Rarely to be seen in public, visitors to this year’s Monaco Yacht Show had a unique opportunity to admire the impressive 90-metre sailing yacht Athena. Launched by the prestigious Royal Huisman in 2004, Athena superyacht is a spectacular, three-masted schooner, boasting graceful lines, Panamax masts, immaculate build as well as magnificent presentation. Athena represented a wondeful presence that dominated Port Hercules during the Show whilst demonstrating that time is after all a great examiner.
Royal Huisman 90m sailing yacht Athena - Photo credit: Franco Page
For those fortunate enough to receive a conducted tour the accolades were fulsome: “I was simply blown away” commented one experienced owner “to see such exemplary standards of craftsmanship and engineering throughout every single centimetre of a 90 metre yacht.” Or, as another visitor put it: “Athena is, in every sense, a ship. But this is a ship constructed and detailed throughout to the most outstanding yacht quality. I was amazed by the consistency of perfectionism in everything I saw.”
A leading broker observed; “It’s hard to believe that Athena has so many sea miles under her keel, she’s like new. That’s obviously a great credit to her owner and crew but you can’t get away from the fact that it’s an even greater credit to the Huisman yard for such an extraordinary quality of build. For me, this absolutely proves that, over the long term, you get the engineering value that you pay for.”
90m superyacht Athena by Royal Huisman - Photo Credit: Max Cumming
Writer Jack Somer, who wrote the book that brought luxury yacht Athena to the armchair of many an aficionado, viewed Athena again for the first time since her launch and commented: “There is something almost indefinably special about a Royal Huisman yacht; but however hard it may be to define, you certainly know their work when you see it.”
Interest in megayacht Athena’s sale has been such that requests for viewings were accommodated from enquirers from all over the world, keeping owners agents and the Royal Huisman team exceptionally busy throughout the show.
Luxury megayacht Athena - Photo credit Max Cumming
Commercial Director Ronald van Hulst explained: “This has been a wonderful opportunity to display the enduring quality of the yard’s workmanship on a yacht of such scale and comprehensive amenity. In general, once we have built a custom yacht and she sails away, there are few further opportunities to show the world what we have created. Even our own team members were enthralled when they re-visited Athena, but the response we received from well-informed owners and industry representatives was overwhelming. Kind words that have reminded us that a reputation is earned not given.”
Below is a selection of the beautiful charter yachts built by Royal Huisman.
