Athena was the largest yacht ever launched by Royal Huisman. It was commissioned by one of the founders of the once famous Silicon Graphic and Netscape Communication, James Clarke, who has become a regular customer of the yard (he is believed to own at least three yachts built at Royal Huisman). Athena is the pinnacle of Dutch engineering and craftsmanship with a large amount of unique equipment for this complex yacht, mainly deck equipment. The deck windlasses, rack and pinion winches, and the jib windlasses installed on the yacht were all designed exclusively for Athena. The launching process was also challenging: not only the water area close to the yard did not allow to launch the yacht directly (so she had to be loaded onto a special barge to go where there is enough room and a shallow hole), but on the way down (and then reassemble) the old bridge, a local landmark (the cost of this work was included in the final bill as a separate line).
