Riding the Waves of Evolution

How the owners of Atalante went up a size but kept the yacht’s family feeling.

- Alexandra Groom

Atalante is much more than a yacht to her owners, she is a conscious evolution of a way of life. Launched in 2015 at Dutch yard Claasen, the 38.8-metre is a bigger version of the yacht they had before, built by the same team.

Enjoying the last day of a Mediterranean regatta, the owner has time to reflect on the build and first cruising season. “A lot of thinking went in to how I would sail the boat myself,” he explains. “My main worry going into this size range was that we would lose touch with the ocean, and the brief to Andre Hoek, which I think he delivered perfectly, was that we wanted a bigger boat with more space, but we still wanted to be in touch with the water and be able to spin the boat on a sixpence, and she does that. We saw that on the course today, you turn the wheel and she just goes around, very quick. She’s classic in style but we’ve got modern technology, like the carbon spade rudder at the back for performance sailing.”