Billionaire's superyacht sails home

Graeme Harts new super yacht on tow into Waitemata Harbour from Chile. Photo / Doug Sherring

New Zealand's biggest superyacht, owned by the country's richest man, crept into Auckland Harbour this week. The yacht Weta (otherwise known as U-77) is Graeme Hart's latest toy - and his third enormous yacht.

At 77m, this is his biggest yet. It dwarfs the $10 million, 21m "tender" he bought last year, a catamaran named U-21. And it is a third longer than Ulysses, the $100m, 58m yacht that was previously the flagship of his fleet.

Weta arrived from Chile on Thursday, and was moored at Auckland's Wynyard Wharf with the assistance of a large tugboat. It is due to remain there until tomorrow.

It can accommodate up to 30 crew, has 35 bathrooms and is one of the biggest vessels ever to be fitted out in New Zealand.

Nick Saull, managing director of Gulf Harbour's Brin Wilson boat builders says Hart flew a team of Kiwis to Chile to complete the yacht but the project fell over and it was towed to New Zealand instead.

The only dry docks big enough to accommodate the vessel are in Auckland or Whangarei.

The Northland town's marine industry was hoping to pick up the $50m contract but lost out because it could not guarantee facilities, one industry insider said.

Weta's windows had to be welded up to withstand the 9698km trans-Pacific journey.

It would be possible to paint Weta without taking it out of the water, but only if it was shrinkwrapped. "The first thing they'll want to do is put in the hatches and fit out the interior," the insider said.

Hart, a former tow-truck driver, left school at 16 and is renowned for buying poorly-performing businesses, turning them around and then selling them.

He is valued at an estimated $5.5 billion.