Oracle chief cruises in without a splash

By GREGG WYCHERLEY

The arrival of one of the richest men in the world has been making waves among locals in the Bay of Islands.

Larry Ellison, the founder and chief executive of Oracle Corporation, a database software development company, did not exactly announce his arrival.

The Californian has had Northland locals guessing since his 75m gin palace arrived in the Bay of Islands two weeks ago.

But the huge red symbol flying from his mega-powerboat Katana gave the game away - the Oracle chief was in town.

Mr Ellison is among the world's richest people. Forbes magazine last year rated him the fourth-richest American, with a net worth of $US21.9 billion ($52.2 billion).

Microsoft's Bill Gates tops the list.

Mr Ellison slipped into Auckland three weeks ago, presumably to check the progress of his America's Cup challenge.

He and his party were collected from his private jet and taken to the Katana.

Boaties at Russell said that when the luxury vessel cruised into the bay a fortnight ago, a man fitting the description of Mr Ellison was spotted shooting basketball hoops on the stern.

When the Herald paid a surprise call yesterday, it was informed that the mysterious basketballer preferred to remain incognito.

"The owner is on holiday," said a crew member dismissively, as a small flotilla of lesser vessels circled the behemoth in the bay, waving hopefully.

Katana's vital statistics

Length: 74m (243ft)

Designer: Martin Francis

Builder: Blohm & Voss, Germany

Hull: steel

Power: 2x5000-hp Deutz-MWM plus 18,500-hp GE turbine

Speed: 35 knots

Superyacht watcher's guide