PART I: The Name Game and the Siren Song of the Sea
Listen, I'm going to be straight with you. When you look at the world’s biggest superyachts, your mind probably jumps straight to those behemoth motor yachts—the ones that look like floating hotels and sip fuel like it’s a vintage wine. But I want to talk about something different. I want to talk about a secret weapon built in the Netherlands, a 66-meter vessel whose name has changed twice, but whose impact on performance sailing is permanent.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
I’m talking about ANATTA.
If you’ve heard the name, you might already know this is one of the most significant performance sloops ever launched. If you haven't, prepare to have your mind blown. This is a story about how a shipbuilder named Vitters decided to take the rulebook, tear it up, and stitch it back together with carbon fiber and aluminum.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The Identity Crisis That Defined a Legend
When I first started researching this boat, I noticed something strange: she wasn’t always called Anatta. When she was launched by Vitters Shipyard in 2011, she was named Aglaia. Later, she was briefly known as Ahimsa. Now, she sails as Anatta.
Why the multiple identities? I think the name changes hint at the profound philosophical shift this vessel represents. Aglaia means “splendor” or “shining.” Ahimsa is the principle of non-violence. And Anatta? That’s a key Buddhist term, often translated as "non-self" or "no-soul." It’s the idea that nothing has a fixed, permanent essence.
And when you look at the engineering of this vessel, that philosophy of non-permanence, of constant evolution and optimization, actually makes perfect sense. This yacht is a machine engineered for the moment—a dynamic, high-performance cruiser that defies the static, slow-moving luxury stereotype. It's a boat that is always striving, always changing, always performing.
This isn't just a boat; it's a statement. And the most compelling part of that statement is a seemingly arbitrary number: 499 GT.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The 499 GT Mystery: The Invisible Constraint
Any time you see a superyacht with a gross tonnage (GT) of 499, you need to pay attention. The 500 GT limit is the invisible barrier in yachting. Stay under it, and the vessel faces less stringent—and less expensive—regulatory requirements for crew, safety, and classification.
The original European owner of this 66-meter beast wanted the longest sailing yacht possible while staying within that 500 GT limit. Think about that challenge for a moment. Vitters and the legendary design studio Dubois Naval Architects had to pack a yacht the length of two Olympic swimming pools—66 meters (216 feet)—with all the luxury, technology, and racing capability, all while maximizing every cubic meter of space to sneak in under the limit.
The resulting vessel is a marvel of efficiency and proportion. Her length-to-beam ratio is an exceptional 6.6:1, giving her the sleek, knife-like profile of a genuine performance racer, not a bloated luxury barge. This decision—the commitment to length over internal volume—is the first clue that Anatta was engineered not just to look fast, but to be fast.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
PART II: The Holy Trinity of Yacht Design: Vitters, Dubois, and RWD
When I talk about information gain, I mean understanding who built this thing and why their collaboration was so explosive. This yacht is a product of Dutch shipbuilding mastery and British design brilliance.
The Builder: Vitters Shipyard and the Dutch DNA
Vitters is a name synonymous with custom, high-performance sailing. Founded by Jan Vitters in 1990, the shipyard, based in Zwartsluis, Netherlands, has cultivated a reputation for tackling the projects other yards won't touch. Their unofficial motto might as well be, "It’s kind of fun to do the impossible!"
What sets Vitters apart is their deep DNA rooted in racing. They didn't just build luxury; they built speed. They integrated engineering knowledge from high-speed carbon yachts (enhanced by their acquisition of Green Marine) directly into the superyacht realm. They brought that relentless focus on weight saving, hydrodynamics, and structural integrity that you normally only see in America’s Cup challengers.
The Anatta project, or Hull 3063, was an absolute showpiece for them. It proved they could build a 66-meter luxury vessel that was also a formidable racer—a feat that required custom, in-house solutions for every potential problem.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The Shape: Dubois Naval Architects
For the naval architecture and exterior design, the owners turned to the late, great Ed Dubois and his firm, Dubois Naval Architects. Ed Dubois was a pioneer, responsible for some of the world’s most elegant and powerful sailing yachts. Anatta remains one of the largest yachts he ever designed.
Dubois gave Anatta her aggressively low superstructure, her uncompromising sheer line, and her distinctive, sleek look. The exterior is a perfect fusion of form and function. This boat isn't boxy; it flows. It looks like it’s doing 20 knots even while tied to the dock. The low-profile deckhouse ensures minimal drag and keeps the center of gravity low—again, prioritizing performance over unnecessary vertical volume.
In a world where many superyachts look the same, Dubois ensured Anatta was recognizable instantly—a powerful, clean-decked sloop with an immense presence.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The Comfort: Redman Whiteley Dixon (RWD)
While Dubois gave her speed, the acclaimed British firm RWD (Redman Whiteley Dixon) gave her a soul. RWD’s challenge was immense: create a comfortable, luxurious haven for up to 12 guests and 10 crew, all within a narrow, performance-oriented hull.
I haven't been inside, but based on the few available details, I can tell you the interior is a study in restrained elegance. It’s not about flashy gold fixtures; it’s about flawless craftsmanship, natural materials, and smart layout. RWD successfully balanced the owner’s need for lavish comfort with the practicalities of a yacht that heels and moves fast. Every fitting, every panel, every piece of custom furniture had to be engineered to handle the intense stresses and movements of a true performance vessel. This isn't interior design; it’s interior engineering.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
PART III: The Engineering Marvel: Towering Rigs and Submarine Keels
Okay, this is where we get into the tech specs that truly separate Anatta from 99% of the world’s luxury fleet. This boat is less about sunbathing and more about physics-defying speed.
The Skyscraper on Water: The 80-Meter Mast
When I read the specifications, one number jumps out and screams "performance": 82 meters (269 feet).
That is the height of Anatta’s massive carbon fiber mast above the waterline. To put that in perspective, that mast is taller than the Statue of Liberty (from the ground to the torch). It is a colossal, single piece of carbon engineering, making Anatta one of the largest sloops (single-masted sailing yachts) ever built.
Why so tall? Because a sloop, especially one this big, needs maximum power from its single mainsail and headsail. A taller mast means a larger sail area, which translates directly to more horsepower from the wind.
But height brings challenges: stability, weight, and the immense forces generated by the rig. To handle this, Vitters chose Future Fibres’ flagship ECsix multistrand rigging. This stuff is essentially super-advanced carbon fiber cable. It’s incredibly strong, light, and resistant to stretching. By reducing weight aloft (high up in the rig), they dramatically lowered the yacht’s center of gravity, which helps keep her upright and incredibly stable, even when pushing hard.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The 30-Second Tack: Racing DNA at Superyacht Scale
The result of this engineering? Speed and agility that simply shouldn't exist in a 66-meter vessel.
Superyachts are notoriously slow to maneuver. But Anatta was designed to tack in less than 30 to 45 seconds. Tacking is the maneuver where the boat turns its bow through the wind, shifting the sails from one side to the other. For a boat this size, that is blisteringly fast. It means her powerful rig and deck hardware are seamlessly integrated for hands-on, high-speed sailing.
When you’re sailing on Anatta, you’re not just cruising; you’re engaging in high-end, competitive yachting. The feeling, I imagine, is less like driving a cruise ship and more like flying a fighter jet—powerful, precise, and exhilarating.
The Variable Geometry: Why a Keel is Not Just a Fin
Perhaps the most ingenious aspect of Anatta’s engineering is her complex lifting keel.
This is the key to her dual personality as both a deep-ocean racer and a versatile cruiser.
Keel Down (9.0 meters / 29.5 feet): When the keel is fully extended, Anatta achieves a colossal draft of 9 meters. This deep foil dramatically increases the boat’s stability and reduces leeway (sideways movement). This is the setting for high-performance sailing, maximizing speed and pointing ability (sailing close to the wind). This is when she’s truly in race mode.
Keel Up (4.9 meters / 16 feet): When the keel is retracted into the hull, the draft is nearly halved. This is the cruising mode, allowing her to access shallow anchorages, island harbors, and ports that are completely off-limits to other yachts of this size.
This variable geometry allows the owner to chase regatta victories one week and anchor right off a secluded beach in the Bahamas the next. It’s an incredibly complex piece of hydraulic engineering that speaks volumes about the no-compromise brief given to Vitters.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
PART IV: The Vitters Innovations: Clean Decks and Hands-Off Sailing
A major theme in modern superyacht design is the "clean deck policy." Owners want sleek, uncluttered exterior spaces for relaxation, viewing, and simply moving around safely. Anatta was the canvas for several key innovations developed by Vitters that are now standard across their fleet.
Pioneering the Below-Deck Drum System
Before Anatta, handling massive, heavy sails during changes required multiple crew members dragging enormous, cumbersome sail bags across the pristine teak deck, risking damage to both the crew and the boat.
Vitters solved this problem by pioneering the first-ever below-deck headsail drum and furler. This innovation, which eventually evolved into their signature V-Drum system, turned sail changes into a controlled, hands-off operation. The Code Sail and Staysail can be raised and lowered directly into a compact, protected storage device beneath the foredeck. This is truly next-level stuff. It saves time during races and preserves the beauty of the deck during cruising.
When I look at this feature, I see the core philosophy of a high-information-gain design: solving a practical, messy problem with elegant, hidden technology.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The Invisible Anchor and Flush Bollards
Remember that clean deck aesthetic? Vitters took it seriously.
Hidden Anchoring: On many modern yachts, the anchor and its apparatus can interrupt the graceful lines of the bow. Anatta features a custom-built, hydraulically hinged anchor arm system that is fully stowed below deck when not in use. When it's time to anchor, the arm swings forward, well clear of the delicate aluminum hull, ensuring the anchor drops without any chance of scuffing the topsides.
Flush Bollards (The V-Bollard Precursor): Even the humble bollard—the fixture used to secure mooring lines—was reinvented. Anatta features retractable bollards that sit flush with the teak deck when not in use. No tripping hazards for barefoot guests, and nothing to interrupt the clean lines of the deck.
These details, while seemingly small, are the hallmarks of ultra-custom Dutch engineering. They are the reasons why this yacht cost an estimated $45 million—because every single component was re-evaluated and optimized.
The Composite Rudder: Unparalleled Control
For a 66-meter sloop, the rudder is absolutely critical. It has to handle the immense turning forces generated by the massive rig. Vitters and their partners engineered one of the largest composite rudder pens ever made in the world for Anatta.
Using composite materials here allows for incredible strength and stiffness while keeping the weight down. In simple terms, it means the helmsman gets immediate, precise feedback and control, even at high speeds or in challenging conditions. This detail confirms the yacht's true racing pedigree; this isn't a boat where the crew fights the helm—it’s a boat that responds immediately to the slightest command.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
PART V: The Art, The Owner, and the Legacy
A sailing yacht of this caliber is a commission, a piece of floating art. The story of Anatta is completed by the unique human elements involved, from her owner’s history to the surprising splash of artistic expression on her sails.
The Artistic Statement: The Code 1 Sail
Luxury and art often go hand-in-hand in the superyacht world, but Anatta took it to a new level.
One of the yacht’s most distinctive visual features is its massive Code 1 sail. This sail, often used for downwind or reaching (side-wind) conditions, is itself a gigantic canvas. The design was created by the notable Norwegian artist Magne Furuholmen, who is perhaps better known as a member of the iconic 80s band a-ha.
When this sail is deployed, it’s not just a sail—it’s a performance sculpture, a 66-meter sailboat flying a massive piece of contemporary art across the ocean. This blend of high-tech racing engineering and fine art perfectly captures the modern superyacht ethos: functionality and beauty must coexist without compromise.
The Owners: Ambition and Evolution
Knowing who commissioned and owned a yacht tells you a lot about its personality.
The Origin (Kjell Inge Rokke): Anatta was originally built for Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke. Rokke is an industrialist with deep roots in the fishing and offshore industries—a man who understands the sea intimately. He required a yacht that was as capable as it was comfortable, leading to the aggressive, performance-focused brief that resulted in her 9-meter draft capability and racing DNA.
The Present (Sergey Adonyev): The current owner is Russian businessman Sergey Adonyev, known for founding the Joint Food Company. That he chose Anatta—a pure, high-performance sailing machine—over a similar-sized motor yacht, speaks volumes about his appreciation for the art of sailing. The value of this yacht, estimated at around $45 million, reflects not just its size, but the unique, custom technology embedded in every aluminum plate and carbon fiber strand.
I think the appeal here is that ownership of Anatta requires a certain commitment. You can't just press a button and move her; you must sail her. You must respect her power.
Accommodation: Luxury in Motion
While she’s a performance beast, RWD ensured the luxury was never overlooked. Anatta can comfortably host up to 12 guests across six staterooms, all while being attended by a dedicated crew of 10.
Think about the ratio: 12 guests to 10 crew. That's nearly one crew member per guest, ensuring flawless, personalized service. This level of staffing allows the yacht to be sailed efficiently, maintained immaculately, and provide a truly bespoke experience for the owners and their guests. The interior layout manages to feel spacious despite the narrow, sleek hull shape, a testament to the intelligent design that maximized the use of her 499 GT volume.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
PART VI: The Enduring Legacy of the Non-Self Machine
So, why does Anatta still matter today? Why, over a decade after her launch, does she still define the bleeding edge of sailing superyacht design?
The Golden Age of Performance Cruisers
Anatta didn't just join the fleet; she helped usher in a new golden age of the high-performance cruiser. She proved that you don't have to sacrifice sailing thrill for superyacht comfort. Her success directly influenced later, equally ambitious projects from Vitters and other Dutch yards. When Vitters talks about their DNA, they often reference Anatta (originally Aglaia) as an “incredible achievement”—a benchmark for combining immense scale with genuine racing capability.
Her innovations, particularly the hidden deck systems (the precursor to the V-Drum), laid the groundwork for the "clean deck" and reduced crew-load sailing that defines the best new sailing yachts today. These systems ensure that a crew of 10 can handle a boat whose sail area rivals that of a modest warehouse roof.
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| The $45 million secret hiding in plain sight: Why this 66-meter Dutch machine changed sailing forever |
The Philosophy of Anatta
To circle back to the name: Anatta, the idea of "no permanent self."
In a literal sense, this yacht has no permanent name, having cycled through three. But philosophically, I see it reflecting the yacht's constant state of flux and optimization. This is a machine that is continually being pushed, refitted (she had a refit in 2014 and another rumored for 2022/2025), and updated to maintain peak performance. She is not a static museum piece; she is a dynamic tool of performance and luxury, reflecting the transient, yet powerful, nature of the wind and the sea she was built to conquer.
She is a monument to what happens when you empower world-class naval architects and engineers to pursue "the longest boat possible" under a seemingly impossible regulatory constraint. You get a design that is lean, mean, and utterly breathtaking.
I hope that by pulling back the curtain on her history, her engineering secrets (the lifting keel, the massive mast), and the vision of the people who created her, I've given you a far deeper satisfaction than simply reading a spec sheet. Anatta is a legend, a high-tech beast disguised as an elegant cruiser, and every inch of her 66 meters proves that the magic of sailing only gets better when you push the impossible.