Jim Gray 63, founder of Microsoft’s Bay Area research Center has gone missing in his yacht off the Northern California coast. Jim was sailing solo on board his 40 ft. C&C yacht ‘Tenacious’ bound for the Farallan Islands to scatter his Mom’s ashes. The disappearance has the Coast Guard perplexed as the weather was fine, ‘Tenacious’ is in good condition and Gray has no reported health problems. A C 130 Cargo Plane joined the search for the missing yachtsman and yacht on Monday evening.

Jim Gray won the A.M.Turing Award for major Computer science achievement. The research led to banking A.T.M.’s, computerised airline bookings and e-commerce. Gray is a Berkely University of California graduate with a Phd in Computer Science dating back to 1969. Yachtbuddy sends best wishes to the family for his safe return.