Athena represents four years of spirited teamwork, combining the unique talents of Pieter Beeldsnijder for exterior and interior design with the flawless naval architectural skills of Dykstra Naval Architects. With these two talented legends and the shipyards" own group of dedicated craftspeople the perfect shipbuilders "dream team" was created and Athena, at 90m overall, will undoubtedly become part of yachting history.

For the interior Beeldsnijder selected a lightly stained Mahogany to enrich an air of classic comfort. Appreciating that Athena"s sheer size could literally overwhelm, Beeldsnijder cleverly divided accommodations and living areas into human size proportions thus creating a feeling of welcome and old world charm. Designing a reappearing scalloped corner detail Beeldsnijder fine tuned these areas as he worked closely with Californian Rebecca Bradley responsible for selecting soft furnishings and fabrics.
On deck Athena"s custom array of Rondal deck hardware is set against an expanse of varnished teak cabin tops and seating areas. Again Beeldsnijder elected to provide intimate proportion to these otherwise expansive areas whilst maintaining a high regard for Dykstra"s requirements for sail plan, deck layout and classically inspired design influences.

The three mast schooner rig by Rondal provides some 2,500 sq. m of sail power and is complete with in mast furling for the topsails and in boom furling for the carbon fiber gaffs. Some 55 Rondal captive and drum winches allow lightning fast tacks under full sail whilst sails can be set and stowed at the press of a button (or two!)

Using "Alustar" plate mast construction the tallest of Athena"s three masts fits snugly, at low tide, through Panama"s controlling bridge height of 62m. And to give a sense of scale to all this, a trip up one of Athena"s mast top hydraulically operated crow"s nests gives the adventuresome a bird"s eye view over an expanse of teak decking as Athena presents herself - a resurrection of the spirited golden age of sail.

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