Royal Huisman sailing yacht Athena
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jim Clark is known for a lot of things, including co-founding Netscape with a $5 million investment that reportedly brought him a return of $5 billion, but in yachting circles he’s renowned for creating one of the finest sailing yachts afloat. He spared no expense in building the 295-foot Royal Huisman Athena in 2004, and he has cruised aboard her extensively, garnering a weekly charter rate of about $350,000 when he’s not using the yacht.
When Clark originally listed Athena for sale in 2012, his asking price was $95 million — not too far off what venture capitalist Tom Perkins nabbed in 2009 (about $89 million) for the 289-foot Perini Navi Maltese Falcon.
Now, Clark has signed with Ocean Independence for the sale of Athena, and the asking price is $75 million.
That’s a price drop of about 20 percent, no doubt a nod to the overall slump the brokerage market has endured since the global economic recession began. Even still, it’s hard to put a price tag on such an iconic yacht; even today, a full decade after her launch, Athena is ranked among the five largest private sailing yachts in the world. Quite frankly, there are hardly any other yachts against which to compare her.
Ocean Independence is marketing Athena as being in perfect condition with new sails for good measure. She’s currently lying in the Mediterranean, and tours can be arranged for qualified buyers.
More details are at www.oceanindependence.com.
