ATALANTA is an amazing boat. It carries 40,000 lbs. of lead! That's almost 2 Santa Cruz 70's as ballast.
She sure is...it was amazing to have the chance to sail on her. The best part is reading the "Ships Log". all the old races, when she was Ondine. Entries from great sailors. They need to turn that into a book for sure.
When I saw the picture from the stern I thought, "wow, that boat looks a lot like Ondine" Sure enough. One hell of a boat in it's day. Huey Long owned her back then. Back in the days of Kialoa III (or IV) and Windward Passage. They didn't plane, but they'd pull a supertanker. Immense power for the day. Equipment was less advanced in terms of load capacity.
this from an old Time article...
Long now has a new Ondine, a 73-ft. 6-in. ketch that is the prettiest, most opulent and—on the chart of her first two races—the fastest-racing yacht on the high seas. Last February, in her competitive debut, Ondine clipped two hours off the course record for the Buenos Aires-Rio run, covering 1,200 miles in less than 190 hours. Two weeks ago, in the 635-mile Newport-Bermuda race, Ondine was becalmed for twelve hours, but still led the 151-boat fleet across the finish. Her time—83 hrs. 12 min.—was a full hour faster than the second boat. Strictly for Power. Unlike most ocean-racing yachts, which are designed to compete on corrected rather than actual time (under a labyrinthine handicapping formula),
Ondine is built strictly for brute power. "The only things we're trying to prove," says Long, "are that we can finish first and break records doing it." And hang the expense. Designed by Long Island Architect William Tripps, Ondine has a hull and masts entirely constructed of aluminum; her rigging is stainless steel. It takes 27 winches to handle her 2,900 sq. ft. of sail—including two huge Graydon Smith "coffee grinders" that are improved versions of those used on last year's America's Cup winner, Intrepid, and cost $20,000 apiece. Ondine has two cockpits (to keep other crewmen from interfering with the helmsman), and just about every navigational device short of radar: VOR, Loran, ADF, four wind indicators. Sailing Ondine takes a total crew of 20, including a professional captain, a ship's doctor (who doubles as cook), an engineer, a navigator—Long himself— and 16 deck hands who work in shifts or watches of eight at a time. "Logistics are a substantial problem," admits Long. "Just feeding 20 people and arranging for stores and spare parts is an awesome task." But when it comes to creature comforts,
life aboard Ondine is luxurious indeed. The boat can sleep 14 at one time, and all cabins are heated and air-conditioned. There are two showers (one freshwater, one salt) and a genuine Finnish sauna bath— which, when unoccupied, is used for drying spray-drenched clothes.
Read more:
http://www.time.com/...l#ixzz10I7M5b2QAh, those were the days...
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