Ellison's "Battleship" Upsets UK Yacht Snobs

Computergram International, August 10, 1999

Controversy follows in the wake of Oracle Corp CEO Larry Ellison even when he goes on holiday. He dropped in on Cowes Week, an annual sailing festival beloved of the English upper classes, and the sniping quickly started. The focus of anger was Ellison's $75m yacht Katana which, at 245ft in length, was the largest visitor to Cowes.

"The boat is outrageous," one local told the Daily Telegraph, "it looks like a battleship." What really irked them was that Katana is such a gas-guzzler it is followed everywhere by its own oil tanker, in case local supplies prove insufficient. Sensitive to local concerns, Ellison ordered the tanker to moor well out of sight of local yacht lovers.