Athena (yacht)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (September 2007)

Athena while moored in Trinity Inlet at Cairns, Queensland.

A closer view of Athena

Athena is a clipper-bowed 3-masted gaff rigged schooner, considered to be the largest private sailing yacht in the world, at 90 meters in length (bowspirit tip to end of gaff sail) and displacing 1,068 tons. However, many do not consider a bowsprit included in a ships length^{[citation needed]}, making The Maltese Falcon the longest privately owned ship in the world.

Athena was built by Royal Huisman Shipyard in 2004 for internet entrepreneur James H. Clark. Clark purchased a 47.4 meter sloop, Hyperion, from Royal Huisman in 1998. As Hyperion was nearing completion, Clark began to consider the possibilities of a larger yacht, which could include a theater, library, more guest space and a more capable galley.

Athena can normally be chartered for $500,000 USD per week^[1] but whilst she was moored in Cairns in October 2007 a sign had been placed giving information about the yacht and stating that contrary to information on the internet the yacht is not available for charter.

Athena is the winner of the Show Boats International Award for Best Sailing Yacht over 40 Meters for 2004.

Similar sailing super yachts include Eos and The Maltese Falcon.