Atlantic was probably the best known schooner yacht ever built in the United States. A really beautiful vessel, designed by Gardner, she was admired wherever seen. She was entered in the Kaiser's Cup Transatlantic Race of 1905 and from the start was the clear favorite. She was sailed by Capt. Charles Barr, easily the greatest professional skipper in the United States, though his fame had heretofore been as helmsman of such cup defenders as Columbia, Reliance, and the schooner Ingomar on round-the-buoy races. He drove Atlantic unmercifully in the Kaiser's race, to the extent that the owner and some others of the afterguard pleaded with him to reduce sail, to which he made his well-known reply, 'Sir, you hired me to win this race in Atlantic, and that is what I will do.' Fred Hoyt, a very experienced yachtsman and designer, was aboard Atlantic in this race and wrote the most enlightening description in Yachting of July, 1925. Atlantic made the 3013 miles from Sandy Hook to the Lizard in 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute [or 11 days , 16 house, 22 minutes to Bishops Rock], the fastest crossing ever made by a fore-and-aft rigged vessel. Her best day's run ws 341 miles from noon to noon, or an average of 14.1knots for nearly 24 hours. This compares with the clipper ship Lightning's 436 mile. Atlantic beat Hamburg, the second yacht to finish, by nearly a whole day.

It is a pity that Atlantic never raced Katoura, a 162' two-masted schooner by Herreshoff. Katoura was Herreshoff's largest yacht, and was built for schooner racing without power. She had Reliance's mast for her mainmast, and Constitution's for her foremast. Her owner, who skippered her, was not familiar with the light scientific rigging of a Herreshoff racing yacht as was a skipper like Charles Barr, so her rig was soon reduced. Atlantic, on the other hand, always had steam powered auxiliary and considerable comfort in her accommodation. With Atlantic at her fastest on a reach, and with the ability of the Herreshoff schooners to go to windward, Katoura would have probably beaten Atlantic. In the race to Spain [Ambrose Light to Santander] in 1928, Atlantic was beaten by 22 hours by the Herreshoff schooner Elena, a smaller version (136') of Katoura (162') and also fitted with auxiliary power.

Between the wars Atlantic was owned by Gen.Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerard Lambert. Mr Lambert also owned the America's Cup 'J' boat Yankee in 1935. Atlantic and Yankee (under a reduced yawl rig) 'raced' across to England that year when her owner raced Yankee in the 'J' class while Atlantic acted as her mother-ship.

Atlantic served in the US Navy in the World War I and was presented to the Coast Guard in World War II. She was laid up for several years after the war, until bought and turned into a 'tea shop' near Wildwood, New Jersey. In 1969, Capt. Al Urbelis bought Atlantic and she will eventually join the fleet for the Seafarer's International Union School at Piney Point, Maryland.