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Atalanti V(ictory)

Atalanti Victory, a 3/4 tonner

Type of Sail: Mainsail

Age: 21 years old

Material: Kevlar yarn sandwiched between mylar film

Located: Athens

Distance Travelled: 800-1100 nm

Places most visited: Athens, Poros, Hydra, Kea, Kythnos, Galicia and the island of Palma de Majorca in Spain

Sail Number: GRE 49288

UB40 are topping the charts with “Can’t help falling in love with you”. Bill Clinton will become 42nd President of the USA. Michael Jordan will score his 20,000th point in the NBA. The year is 1993. On the bracing waters of Galicia, Spain, a new arrival on the grand-prix yachting scene, is going to be reminded how complex sailing is.

While testing the mast bend characteristics on their boat they succeed in breaking 2 masts in a one day. Recovering from the shock and damage they race they step their third, and final, mast and go on to finish a punishing week of racing a disappointing 4th in the 3/4 ton World Championships. Months of training, careful sail selection, mast tuning, and a long trip from Greece to Spain can only be filled with the lessons learnt from a team that could have but didn’t. A tiny engineering problem (with the spreaders) and a couple of misplaced screws sunk Atalanti Victory’s chances of lifting the World Championship trophy that year.