ATHENA I is a twenty seven metre Wally from 2018, refreshed in a 2021 refit, a quietly modern motor yacht that carries the Italian yard’s clean design language to the clear water of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. She looks after seven guests across three cabins with a crew of four, and her appeal is immediate: a sharp, contemporary profile, generous open air terraces close to the sea and a bright, uncluttered interior that keeps the light and the water close from every room. For a couple or a small family who want a stylish, properly crewed yacht with real design character and an unhurried pace, she reads as modern, composed and genuinely easy to be aboard.
Her point of difference is the Wally design. The yard built its name on clean lines, honest materials and a sense of space that belies the length, and ATHENA I shows that character throughout, pale timber and soft neutral tones against generous glass, with the interior detailing carried through under the eye of Alberto Pinto. A 2021 refit kept her finishes and systems current, so a charter aboard her feels fresh and well tended, while the twin Caterpillar engines underneath hold a calm, quiet displacement cruise that settles easily into a long day between the islands.
Life in the open air is the heart of her. The aft deck opens onto the sea with soft seating and a shaded dining table a few paces from the water, the foredeck sets out a run of sun pads for lying out over the bow away from the party, and a sociable top deck carries the social life up a level with its own soft seating and a clear outlook across the anchorage. A swim platform at the stern gives easy access to the water with the tender and a full spread of toys close at hand, and the broad, shaded decks mean there is always a comfortable corner to be found whether in the sun or out of it.
Inside, the main deck is bright and contemporary, arranged for easy living. The main saloon gathers around a crisp white sofa with the sea drawn in through large windows, a formal dining area sits within the same bright volume around a pale timber table close to the galley and the crew, and a second seating zone, part library and part lounge with its own sculptural chair, offers a quieter corner to one side. The whole deck flows together so the party stays connected whether on the sofa, at the table or watching the coast slip by, the airy finish keeping the space feeling fresh and uncluttered from morning to evening.
Accommodation is arranged over three cabins for seven guests. The master cabin takes a private, well lit position with a wide bed, a seating area, generous storage and its own bathroom, while a double guest cabin and a twin, each quiet and comfortable with their own facilities, look after the rest of the party below. It is a flexible plan that suits a couple or a small family, the twin with its single beds ready for children or younger guests sharing, every cabin finished to the same crisp, modern standard as the main deck.
Under way she is calm and quiet, a composed displacement yacht that holds an easy cruise hour after hour and settles gently at anchor in the most sheltered of coves. Her natural ground is Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, the harbours and clear water of the Dodecanese and the Ionian, the coast of Italy and Turkey all within a comfortable run of one another, exactly the kind of unhurried island cruising her design was made for. Modern, considered and attentively crewed, ATHENA I is a relaxed and stylish way to charter the eastern Mediterranean with the whole party kept close.
