Row, row, row your boat ... but billionaires cruise on

By ALAN PERROTT

Superyacht season at the Viaduct Basin is giving Aucklanders the chance to press their noses to the shopwindow of the mega-rich.

Their floating mansions are berthed - cheek by perfectly formed jowl - within gawping distance of anyone who wants to sit, stare and dream.

Standing bridge and masts above all is the Katana, elegant plaything of Oracle Corporation software mogul Larry Ellison, who cruised into port yesterday fresh from a leisurely jaunt around the Bay of Islands and refused all interviews.

The towering 75m boat boasts a two-storey apartment for its multi-billionaire owner, a television lounge with a giant plasma-screen television, and a basketball court.

And for a quick escape from the hoi polloi, the Katana, ranked among the 30 largest superyachts in the world, can cruise at 35 knots.

Moored nearby is the $40 million Salperton, launched on December 6 last year.

At 53m, it is the largest pleasure craft built in New Zealand.

Guests of its secretive European owner - anonymous, naturally - can enjoy a main suite, three double guest cabins, a gym and restaurant-style galley. All are clad in cherrywood.

The ensuite bathrooms, of course, are done out in marble.

The Salperton has 91 tonnes of lead ballast in her keel and 100km of electrical wiring.

Just around the corner sits the Princess Marla, owned by American Home Shopping and PAX TV founder Lowell "Bud" Paxson, whose first job was grabbing records and coffee for radio disc jockeys.

The 49m Princess Marla features a helipad and jacuzzi on the top deck and a baby grand piano and satellite TV one floor down.

Beneath all that is a $50,000 nest of sensors and computers, which collect information on ocean temperatures and pollution.

Aphrodite 2 may not be as spectacular as its neighbours, but this deceptively large yacht in racing red was a nominee for the Super Yacht Award 2000.

It was launched in 1999. An aluminium hull encloses an elegant wood-lined deck salon.

It has a fishing cockpit specially fitted into the transom for its fishing-mad owner, who, naturally, does not want to be named.

Bars and restaurants at the Viaduct Basin say the mega-rich prefer to stay out of the public limelight when they holiday on their yachts.

The manager of one bar in the Viaduct Basin said: "They do show up from time to time, but unless they pass over a platinum card, you really wouldn't know who they are.

"They don't attract attention and like to stay anonymous."