Hamilton Island Race Week: The most fun on land as well as at sea

By Sheriden Rhodes
Updated August 9 2016 - 9:10pm, first published August 7 2016 - 12:15am
The start of last year's cruising division in Dent Passage during Hamilton Island Race Week.
The start of last year's cruising division in Dent Passage during Hamilton Island Race Week.
Lunch at Bommie Restaurant, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Lunch at Bommie Restaurant, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Having a bite to eat during Race Week.
Having a bite to eat during Race Week.

What a stroke of luck for holidaymakers that the late billionaire Bob Oatley was an avid sailor. The successful  winemaker sailed past Hamilton Island in the '80s when Keith Williams was beginning to develop the then uninhabited paradise. Even then, he saw its potential. But it wasn't until almost 20 years later, after Oatley's son, Sandy, won the grand prix division of the island's annual race regatta, that the  Oatleys bought the island, which  had been languishing in receivership for eight years.

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