It was a chase which could easily have formed part of a Mission Impossible film. Summer 1999, Mallorca, and your mission if you chose to accept it was to photograph Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, who were cruising on a luxury yacht on the west coast of Mallorca.
Kidman will be returning to Mallorca shortly to film the new series Lioness but she was last in Mallorca in 1999. The Australian actress had arrived alongside Tom Cruise aboard the luxury yacht Talitha G. The tip we got was that they could be heading to see Michael Douglas at his Mallorca home. It was a sight I will never forget. Moored just off S'Estaca, the Douglas home, was the beautiful yacht, Talitha G. The Hollywood couple had called in for lunch. Just after 3pm, they set sail down the west coast and we set off in pursuit by car trying to keep the yacht in our sights just in case it stopped at an isolated cove. It was no easy task. I remember running into a restaurant with a sea view and telling staff that I was following Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. I was lucky I wasn't arrested! All of a sudden all the clients in the restaurant (and the staff) got up and started watching the Talitha G. as it sailed past.
After a lot of ducking and diving we following the yacht to Puerto Andratx where it anchored in the bay. Our mission was over...we had to return to the office and finish the paper. We had failed our Mission Impossible but we always really doubted that it was possible.