Australian yachting and winemaking nice Bob Oatley has died aged 87. A pioneer in Hunter Valley winemaking, Oatley was a profitable businessman who laid the foundations for Oatley Wines, a world empire. The household enterprise continued to diversify in 2003 with the acquisition of Hamilton Island resort. Including tourism to his lengthy checklist of accomplishments, Oatley’s imaginative and prescient turned Hamilton round and attracted accolades and movie star endorsements.
Considered one of Oatley’s self-proclaimed best achievements was making his mark within the yachting world. Bob Oatley’s 100 ft supermaxi Wild Oats XI grew to become a family title after taking line honours a notable eight occasions within the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. In 2005 Wild Oats set the report, solely to interrupt it in 2012 setting the quickest race win at 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds. Simply two years later in 2014 the supermaxi additionally recorded a record-breaking eighth win.
Celebrating the win in 2012, a beaming Bob Oatley mentioned “It is the best factor that is ever occurred to me in my life.” Oatley cherished his yachting victories most, regardless of his many nice successes within the enterprise world. Starting within the 50s and 60s, Oatley first discovered entrepreneurial success in exporting espresso and cocoa beans from Papua New Guinea. Within the late Sixties he made a visionary determination to plant the Hunter Valley’s first vineyards, now often called the well-known Rosemount Property.
By mid-1980 Oatley’s wines have been being drunk all around the world. Nevertheless after producing wine for over 30 years, Oatley bought the corporate to Treasury Wine Estates in 2001 for 1.4 billion. Nevertheless quite than retire, he launched the Robert Oatley model a 12 months later in america. Two years later, the Oatley household bought Hamilton Island for $200 million in 2003. Reworking it right into a world-class luxurious resort, Oatley invested over $350 million into Hamilton Island, attracting celebrities reminiscent of Oprah Winfrey in addition to awards from peak trade our bodies together with taking out the World title from Conde Nast Traveller for Finest Resort.
In Australia Day honours in 2014 Bob Oatley was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to yacht racing, visible arts organisations, the Australian tourism and wine industries and as a neighborhood supporter of necessary medical analysis. Robert Oatley is survived by his spouse Valerie, sons Sandy and Ian and daughter Ros, all of whom will proceed to fulfil their father’s imaginative and prescient and household legacy.
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