By Diane M. Byrne

Photo: Chris Suffeleers  More of this Feature • Intro • 1. Rising Sun • 2. Octopus • 3. Limitless • 4. Tatoosh • 5. Bart Roberts • 6-25 • 26-45 • 46-65 • 66-85 • 86-100 • Yacht Spotter
Related Resources • Megayacht Feature Index

1. RISING SUN - 452'8"
Stockholm, Sweden, has seen its fair share of megayachts in recent years, but residents were all astir when Rising Sun pulled into town in August. Yacht-watchers worldwide were as well; in fact, photos of her that we posted on our Megayachts forum in early August were downloaded 500 times within a ten-day period. A few people speculated that the yacht and, of course, owner Larry Ellison were there for a few days’ enjoyment prior to heading a bit farther south to Malmö for a regatta leading up to the 2007 America’s Cup. (Besides running the software company Oracle, Ellison is the syndicate head and CEO of BMW Oracle Racing and an avid sailboat racer.) Rising Sun’s profile has been debated endlessly over the past year, by a seemingly equal number of lovers and haters, but most agree that the image of her in port at night awash in green accent lighting is stunning. Maybe green is one of Ellison’s favorite colors—or maybe he wanted onlookers to be green with envy. We suspect it’s probably a little of both. In any case, word persisted throughout the summer and into the early fall that he’s selling the yacht. The rumored asking price was $200 million, and despite some papers stateside and abroad avowing that they had solid information from inside sources, Ellison got ’em all when he told Vanity Fair he only briefly considered selling and then changed his mind. So, looks like he’ll continue to get a kick out of her basketball court and appreciate how every tender, including the mahogany runabouts (custom-built in New Zealand) and a Jeep-toting landing craft, are hidden behind myriad hatches aft in the hull sides.
Y: 2004; B: Lürssen, Germany; N: Builder; H: Steel; E: 4/12,000-hp MTUs

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