KEY POINTS:
If you were hoping for a shock, horror shot of Shorty St stars in a make-up free expose, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. These stars look even prettier without the foundation caked on. Though I was disappointed to see they rugged up quickly after the race and covered up their bodies. Who doesn't want to perv at a star wearing a skin-tight wet suit? Good on ya Anna and Beth for giving us something to ogle at.
The girls (Anna Jullienne and Beth Allen) joined Harry McNaughton, Kiel McNaughton (no relation), Bonnie Soper and Fleur Saville who braved the cold Christchurch conditions on Saturday to race in the Corsair Classic in Lyttleton. It was stage three of the Sovereign NZ Ocean Swim Series.
The stars swam a gruelling 2.8km, except Fleur who raced the 750m course, which frankly is far more than I could ever manage. I don't even like getting my hair wet. Harry, who plays Gerald the gay, came out as a clear competitor doing the best of the thesps with an impressive time of 43.42.
Lazy Sunday
On Sunday I headed to the gorgeous Villa Maria winery as a VIP guest for the More FM Winery Tour where Opshop, Anika Moa and Dave Dobbyn performed. It was sensational. Over four thousand people flocked to the winery. The rains of the previous day had lifted and the sun crept out that morning and shone all afternoon. We took cover under the umbrellas and the tent, where we could sip our wines in the shade and listen to some great Kiwi classics.
Willy de Wit was a pleasant surprise to see at the More FM corporate tent, not so much because he was sporting some very impressive sleeve tatts, but because he works for rival Radio Hauraki, which is part of The Radio Network. It would have undoubtedly provided much amusement for MediaWorks CEO, Brent Impey, who we later snapped with Opshop frontman Jason Kerrison, who appeared only too pleased to be hobnobbing with the media mogul.
Click here for pics from the fabulous event.
Simply Red frontman changes colour
On the subject of Villa Maria, it was quite a coup for owner George Fistonich when Mick Hucknall and his Simply Red band requested a tour of his Villa Maria winery following their concert on the previous Sunday night where 10,000 people crammed in to sip the wine and soak up the music.
My spies told me the carrot-topped singer, worth more than £30 million (NZ$83.5 million), and his band mates stayed at the venue until two o'clock in the morning sampling wines with Fistonich and his winemaker Dave Roper. And it's not the first time. Seems Hucknall is quite familiar with Villa Maria wines.
He first sampled their Private Bin Riesling 2001 at David and Victoria Beckham's World Cup party in 2002. And by all accounts he developed quite a taste of it. I hear he arranged to send a few bottles of the white wine home, as well as several bottles of the Villa Maria Syrah 2005.
Now that's a ringing endorsement, especially from someone who owns a winery! Hucknall produces reds at his vineyard, Il Cantante, in the Etna region of Sicily. He also co-owns the exclusive Man Ray restaurant, just off the Champs Elysees, along with Johnny Depp, John Malkovich and Sean Penn. Can we expect to see Villa Maria on the sommelier's wine list?
Banksie plays peacemaker
A story I ran on Sunday in my Spy column has garnered a bit of attention. I've heard various commentators discussing the rivalry between Grant Dalton and Brad Butterworth. So, imagine poor John Banks' predicament when he found himself sitting in the middle of them at the Louis Vuitton Prize Giving dinner.
Click here for photos from the event.
Dalton and Butterworth can't stand each other, and Banksie struggled to spark a three-way conversation. Banks was one of Dalton's original private sponsors many years ago and the two men live on the same Remuera street.
Fortunately Banks also gets on with Butterworth who was overheard telling the mayor that he thought the next America's Cup would be as early as next year in Valencia.
That is good news. Though, not quite the surprising news Butterworth hit us with when he announced on stage in a shock admission, that he, and Alinghi, only agreed to come down to race in New Zealand once Dalton and Team New Zealand agreed to drop the case against them.
Team New Zealand filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the America's Cup holders last year, arguing they have operated in abuse of their monopoly position, and they have breached a pre-entry agreement that involved the staging of an America's Cup event this year. They were asking US$37 million in compensation if the event was delayed until 2010 and US$50 million if it was further delayed in 2011.
The court case was expected to drag on for years costing millions of dollars, so perhaps it's no surprise they dropped the suit against the billionaire-owned syndicate. As a result, we got our Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.
Rachel Glucina
Pictured above: Shortland Street stars (Beth Allen, Anna Jullienne, Harry McNaughton, Fleur Saville and Kiel McNaughton) at the Corsair Classic in Lyttleton on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
