In 1920, William Nutting, editor of Motor Boat Magazine and an experienced sailor, commissioned his friend, legendary naval architect William Atkin, to design a boat for an Atlantic crossing. The nominal goal of the voyage was to compete in the yacht races off Cowes, England, but Nutting and Atkin also wanted to prove that one could cross a large ocean in what was then considered a very small vessel. The result was "Typhoon," a 45-foot ketch in which Nutting and a few friends completed a t...