Metamorphosis complete for Atalanta II: the “Frankenstein boat” is finally in the water … and winning right away

We were immediately passionate about the history of Atalanta, the 21-footer that Carlo Puri Negri had built by Bruce Farr in 2004, and which immediately reminded us of the creature of Dr. Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s novel. Because it has been remade piece by piece using the best technology. And so it is a monster, but a beautiful monster. Umberto Felci oversaw its refitting, carried out at Maurizio Testuzza’s Adriasail shipyards in Fano, Ancona. Quite a challenge the Milanese designer took on: making a 12-year-old maxi modern and competitive.

We had shown you the drawings of the boat’s metamorphosis, explained point by point by Umberto Felci who told us how “they were radically changed the water lines of the last aft third of the existing boat (in the last six meters a “new stern” was built leaning against the existing one), resulting in a more taut and load-bearing hull shape in the aft part to have an increase in waterline length as well as righting moment between 15 and 25°. The fin draft was then reduced (from 4 to 3.70 meters, with more concentrated masses) and textile rigging was rigged while also modifying the sail plan to counteract the boat’s increased wetted surface area. These are the main changes made.”



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After five years on land, today Atalanta II is finally in the water to observe its metamorphosis live. She made her debut at the 2016 Volcano Race where she was the absolute star of the 398 miles from Gaeta to the Aeolian Islands and back. Competing in the mini maxi category, under 80 feet, were five crews and Carlo Puri Negri’s boat placed first on handicap time finishing in 2 days 2 hours, 2 minutes and 6 seconds.

We managed to “snatch” an interview with the owner who thus commented on the “premiere” of his new bolide. In particular, Puri Negri commented on the regatta in anticipation of seeing Atalanta II at work again during the 151-mile race (June 2-4, 2016) and confessed to us how, in his opinion, the boat is still at 70 percent of its potential:
“We started upwind in a light 5-knot wind that then increased to 12 giving us the impression right away that boats on paper much faster than us were in some cases struggling to keep up with us. This means that the changes have positively affected both speed performance and for the certificate fee. We had further confirmation of the excellent performance of Atalanta ll as we reached the Aeolian Islands we started sailing with the wind at the stern and even in this circumstance the boat proved to be competitive both when we mounted the A0 and then A1.5. The greatest satisfaction from a sports point of view was that we overcame an opponent, on paper much better performer than us, in compensated time. Atalanta II is an old lady who still has much to say. We are convinced that he has expressed 70% of his potential.à”.

SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY OF THE NEW ATALANTA II DURING THE VOLCANO RACE 2016