Hamish Goddard
MALLORCA will welcome the return of last year´s inaugural International Concours d’Elegance event for vintage cars on September 23 in Port Adriano.
I will be donning my familiar ‘Jury’ boater as one of the judges, as Port Adriano and the main classic car clubs – Escuderia Driving Mallorca, The Mallorca Classic Car Club and The American Car Club, cooperating under the banner of Mallorca Classic Week for the benefit of local charitable beneficiaries.
Port Adriano and the Philippe Starck-designed marina building provide the perfect setting for an event of this kind for individuals and families, as much as for enthusiasts. Admission for spectators to all elements of the Classic Festival and the Concours d’Elegance on September 23 is free.
As well as the numerous restaurants on site, affordable food and drinks facilities will be available following the theme of the American Car Show – hamburgers, hot dogs and other snacks – and a bit of Elvis. One not to miss!
Still crammed to the gills
My feature a few weeks ago talked about chartering a yacht in September and the benefits of doing so – better value, emptier bays and restaurants, warm water, etc… I was only wrong about the emptier bays, having been involved in a wonderful anchoring ‘dog-fight’ with numerous other hopefuls in the beautiful bay of Portals Vells last Sunday.
I dare say that the bays will become emptier, but the island remains hugely popular in September, albeit with a different demographic – couples and friends rather than families and kids.
A ‘quick’ blast in the R32 with my 87-year-old mother to Cap Formentor was abandoned when the ‘Goldcar’ queue to the lighthouse at the most north-eastern point of the island made actually getting there impossible!
Combined with the arrival of the first big cycling tours, it was not a day to appreciate our perfect driving roads at anything more than cycling pace, although enough to enjoy the stupendous views. It’s always nice to see a newcomer´s reaction to what residents on the island have perhaps become used to, although it hasn´t dulled for me after two years of living here.
Neither have the views of Palma Bay with the world´s two biggest private sailing yachts in attendance this week – the ground-breaking and beautiful Maltese Falcon, and another three-masted giant that is commonly known as ‘Sailing Yacht A’, owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and exteriorly styled by the same Philippe Starck as the aforementioned new marina at Port Adriano.
I have to say that my view on ‘Sailing Yacht A’ is a widely held one; as undeniably impressive as she is – both in her sheer size and incredible engineering – she could have been a little more aesthetically pleasing to look at. One of her more unusual features is an underwater observation pod built into her keel with 30cm-thick glass… And why not…?!
