – especially in Gauteng – but you can look forward to 7l/100km. And that’s just brilliant. The best thing about the car is that it’s still a Five. It still comes with a superb eight-speed automatic gearbox, it’s still a genuine joy to

expect in a magazine such as this, but here’s why. I firmly believe that luxury can often be measured in a manner far more sophisticated than Rands and cents, and the Citroën C5 offers a unique – a word I use advisedly – experience in the local market. In terms of price and spec, the C5 rubs shoulders with the usual suspects in its segment – the BMW 3, the Audi

Some want the dynamics of a German performance sedan, but you have to doff your hat to Citroën for daring to offer something quite so remarkably different. Citroën’s advertising has described the C5 as the best German car France has ever made. I take their point – that the C5 is beautifully built and solidly put together. But it’s so un-German in every other way. 

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Moving Sushi Expedition Marine Conservation 50

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E D U C AT E

Words: TANYA GOODMAN Images: © LINDA SCHONKNECHT

Current data suggests that approximately 100 million tonnes of fish are removed from the ocean annually. At this level of exploitation, sustainability of marine resources and fish stocks, in particular, is questionable. Managing global marine resources is impossible without appropriate knowledge and research, and public awareness and participation is essential.

o highlight the plight of our oceans, and to profile some of the positive stories of conservation, two intrepid young South Africans travelled overland across three continents for two years, documenting through video and photos the inspirational stories of people who are doing things right. Both graduates of Rhodes University, ichthyologist Michael Markovina and photojournalist Linda Schonknecht set off on their Marine Resource Expedition in April 2008, travelling as far afield as Japan, and only returning recently to Cape Town. “The world’s oceans are in deep trouble,” say Markovina and Schonknecht emphatically. “From the northernmost reaches of the Arctic Circle to the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, the seas are being stripped at an unprecedented rate. Since the 1900s, many species may have declined by nearly 90 percent! Every aspect of the ocean is being mined for its resources – kelp forests, sandy shores, estuaries and the deep ocean are all relentlessly exploited by a range of fishing strategies and advanced technologies with subsequent devastating effects.” For the two South Africans, the trip offered many discoveries. One thing they realised is that science, especially environmental science, cannot exist in a bubble and that policy makers must understand each individual cultural and social context. “Saying one must find ways to lobby governments to change their fisheries policies is all well in countries that have democratic governance systems,” reflects Schonknecht, “but what happens when you live under a dictatorship? Or your political parties change constantly? Or you have rampant corruption? One can’t compare resource management in African countries to developed countries like Norway or Japan, where impeccable science and data drive well-informed political and management decisions regarding the use and conservation of marine resources.”

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Schonknecht does believe, however, that by tapping into local knowledge and culture, change can happen. In Benin, for example, fish resources are on the verge of collapse. But a non-governmental organisation called Nature Tropical, run by JoseaDideomu Bissaue, has found a way to use spirituality for conservation. People respect Voodoo in Benin. If a Voodoo leader earmarks a particular part of a forest as sacred, then no one enters that area or hunts anything from it. Josea is trying to implement the first marine protected areas along Benin’s coastline by asking spiritual leaders to endorse ‘zones’ of the sea as ‘no-take’ areas, and to participate

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in turtle conservation and awareness initiatives. In two short years his efforts have made a significant difference. While his approach is not something that a traditional scientific or conservation approach would have considered, it is one that works magic in a region where no one has succeeded before. The pair vehemently believes, and rightfully so, that fish represent livelihoods, finances and food security for many people across the globe, and if these issues are not considered by scientists or managers alike, that our fish stocks are doomed. Religious or cultural beliefs of the communities who participate in the harvest of a

resource are pivotal and should be considered by scientists and decisionmakers as a tool towards sustainability. “We humans are the problem,” Schonknecht says, “and therefore we are the solution.” The pair struggled to get sponsorship, but their passion and determination carried them through. Reflecting on the life lessons they gained, Schonknecht is philosophical. “You can try and prepare yourself for as much as possible but in the end you will never be fully prepared for certain things. It was a massively ambitious idea, and I think when we told people we were going to drive from Cape Town to Japan and back, most thought we were joking.” And they remain optimistic about the potential for the African continent. “We have everything we need right here to make this continent a leading power in the world. We have resources, we have pristine environments and from this expedition we realised that we have the people who are more than willing to do the work needed to improve everyone’s lives – all we are lacking is the political drive. It’s so empowering to meet people who have almost next to nothing, who are willing to give their all to make a difference for their communities, often at great personal expense to themselves. If only Africa’s leaders could take a page out of their fellow countrymen’s books, Africa would be unstoppable.” Ahead for both of them is a sixmonth period of postproduction to turn their footage into a documentary and get the final product out into the public eye. They are also working on a series of children’s books that will detail their adventures as well as focus on environmental issues and the people they met who are making a difference. For more information, visit www.marine-expedition.co.za. 

SECRETS

Origins of the Panerai Brand 54

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SECRETS

In matters of life and death, precision makes a difference; whether at a particular depth a diver is working at or a second of one degree that needs calculation for a trans-Atlantic journey by air or by sea. Long before precision watches caught the attention of luxury collectors they had been work horses fit for a purpose.

Words: CHARL DU PLESSIS Image: © OFFICINE PANERAI

t a time when the Swiss had the keys to precision watch making, Giovanni Panerai put his name to a little watch shop in Florence, a city more associated with aesthetics and the arts than anything else. His shop was also a workshop, and the first watchmaking school in Italy. Respectful of the Swiss tradition, he named it the ‘Orologeria Svizzera’, which soon moved to the premises where it is still located today on the Piazza San Giovanni. By the early 1900s, the family business had passed into the hands of Giovanni’s son, Guido, and a passion for innovation saw him registering several watch-making patents that led Panerai to become a supplier to a proud Royal Italian Navy. World War I was looming and Panerai patented Radiomir, a radium-based powder that turned sighting instruments and dials luminous. In the run-up to the Second World War, Italy engaged in a serious military build-up and the demands from its naval division became even more stringent. The instruments that Panerai was developing for the navy now took on a strategic role protected by military secret. The prototype of the Radiomir watch was created for the underwater exploits of the Command of the First Submarine Corp, with many of the features that still distinguish it today: a large steel, cushion-shaped case (47mm), luminous numerals and markers, wire loop strap attachments welded to the case, a Rolex hand-wound mechanical movement, and a wide, waterresistant strap, long enough to be fastened over the diving suit.

The Radiomir watch was subjected to a series of innovations aimed at improving its performance: the new sandwich dial was made more luminous and easier to read; the strap attachments became more resistant and made from the case itself; and the distinctive lever bridge device was invented, secured with screws to protect the crown. Thanks to these innovations making it more resistant and watertight, the new Panerai watch became the first underwater model, to depths of 200 metres, in the history of horology. In 1943, Officine Panerai presented the prototype of its Panerai chronograph, the Mare Nostrum, to deck officers of the Royal Italian Navy. At the same time, radioactive Radiomir was replaced by Luminor, an isotope of tritium-based hydrogen, patented by Panerai for the first time in Italy in 1949. By now, Panerai was etched in a military pedigree and its patents kept under continuous cover as Italian military secrets. Despite the evident set-back of Mussolini’s surrender, this military pedigree would endure and by 1953, Panerai developed The Egyptian for the Egyptian Navy. This was an underwater Radiomir watch of exceptional size and solidity, fitted with a marked bezel for calculating immersion times. In 1972, at a time of relative peace and of a growing international market,

Officine Panerai would, in less than 40 years, become one of the world’s most soughtafter luxury watch brands.

Guiseppe Panerai, Guido’s son, passed away. When engineer Dino Zei took over, he established the ‘Officine Panerai’ trademark, which would, in less than 40 years, become one of the world’s most sought-after luxury watch brands. Only by 1993, some 133 years after opening its doors, the first commercial collection, comprising three limited edition models inspired by those created for the Second World War navy commandos, brought Panerai to the commercial market. Now in the public eye as a very exclusive luxury watch, actor Sylvester Stallone, known at the time for his Rambo movie character portraying the ultimate human military machine, fell in love with the brand after he bought a Panerai Luminor in an Italian jewellery store in 1995. Panerai went on to produce the limited edition Slytech that he distributed among his friends. No longer an Italian navy supplier but a fast-emerging brand, Panerai was purchased in 1997 by the Swissbased Richemont luxury group (then Vendôme), owned by the South African Rupert family. Under their careful guidance, and with the utmost care taken in protecting the pedigree of this brand through only limited releases of a few very innovative models each year, Officine Panerai soon took its place as one of the world’s most sought-after collectors’ items and luxury watch brands. Firmly entrenched in its long history of Italian precision by 2010, Panerai launched the Jupiterium, a tribute to the 400th anniversary of the first celestial observations made by another great Italian genius, Galileo Galilei. Visit www.panerai.com. 

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P L AY

Get into the

Swing

he 12 players who will compete in this year’s milestone attraction at Sun City’s Gary Player Country Club for a total bank of $5 million (R35 million), and a first prize that will see the winner pocket a cool $1.25 million

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(about R8.75 million), have been named as follows: Louis Oosthuizen, Robert Allenby, Anders Hansen, Tim Clark, Ernie Els, Ross Fisher, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Eduardo Molinari, Justin Rose, and Lee Westwood. Says tournament director, Alastair Roper,

“We had more than 65,000 spectators last year, and this year we confidently expect a lot more. We want to offer visitors the best possible experience, and so we’re keeping the sizes of the galleries down to avoid overcrowding and disappointment.” The 2009 leaderboard read like a

P L AY

Nedbank Golf Challenge Africa’s major golf tournament, the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which takes place at Sun City from 2 to 5 December, promises a field of top-class international players bidding for the $5 million on offer. The Challenge is broadcast to more than 140 countries, with an estimated viewership of around 1.4 billion.

‘Who’s Who’ of golf. Australian Robert Allenby ended a four-year spell without a win and took the tournament at the third extra hole after a sudden-death playoff against 2008 winner, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson. Both finished the closing round with 11-under scores of 277,

playing the long 502-yard 18th hole three more times until Allenby’s sixiron shot put him six feet from the flag and a two-putt saw him home. Allenby and Stenson’s totals of 277 were followed by Tim Clark and Ross Fisher on 278, and Retief Goosen on 279.

Known as the Million Dollar Challenge in the early years, the first tournament in 1981, won by the US ace Johnny Miller, produced a field of just five players and offered a total prize pot of $1 million, on a winnertakes-all basis. Until 2006, the challenge did not count in terms of

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2009 winner, Robert Allenby

world ranking points, and since it began to do so in that year it has, predictably, attracted keen entries from points-hungry international bigtimers with a jealous eye on their rankings. The field is kept to 12, and while the current first prize of $1.25 million is no longer the biggest in the world – a spot it held, incidentally, from 2000 to 2002, when it was $2 million – it is nevertheless a significant chunk of money, considering the small field relative to other professional tournaments. Sponsored by Nedbank since 1994, the invitation-only Challenge

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takes place at a handy time of year, when the PGA Tour is over, and before Christmas. Although the event clashes this year with the Chevron World Challenge, due to be played from 30 November to 5 December, it still draws some of the biggest names in the game. “The success of the Nedbank is due to a number of factors,” says Roper. “It’s no secret that the professionals consider their stay at Sun City to be one of their most enjoyable weeks of the year, and the way the number of spectators has been growing says a lot for it.” Among players with the most

appearances at the event are Ernie Els, in first place with 16 appearances; Bernard Langer and Nick Price in joint second place with 14 each, followed in joint third place by David Frost, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie, with 10 each. Others are Ian Woosnam, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Lee Westwood, Jose Maria Olazabal, Seve Ballesteros, Fulton Allem, Lee Trevino, Mark McNulty, Trevor Immelman, and Mark O’Meara. Ticket prices are being maintained at affordable levels: tickets for the Pro-Am, slated for Wednesday, 1December, are priced at R80 for adults, with children under the age of 17 admitted free. Entry to the first two rounds, on 2 and 3 December, are R180 for adults and R90 for children aged between 12 and 17, with under12s free. The final two rounds, on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5, are R200 for adults, R100 for 12-17s, with those under 12 free of charge. All adult tickets on each of the days will include an official programme. Tickets to the Challenge Club, a large, exclusive and air-conditioned private marquee with easy access to and from the golf course as well as restroom and food and beverage areas, are R400 per day, and include tournament access. Visit www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com for more info.  Prize Money Breakdown: 1st place: $ 1,250,000 2nd place: $ 660,000 3rd place: $ 450,000 4th place: $ 350,000 5th place: $ 330,000 6th place: $ 310,000 7th place: $ 300,000 8th place: $ 290,000 9th place: $ 280,000 10th place: $ 270,000 11th place: $ 260 000 12th place: $ 250 000

CHANGE

Keeping Blue Skies

Green

Green issues are heavy hitters today and are rightfully claiming their place at the worldwide economic table. New aircraft designs and alternative fuels are developing apace to clean up the world’s skies, all in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

ince the Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into being in 2005, the 27 members of the European Union vowed, by 2012, to reduce the total greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent compared to 1990 levels. In December 2006, the European Commission proposed expanding its current CO2 emissions trading scheme to cover the aviation industry. Flights inside Europe will be included from 2011, and controversially all flights to and from Europe from 2012 – although this situation is now under review.

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One psychological hurdle the entire aviation industry must overcome is that according to the Stern Report, this sector is responsible for just 1.6 percent of total greenhouse emissions. Business aviation is responsible for at most 1 percent of this total – in other words, just 0.016 percent of total emissions. Although new aircraft and engine technologies will make fleets 25 percent more fuel efficient by 2020, the corporate aviation sector must choose greener commercial strategies. Guy Lachlan, CEO of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) explains, “The

BBGA and other trade associations in Europe are lobbying for business aviation to be allowed a simplified means of compliance with emissions trading. The authorities’ acceptance of such a scheme is more likely if we can demonstrate that we are actively taking steps to offset our environmental impact.” Offsetting is one way in which the global aviation industry can ‘neutralise’ its footprint. Emissions reduction trading schemes allow companies to buy and sell carbon ‘credits’. The last few years have seen the inevitable rise of rogue carbon offset firms selling credits on a

CHANGE

burgeoning unofficial market. Using a provision of the Kyoto Protocol called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), countries and companies can say they are reducing their emissions by investing in carbon-friendly projects in poorer countries. One of the better-known schemes is reforestation, which is supposed to absorb excess carbon caused by burning fossil fuels. Some

absorbed during growth. EADS has also worked with Diamond, which manufactures light aircraft and which has also produced a biofuel-powered demonstrator. Interest in alternative fuel mixes is global. In the Middle East, Qatar Airways is working with Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Science & Technology Park and Airbus on a new project aimed at producing

advances in synthetic fuel technology have brought us even closer to integrating viable alternate transportation fuel into the energy mix.” In 1998, Sasol became the first company in the world to gain approval for the commercial use of a 50 percent synthetic jet fuel component, which was blended with petroleum kerosene. To date, most of the aircraft leaving OR Tambo International Airport have

environmental agencies have raised concerns about reforestation, however, arguing that it is an inexact science. A key ingredient in cleaning up our skies is greener fuel. But, while investment is strong, biofuel supply issues continue to affect development. The lack of Salicornia forced Mexico’s Interjet to postpone its biofuels demonstration flight earlier this year. The trial was a joint project with EADS Interjet, CFM International, Snecma parent Safran and Honeywell subsidiary UOP, using an Interjet CFM56-powered Airbus A320. Jean Botti, head of technology at EADS, has said that algaebased biofuels are at least 10 years from commercialisation in useful quantities. Botti also said that he is “extremely interested” in thirdgeneration biofuels as a focus of activity for EADS's research and technology operation because they can be truly carbon-neutral, releasing no more carbon when burned than the algae used to refine them

sustainable biojet fuel. The Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform is to develop a detailed engineering and implementation plan, as well as a biofuel investment strategy. On home soil recently, South Africa-based Sasol, a synthetic fuel producer, became the first to fly a passenger aircraft, a Boeing 737, using 100-percent, fully synthetic jet fuel – the first such to be approved for use in commercial airliners. Sasol’s achievement marks a significant development in the adoption of clean burning alternate fuels for the aviation industry. Sasol chief executive, Pat Davies, says, “The approval by the international aviation fuel authorities recognizes the need to develop aviation fuel from feedstock other than crude-oil, in order to meet the world's growing needs. Sasol's

flown using Sasol's semi-synthetic jet fuel. This year’s National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Conference in Atlanta also brought up some interesting new greener aircraft designs, with new products from Cessna and Bombardier and first flights for Gulfstream’s new G650 as well as a first-time appearance for Embraer’s Legacy 650. All these machines use the latest materials and winglet technology to reduce weight and fly further on less fuel. Other major industry players are the engine manufacturers, who are vying with each other to produce the latest, most sustainable engine designs. Snecma, Silvercrest, and GE are currently creating powerplants that will fly further and faster. With worldwide investment on fuel, airframes and engines on the rise, far from being a segment of the industry populated by cranks a few years ago, the alternative sector has grown to become the driving force behind today’s designs. 

A key ingredient in cleaning up our skies is greener fuel.

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STEAL

robin

Hood Outlaw Hero

Although Robin Hoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence is a highly contested issue, the legend of this muchloved champion of the poor is likely based on a real historic character. Regardless, Hollywood has been enamoured with his story and has made several films about Robin of Locksley and the merry men of Sherwood Forest.

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STEAL

he 1200s were a tense political time in England. Barons were revolting against Bad King John, who was engaged in a civil war that led to several elements that have shaped the modern Anglo-Saxon culture. Events during this period gave rise to the Magna Carta, the founding document of modern jurisprudence, and to the French invasion of England, which resembled a second Norman conquest and empowered the baronial voice in English politics. King John deserved the moniker ‘bad’. He was suspected of murdering his own nephew, and having ceded Normandy in defeat by 1204, retreated to England to instead enjoy the pleasures of life, which included a barely teenaged wife. To pay for his folly, he raised his demands for more money from the baronage. He introduced a system called scutage, by which barons would pay large sums rather than perform military service. By 1214, the barons were in revolt, and Bad King John turned to the process of outlawry to seek revenge. Good and bad were easy to discern, and the Magna Carta arose to ease these tensions and forever put a brake on the abuse of absolute power. From those dark days sprang the myth of Robin Hood, making the outlaw’s life seem attractive beyond imagination. In reality, outlawry was an institutionalised legal process whereby the King could expel someone from his lands and lay claim to all his belongings. Men did not choose to live beyond the law; they were made outlaws by decree. To be an outlaw meant risking summary execution, or fleeing across the waters to start a new life. Robin, we are told, hid away in the forests of Sherwood, from whence he and his jolly friends, among them Will Scarlet and Little John, sacked the rich to give to the poor, plotted to restore King Richard, and waxed lyrical about fair Maid Marian, herself a target in the eye of the venomous Sheriff of Nottingham. There is very little historical proof

that Robin Hood really existed. However, archers did play a role in the wars of invasion during the period of King John, and one William of Kensham and his bunch of common men, dwelling in the forests and using their bows to fight against the tyranny and in support of the crown, is indeed well-documented. Although based in the great forest of the Weald in Kent and further south, this folk hero, ‘Willikin of the Weald’, could have been the prototype on which the

myth of Robin and his merry men grew through the ages. Regardless, what is not to love about a young swashbuckler who breaks both convention and the hearts of damsels, and who has a jolly time of it with good friends while frustrating hypocritical powermongers in the process? And all the better if for a just cause. Bless your soul, Russell Crowe, for making sure that the legend lives on, and with it our ideas about the perfect hero. 

Hollywood Captures Robin By 1922, at least five Robin Hood films had seen the light, but it was director Allan Dwain’s astronomical $1.5-million production with mega-star Douglas Fairbanks featuring dazzling sets, costumes and action sequences that still awe movie buffs today. His Robin was a climbing, riding and adventurous youngster with a boyish charm who concentrated his efforts on saving the fair Lady Marian Fitzwalter (Maid Marian). In 1938, Errol Flynn would become the next silver screen megastar to don green tights and a pointy hat in the first version to have Technicolor and sound, in Adventures of Robin Hood. The pace was faster, and the hero somewhat metaphorically cast amidst both the rise of Nazism and the birth of Roosevelt’s post-depression Great Deal Capitalism. Claude Reins played the role of Prince John and Olivia de Havilland took the lady’s lead. By 1991, director Kevin Reynolds cast Kevin Costner, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Morgan Freeman in Prince of Thieves. With Costner looking more like a hell’s angel and the rest of medieval England having a bad hair and bath day (or century), the creative licence went somewhat overboard. The Sheriff of Nottingham became the real villain and Bad King John was all but forgotten. At least Marian added some post-feminist gusto to the lame script by greeting Robin with a kick in the groin, and Sean Connery saved the day with a cameo as King Richard (he played a middle-aged Robin in a 1976 Richard Lester version alongside Audrey Hepburn). No wonder Mel Brooks lampoons Costner in his hilarious Men in Tights. Some got it right, some very wrong, but accept the fact that the most recent release with Russell Crowe is just a rite of passage for every generation who needs to re-invent and adapt this hero for its own period’s issues.

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EXPLORE

An Audacious

Feast with Mumm and Mike Horn 64

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Words: TANYA GOODMAN Images: ÂŠ GH MUMM

EXPLORE

You could delight in a restaurant with an exceptional ambience. You could dine with a famous companion. You could have a meal cooked by an internationally renowned chef. But imagine being invited to a culinary feast prepared by a Michelin star Chef, accompanied by one of the globeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest explorers, set in one of the most majestic places on Earth.

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ne of the world’s finest champagnes, GH Mumm is a partner in South African Mike Horn’s current four-year expedition, Pangaea, which sees him traveling the globe without the use of motorised transport. Instead, he is sailing, biking, kayaking, kite-surfing, and moving on foot. The Pangaea expedition’s main mission is to encourage respect for the environment and active participation in the preservation of natural species. Orchestrated to be part of an authentic journey alongside a real explorer, GH Mumm has selected seven spots on Horn’s journey to conduct a series of Explorer Experiences: unexpected gastronomic dinners in extraordinary locations to celebrate the beauty of nature. The first expedition took place in Greenland in July 2008, on an iceberg adrift in the middle of Sermilik Fjord,

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and featured a gourmet meal presented by two-star Michelin chef Sylvestre Wahid. The second journey took place in Antarctica, alongside three-star Michelin chef Gérard Boyer, to the very spot where Commander Charcot spent the winter in 1904. The third Mumm Explorer Experience took place in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, where chef Mauro Colagreco prepared a gastronomic lunch on a pristine sandbank. The latest expedition was a twoday, one-night nomadic experience in the world’s largest desert, the Gobi, in Mongolia. The location, known as Khongoryn Els, or the Singing Sand Dunes, set the stage for Horn’s comment that the shifting sands meant that the spot they chose would no longer exist the following day. Guests arrived by helicopter and spent a night under the stars. At sunrise, they left the camp with Horn on a desert trek, replete with Mongolian

camels and their local wranglers. After arriving at the dunes they set off on foot and as they reached the highest dune, were welcomed by the sight of a splendid yourte (a nomadic tent) kitchen in the valley below. Guests were greeted by legendary three-star Michelin chef Alain Passard, who composed an endless procession of GH Mumm champagnepaired dishes inspired by local

Mongolian ingredients. Commenting on his menu, chef Passard said, “As a tribute to all the explorers and to the stylish audacity of Georges Hermann Mumm, I have put aside my daily culinary references and let myself be guided by the madness of this concept and composed a live and spontaneous menu, inspired by the wildness and aridness of the Gobi Desert.”

GH Mumm has been at the heart of great human adventures for almost two centuries, from Commandant Charcot’s first steps in the Antarctic in 1904, to today’s world-renowned adventurers such as Ellen MacArthur, Alain Hubert and Steve Fossett. These heroes of recent times celebrated each of their successes with a bottle of the flagship Cuvée Mumm Cordon Rouge. Visit www.mumm.com. 

Mike Horn’s Pangaea Expedition Mike Horn chose the name Pangaea for his latest expedition because it represents “the untouched world as it once was”. Pangaea is a hypothetical super-continent that included all the landmasses of the earth before the Triassic Period. Horn is acknowledged globally as one of the greatest modern-day explorers. He has crossed and swum the rivers, sailed the oceans solo, survived near-death environments, brutally extreme conditions and confronted nature at her most unforgiving. In two decades, he’s probably seen more of the earth than any other human. Horn’s four-year journey of discovery is his dream expedition, one which has taken much time and planning to realise. He believes that caring for our life source is now an absolute necessity for every human being and that our major problem is that we are losing respect for nature, forgetting her beauty and most importantly, her overwhelming power. All must accept responsibility and work as one using ingenuity, drive and courage to find new inspiration, hope and ambition. Believing that the world’s most powerful energy source is the younger generation, Horn is using this expedition as a powerful platform from which young adults can experience and explore the natural world, learn about its challenges, find possible solutions, and above all, act swiftly to help change things for the better. Visit www.mikehorn.com.

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Sea Different New Wake 66

Following the successful launch of the Wake 48, Wayachts, the Milan-based boatyard, recently introduced its new Wake 66 at the Genoa Boat Show. With the Wake 48, normality went overboard when it came to conception, design and production methodology, and the 66 takes this crusade one step further.

top. Look. Look again. It’s a 20-metre yacht that looks like a superyacht. Well, 20.2 metres to be precise, and it reaches 36 knots with ease while carrying 16 passengers. That, is something to write home about. And if

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it’s distance you want, its cruising speed is 32 knots for 300 nautical miles – way above what almost every other yacht in this size range manages to crank out when going for broke. This raw power comes courtesy of the two 700hp diesel Volvo Penta IPS 900 engines. Alternatively, new owners

may want to opt for two 900 hp diesels. Of course, no one said you have to dock your latest plaything locally. More and more South Africans have found a great way of combining their European holidays with a yacht shared among friends in the seaside pleasure resorts of Turkey, Greece, Malta,

Spain, Sardinia, the Cote D’Azur region, or a myriad little bays and alcoves off the Italian coastline. And in these calm Mediterranean waters, with just a few weeks to visit so many new places, one would suggest opting for the more efficient, steady cruising range of engines. Spend that extra money you save on horse power on the finest wines of the regions you are visiting instead. The Wake 48 was groundbreaking in many ways, but most of all for its walk-around design. Doing away with deck steps as well as the unsightly handrail the industry has almost started taking as a norm, the look of the yacht remains significantly cleaner than its dockyard neighbours. From these design innovations grew the philosophy of live-around yachting. Designer and architect Francesco Rolla describes their concept as “luxury with emotion”. For the passenger, it means open areas with soft round curves and comfort in every nook and cranny, all executed with an aesthetic that is just so Italian.

With the Wake 66, Wayachts builds on this tradition, yet by moving into a larger size range, the zippiness of the 48 now becomes pure elegance. The two models differ primarily because the 66 model is designed to achieve the maximum possible space inside a hard top, while the 48 really remains a boat for a day out in the open sun. Still, the general shape of the 66 model remains close to that of the 48. In the latter, the bulwarks are important for the interior volume and they flank the entrance stairs. In the Wake 66 model, the bulwarks are more streamlined and slope gently aft, making the sidelines smoother. And it does wonders for the aesthetics of the yacht. Note how the glass and side panels of the upper decks leave the impression of a swan at sea. There are other significant elaborations added to the larger 66. The Wake 66 model shares some features with the 48 model but, being larger, the layout and certain features of this boat’s interior are more complex, making the design of Wake

66 somewhat unique among boats of this sort. The main theme of this model is not a new way of designing aisles, as it was with the Wake 48 model, but the design of an innovative living area. To achieve this live-around feel, the Wake 66 model comes in either a two-and-a-half deck open or hard-top version, and offers either three or four cabins (plus the crew cabin), each with a private toilet. The deckhouse, as with that of the model preceding it, is an elliptical element that defines and encloses the deck areas. The hard top is the main area of the deck. The deck covering can be adjusted to screen the sunlight completely, partially or not at all. Along with the pilot station, the hard top becomes the central part of the deck. From there, one reaches sundecks fore and aft. The aft sundeck is body-shaped, whereas the fore sundeck is a large, threeperson sunbed. There are but a few people who could aspire to own this graceful craft. See www.wayachts.it. 

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F E AT U R E

Inspired

Leaders Directing the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Destiny

There exists an inborn potential for leadership inside each of us. This potential may be expressed at different levels and in different ways within our individual social spheres of influence. And each of us inherently desires to express this inherent leader in some form or capacity as we are generally rewarded with

ur leadership naturally emerges either at a young age or may be developed as we become more challenged and eventually more clear and congruent with our true values and intentions. As leaders, we become inspired by a clear vision of service and direction and receive the added advantages of inner fulfilment and the satisfaction of being able to inspire others to also visualise and crystallise their desires or dreams. Of course, with our emergence into leadership we experience added responsibilities and more challenging decisions.

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I have spent many decades studying the lives of great inspired leaders and those I have studied, read about and met have many traits in common. Some of these character traits you will probably recognise in yourself. Inspired leaders are unstoppable, true visionaries who desire to contribute to the world and make a real difference. They are inspired from within more than motivated from without. Their vocation generally matches their vacation. They love pursuing and fulfilling their vision and mission. Their service is not considered work to them. They are new paradigm

makers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not traditionalists who follow the average or the norm. They are therefore trendsetters not trend followers. Their authority transcends outer stagnations of any previous authority. They have congruency between their ambitious intentions and inner core values. This is one of the key hallmarks of their great leadership. Inspired leaders love impacting or transforming businesses or societies, serve ever greater quantities of people and initiate ever greater numbers of rewards. They are clear on what service they desire to contribute to the world and have acquired specialised knowledge and skills to be able to do

Words: DR JOHN DEMARTINI Image: ÂŠ DEMARTINI INSTITUTE

living a more honoured, privileged or extraordinary life.

M O T I VA T E

so. They have overcome their fears of speaking out and sharing their mission, vision and message, and have mastered the art of delegating to and enrolling others. They have also intuitively learnt to sell their ideas and objectives in terms of other peoples’ priorities, needs or values. They save and invest their acquired resources to build momentum. They are congruently committed to their outcomes and they have a no-turningback mentality. Although inspired leaders vary in their outer personas, their inner drives are similar and their willingness to transcend any defeat makes them climb, tunnel or go around any and every obstacle or mountain. They are willing to break through any temporary perceptions of loss or gain that diminish their power and use both as refining feedback. They just pursue their visions, regardless of support or challenge or pains or pleasures. They calculate their risks, make quick decisions, take the appropriate actions and persevere. Their challenges are their sources of fuel and their obstacles are their stimulating companions. They are even willing to follow their vision to the point where they break any current and stagnant rules or systems of mediocrity. They are ‘unborrowed’ visionaries, allowing no outer influences to constrain or dictate their inspired direction. True inspired leaders embrace their daily paradoxes. They see both sides of opinion polls equally and constantly balance their perceptions and then inwardly decide. They do not see things as only black or white. They understand the grey or synthesis of these two extreme sides and embrace both as they move forward. I am often asked if inspired leadership is a gift bestowed only upon the fortunate few or whether anyone can develop such positions of leadership. The answer is everyone has a unique leader inside them, but unless individuals set their sails in the direction of their highest values or priorities, their leadership will not

emerge and become discovered by themselves or others. It is important to note that the area of their inspired leadership may not be only in the three areas that are traditionally or socially acknowledged – business, finance or political. It may be in sports, social, beauty, in family or spiritual matters. Leaders can come up in any or all areas of life. Inspired leaders tend to naturally arise in the areas of their highest interest or priority. If a person does not have a high value on business, finance or providing a viable product, service or idea to a market, then to expect them to emerge as a leader in business would be unrealistic. However, that same person may excel in another area of life according to their true

highest values and aspirations. The most important element of inspired leadership is the congruency between their goals or intentions and their highest values or priorities. When their goals and values are aligned, their greatest creativity and productivity emerges. Authentic, original ideas and great companies and organisations are born out of such congruency – sometimes referred to as integrity. Inspired leaders motivate others to maximise their awareness and potential and catalyse chain reactions of enthused contribution. The world’s destiny continues to be directed by inspired leaders. To read more of Dr Demartini's articles, visit www.drdemartini.com. 

Inspired leaders: • Desire and do contribute their unique and meaningful service to the world. • Have intentions that are congruently aligned with their highest values or priorities. • Envision their outcome, act upon it and inspire others to participate in its fulfilment. • Do not subordinate to the outer opinions of others unless they are seen to be desired mentors. • Stay true to what inspires them from within. • Transform their outer world by their inner intentions and actions. • Understand they will be equally praised and criticised for their actions because of the paradox of social value systems. • Can endure great levels of praise and reprimand without over reaction and respond with poise. • Love to continuously raise the bar and excel at excellence. • Seek inspiring challenges or problems to work on because they love to grow. • Are trustworthy to their mission or cause. • Are able to quickly adapt to changing environments. • Courageously transform any perceived losses or setbacks into advantages. • Understand that temporary motivation is not a long-term solution and that clarity and inspiration is more a thermometer of their organisation’s health. • Value serving others enough and rewarding their organisations enough to make profits and build liquidity for the sake of sustainability. • Understand that employees are not loyal to their company; they are only loyal to their own individual priorities or values and getting their highest values met. • Know they will have growing challenges as they continue to expand their vision. • Know that if they want to have an international organisation they will need to have a global vision. • Know that if they either infatuate with or resent their employees, the employees will run them – instead of them directing their employees. • Have the ability to masterfully balance their emotions or imbalanced perceptions and remain centred among the storms. • Know that whoever has the most certainty rules the game.

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F E AT U R E

Mental

Rental No More Tiresome Hire Cars

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JOURNEY

There are a select number of ways you can borrow or rent a supercar. You could call on one of the specialists offering short-term rentals of Lotuses, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, or join one of the supercar clubs run by people like former-F1 champ Damon Hill, which apply timeshare practices to stables of highly desirable cars. Alternatively, you could call Hertz.

ertz first raised the bar with a one-off deal nearly 45 years ago, in what looked like an isolated case of allowing gearheads to indulge in automotive fantasies for the cost of a rental. Back in 1966, at the height of the original muscle-car era, Shelby's General Manager Peyton Cramer was given the task of inspiring some fleet sales to up Shelby Mustang production quantities. Cramer contacted Hertz, who in turn had the wisdom to hand him an order for 936 cars, with one proviso: to ensure maximum impact, every car had to fly the Hertz colours: black with gold. None complained – it remains one of the sexiest colour schemes ever. Additionally, the Hertz Shelby GT-350s differed from those on sale to the public because of a unique model number of GT-350H, with the ‘H’ denoting ‘Hertz’. They were an instant hit. Beyond providing a fun rental, something else occurred. Crafty customers would rent the cars on Friday, race them on the weekends, and return them with bald tyres and fried clutches. Legend even has it that some came back without their original engines, or with SCCA numbers on them. To this day, enthusiasts still refer to it as ‘Rent-A-Racer’, and a mint original is one of the most desirable of all muscle cars on the collectors’ trail, with six-figure auction prices. Rentals reverted back to normal – read ‘dull’ – until the Hertz Shelby’s 40th Anniversary in 2006. The world’s leading car rental agency was ready to celebrate. By sheer coincidence, Ford had just re-launched the Mustang to unanimous praise, with the best application of retro styling yet to any car of the current era. Ford provided Hertz with the Shelby GT-H, a special run of about 500 units made available for rent exclusively through Hertz at selected US airport locations. I was lucky enough to be visiting Boston, arriving at Hertz to collect a pre-booked rental on the day a batch of Shelbys arrived.

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When I got there, only two remained up for grabs. Like the originals, of which only the first few had manual gearboxes, the reincarnated Hertz Shelbys had automatic gearboxes. Everything else, from the sixties-style elongated numerals in the circular speedo and rev counter, to the basso profundo exhaust note conspire to make you feel like Steve McQueen in Bullitt. And I’d be surprised if they didn’t sample that film’s soundtrack when tuning the exhaust. Even when hunting for a parking space at speeds of 5km/h, it sounds as though you’re looking for a black Charger to antagonise. Hertz didn’t squander the PR value: they made renting the Shelby an occasion, even photographing the customers alongside the car. And it was a bargain! I had pre-booked online from the UK for a week, a midsized rental for £275. They let me upgrade to a Shelby for an extra (sit down for this, guys) $100 a day! I couldn’t resist. As the man himself, Carroll Shelby, put it, “Whoever gets the opportunity to rent one of these unique cars will get the experience of a lifetime.” Amen to that! I’d never had so much fun with a rental car. I was behind the wheel of a seriously quick, seriously pimped ride that had everyone grinning. And I mean everyone who saw it, even my Barack Obama-voting, green, tofueating friends. Then again, 325bhp that sounded like it, with styling so sinister it made the Batmobile look like a Daihatsu Copen - who could possibly resist? Under the laced-with-steroids hood lurked a Mustang GT 4.6-litre 3V V-8, with its standard 300bhp boosted by Shelby tuning. It rode on 17-inch

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Halibrand-style mags shod with P235/55ZR17 performance rubber: authentic-looking, high-sidewall tyres designed to complement the sixties feel by not being the skinny stuff found on modern performance rides, and made by Pirelli. Ford did their homework. Every single view suggested a genuine 1960s ride, but the car still managed to provide enough comfort and mod cons to prevent alienating modern drivers. The brakes were smooth, progressive and able to stop the thundering beast without drama, the acceleration was of the fist-in-thechest kind, the seats were grippy, the suspension rock hard. And where it improved on the original was in the handling: the car could really go around corners. And thus my temporary musclecar affair ended – or so I thought. Move ahead to 2010. I arrive at Hertz and notice a fleet of myriad SUVs, not what I expected to see offered for rental. A Hummer, for goodness sake! And what’s that? Tricked-out Chryslers, the ones that look like they were ripped off a computer screen, from a game of Grand Theft Auto? But there, at the end of the lot, a rival to the Mustang now, precisely as back in the 1960s: the new Chevrolet Camaro. No way could I say “no”. It was deep, dark blue, it rumbled and burbled, it had all of the retro tricks of

As the man himself, Carroll Shelby, put it, “Whoever gets the opportunity to rent one of these unique cars will get an experience of a lifetime.”

the Shelby, as well as ultra-high street cred thanks to its starring role in the Transformers movies. It was larger than an original, but better in every way: build quality, features, ride. And the rental had the options pack that filled the console with a plethora of analogue gauges for checking oil pressure, electrics – you name it. It was so far removed from the nobrainer iPod era of minimal driver information that I almost burst into tears of joy. I drove it up to Portland, Maine, in time for my 40th – my high-school reunion. I arrived in ‘period’ wheels, so to speak. No music issued from its sound system that post-dated 1970. I suddenly felt 18 years old. Only when I was 18, no way could I have afforded a Camaro. It was that mid-life crisis cliché in the metal, a baby Boomer finally driving the wheels he dreamed of, from the days when the Supremes still featured Diana Ross, and only Elvis had a mobile phone. Not quite sure what I was driving specs-wise, I slipped into the local Chevy dealership. Salesman Fred Jones was all over it, noting details that would have eluded a civilian eye. “It’s somewhere between an ‘LT’ and an ‘S’,” he explained, “with the V6 engine of the former, and one or two styling details from the latter.” As the ‘S’ is the no-holds-barred street version, Hertz was wise not to offer such a powerful beast to drivers who might not be up to the task. But who cared? I needed the extra horsepower like I needed a higher cholesterol count. It was a gas: the burble, the wicked styling and – best of all – handling that reminded me of what Europe can offer. And if one had to sacrifice a single trait from the muscle cars of the era, it’s the scary lack of road control. Next time, I’m saving up for a treat, because, just behind the Camaro, I saw another mental rental, but with a price premium. Yeah, the latest Corvette. A Corvette! America’s greatest sports car! And I’m old enough to remember Route 66. Like baseball legend Yogi Berra said, déjà vu all over again. 

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Available early December. Visit www.prestigemag.co.za for more.

A Place in the

Country Investing in the Environment

Just as the boutique gentlemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s estate becomes a must-have millionaireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashion item, so it is being menaced by the environmental imperative of sustainability. Water-guzzling golf greens, pristine fertilised lawns, and magnificent vineyards are being threatened by natural veld and fynbos.

ucked off the main road after you drive through the Cape village of Franschhoek and past the Huguenot monument, you find the gates of the wine farm Paddakloof on your right. Drive down the narrow, winding dirt road and over a small mountain stream and you emerge onto an idyllic scene. Ducks glide lazily on a pond in the centre of a

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small green. A copse of trees spreads to the left towards a classic Cape vernacular farmhouse with wide veranda. Impeccable vines on the right reach neatly toward more trees and the main river, mountains framing the scene from the distance. It is a bucolic dream come true. In fact, this is largely an illusion, a nine-hectare boutique miniature, brand new in every respect except

perhaps for the winding road. Paddakloof is one of the finer examples of the trend of city people away from the typical golf estates as weekend getaway, permanent or retirement home to create something more distinctly rural. Property developer Stuart Chait loves his farm, with its Chait Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet and Viognier. And of course its Chait extra virgin olive oil.

DWELL

But he doesn’t lift a finger to make these treasured items. This R40million property is where he comes for the weekend to live the life of a wine farmer without having to do the work of one. “I outsource everything,” he says, admitting that the indulgence costs him an arm and a leg. “Some people gamble or take drugs,” he says. “This is my vice. It’s not possible for it to pay its way on its own but I will keep it forever. It will become a family heirloom.” These boutique gentlemen’s estates are becoming quite common in the Cape winelands and the Overberg, and in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. But there’s a new twist already added to this recent trend and that is the tsunami of climate change and the human response of ‘going green’. Chait would have some trouble

making his farm sustainable, though it won’t be impossible. It may surprise you that possibly the finest South African example of a green rural estate is slap in the middle of Gauteng. Blair Atholl, just North East of Lanseria airport and a major mixed-use CBD development, is definitely not that example. Its Gary Player golf course – this was the legend’s home until a few years ago – surrounded by enormous, grand ‘Macmansions’ and the endless mowing of its pristine lawns make it one of South Africa’s more desirable golf estates. It’s popular with wealthy locals and considered by estate agents Pam Golding to be one of the 20 top millionaire’s suburbs. Developer Robbie Wray claims to be an environmentalist though this is questionable, given that the golf course can consume up to one million litres of water a day. There are accusations that he is drawing much of it from the river, to the detriment of property owners downstream, and he has been in conflict with local environmentalists. It hasn’t helped Wray’s claim that the adjoining Monaghan Farm is being developed by landowner Prospero Bailey, scion of Randlord grandfather Sir Abe Bailey and father Jim Bailey, the WWII fighter pilot and founder-publisher of Drum magazine. The contrast between the two estates takes some getting used to, starting with the grand entrance and security checkpoint at Blair Atholl and the simple corrugated iron entrance (and security checkpoint) to Monaghan about 100 metres away. Monaghan doesn’t have a golf course. Bailey and his architect wife Anna are converting the 520-hectare farm on which he has lived all his life into an eco-estate, with single-storey, low-energy, modernist houses. “We try to have them tucked into the slopes and as unobtrusive as possible,” says Bailey. There are no pristine lawns. It’s a farm with natural veld and bush here and there, occasional groves of trees and lush vegetation along the broad Jukskei

River. The nearest they have got to cultivating the land is to build a vegetable garden that will regularly supply all the houses with boxed organic produce. While there are no famous tycoons snapping up homes at Monaghan Farm, you have to have some substance to live there, with prices ranging from R3 million for a simple cluster unit to R12 million for a large home. The latter is as unobtrusive as the less-costly properties, much of its cost going into making it carbon and energy neutral. All houses must have water tanks to gather rainfall for gardening or to add to their household water system, and they must have solar and other alternative energy systems. “Owners have to buy into an ethos that pervades the farm,” explains Bailey. According to Robbie Kreser, Monaghan Marketing Chief, buyer profiles are similar to any urban golf estate, with most head of households aged between 35 and 45. “The main difference is that they seem better educated in environmental matters,” he says. “By the time they get to us, buyers have read our development guidelines on the web and know what is expected of them. But like all other buyers, security remains a top priority. Quite surprisingly, we have a lot of interest from couples between the ages of 25 and 35 who want to raise their children in the natural farm environment and send them to the farm’s Montessori school. But affordability is the problem, which is why we are developing the R3-million cluster units.” Developers continue to favour golf developments as a proven formula and Monaghan is still ahead of its time. But change is coming. Wessel Withuhn, President for Africa of Kuwaiti-based IFA Hotels and Resorts, has some of South Africa’s grandest estates, including Zimbali in Ballito, in his portfolio, and even he seems to have wised up. “Golf isn’t essential to the success of an estate. We’re beginning to look in other directions.” 

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Green is the

Making Sense of Sustainable Investment When Barclays undertook a recent Wealth Insights survey to assess the shift in attitude and behaviour among the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealthy investors, research findings revealed an overwhelming 56 percent of respondents believe climate change to be an important issue that is not the exclusive responsibility of government and big business.

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S U S TA I N

ustainability investment is an approach designed to select companies and businesses that manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. It involves firms that focus on environmental and social trends, such as climate change, a growing investment theme particularly for government-owned institutions. Sustainable investment has grown enormously in the past decade. In the early days it was regarded as a fringe interest, mainly for ‘small investors’ with strong views on the environment and human rights. Since then the amount of money invested in sustainable funds has increased dramatically, and many of the large financial services firms have begun offering their clients a sustainable investment option. South Africa’s High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) ranked among the Top 5 who view sustainable investment as one of the century’s biggest and most rewarding investment opportunities. It is a strategic new step to facilitate investment that purposefully integrates ESG factors. One such initiative is the Africa Sustainable Investment Forum (AfricaSIF), which is an independent, pan-African, notfor profit network of investment practitioners who promote sustainable investment on the continent. The Project is building AfricaSIF as a network of institutions and individuals active in public, private and philanthropy sectors, making investment in Africa happen across asset classes, countries and stakeholders. According to Absa Wealth Head of Front Office, Carl Roothman, “The rise of conscious investors in South Africa should come as no surprise. We have long been an investment community that cares about legacy, about investing in the future.” Roothman believes that in South Africa, the renewable energy sector in particular is one which is likely to continue growing since “binding targets set by

government offer investors the comfort that large-scale renewable energy is a commercially viable investment.” South Africa is the biggest economy in the SADC region, with a gross domestic product of $282 million, representing 65 percent of the total SADC market, and should be leading the move towards increased sustainable investment. An analysis conducted in March 2009 indicates that across the continent, approximately $6.9 trillion, including $300 billion in emerging markets, was invested. The key is to provide services and advice for investors to work together to align investment profitability with social and environmental responsibility. The first AfricaSIF report on the state of sustainable investment in Africa is set to be released in December 2010 and should provide investors with some idea as to the size of the profitability scope of this particular asset class. According to the Wealth Insights report, South Africa’s HNWIs are concerned about legacy and ensuring that their investments are able to outlive them. “We are a nation of givers. Our wealthy investors want to know that their money is being invested in areas where it will make a long-lasting, tangible and positive impact. And they want to see a return, not for themselves, but for people living on a planet they have contributed to protecting and preserving,” says Roothman. A growing number of South Africa’s uber-wealthy recognise that investment is irresponsible if it leads to costs on others today or in the future. While South Africa has always been home to risk-averse investors, in recent times the greatest perceived risk is the short-term profit mentality, where

“There is no Planet B.” – Former Costa Rican President, José María Figueres

profits are derived at the expense of long-term sustainability. Investing in socially and environmentally responsible sectors that tackle climate change is clearly gaining momentum. Many South African financial institutions, fund management and investment firms have joined the ranks of countries such as Norway as signatories of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. Norway’s $400 billion-plus sovereign wealth fund has adopted a bit of a ‘green activist’ approach, ruling out investment in firms that cause damage to the environment. And this, from a country that believes sustainable investment will be outperforming other classes in the 50-year timeframe. “Like our European peers, South African investors know that financial markets do not tell the economic truth, or the ecological truth,” says Roothman. The younger generation of wealth investors are more informed and aware of the carbon risk or liability represented by certain traditional investment classes preferred by the older generation. Investment opportunities are weighed in terms of risk and return versus sustainable economic stability. In many cases sustainable funds have substantially outperformed the rest of the market. There is some debate over whether the impressive return of these funds can be attributed to sustainable business practices, or whether it merely reflects the fact that ‘sustainable businesses’ tend to be larger, high-tech enterprises. What could be regarded as anecdotal evidence suggests that socially responsible investing generates superior returns. However you choose to look at it, the argument that sustainable investment is ‘a bad bet’ has been comprehensively demolished. “Investors need secure assets,” says Roothman. “The world needs investment in a mitigation structure to deal with climate change, and will be needing investment for years to come. Need I say more?” 

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makingwaves New Five-Star Villas

for the Saxon The Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villas and Spa, voted the best Boutique Hotel in the World since 2001, recently opened the doors to its three, newly constructed five-star villas. Villa One offers seven full suites on one level, while Villas Two and Three are two stories each with the ground level providing seven suites as in Villa One. The upper level of these Villas houses four, one-bedroom presidential suites as well as a spa suite for private treatments and therapies. Each of the new villas also has a private plunge pool, terrace and lounge, satellite kitchen and 24-hour butler service as well as a boardroom, which may be converted into a dining room. Every piece of furniture housed within the villas was made bespoke for the Saxon using only South African materials and craftsmen, while all the bed linen boasts a luxurious 1,000-thread count. There are also over 200 original works of art commissioned by established and emerging South African artists, distributed throughout the new buildings. Visit www.saxon.co.za.

Officine Panerai Presents:

the iPad Application After presenting its collection at the SIHH 2010 in Geneva, with the assistance of Microsoft’s communication platform, ‘Surface’, and after the great success of the first Panerai application for iPhone, Officine Panerai is the first high-end watch brand to have an innovative tool exclusively created for its boutiques: an application for iPad that contains the whole multimedia catalogue of Panerai watches. Customers can use the iPad touchpad available in the boutiques to simply and quickly view information, pictures and videos of the watches and the movements. Users can appreciate features, finishes and the care shown in the details of the high-end timepieces of the brand. Find it in Officine Panerai-managed boutiques in Florence, Paris, Beverly Hills, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Available soon in other Officine Panerai boutiques worldwide.

2011 Seychelles ‘Carnaval International de Victoria' Seychelles hosted a first Carnival in Victoria in 1972, which was attended by Princess Margaret of Great Britain. The event was a great success, with Seychellois from all the islands assembling in Victoria for the celebrations. Almost four decades later, the 2011 Carnival will take place on a much bigger scale and with an international flavour, as Carnival Floats will this time be welcomed to Seychelles from the four corners of the globe. In keeping with the world’s current environmental concerns, the Seychelles, in line with their excellent record in conservation and eco-friendly practices, will take all steps necessary to ensure minimal negative impact to the environment. Perfect reason to join in the celebrations from 4 to 6 March 2011, in Mahé, Victoria. Email alain.s@seychelles.com or visit www.seychelles.travel for more info.

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