June 2007: The tests on Athos and her rig have been exhaustive. An update from the developers.

After various discussions about the offwind sails, tack positions and the roached main Hoek Design suggested to use their existing windtunnel model to test these options in the windtunnel. Shortly after that 15 different sails where tested by the Wolfson Unit in the windtunnel of Southampton University. The model was completely adjusted to the rigging dimensions of Athos. Apart from the roached main there were various aft staysails and gennakers tested. Special attention was put into the tack and sheeting positions for the offwind sails. You can imagine that with a two mast schooner sail configuration lots of sails interact to eachother in a different way depending on windangle and sailshapes. The challenge is to get this as positive as possible on the available deck space. Results from the test will determine a sail wardrobe that is versatile and gives a wide range of wind angles and windspeeds. It is much easier and less costly to test this in a windtunnel than to find out in real life.