Under the hood


The Guillaume Verdier-designed Maxi Magic Carpet e is obviously one of the most interesting racing yachts we have seen for some while. An all-electric, lifting, folding, canting-keel monohull with lifting twin-rudders… where to start? Blue Robinson gave some of the key contributors a bit of a grilling


I am standing in the owner’s stateroom in the bow, admiring stunning white stretched fabric and elegant leather trims, as we motor out of St Tropez in complete silence. I am also standing onboard what is prob - ably the fastest racing maxi on the planet. The reason I am marvelling at the breath- taking detail of this cabin is that the owners,


56 SEAHORSE


Sir Lindsay and Lady Christina Owen- Jones, wanted a fully refined racing maxi, but a key part of this programme is it is also a family cruising boat, for a day sail or two-week cruise to Portofino, Corsica or Croatia. Meaning a huge challenge to create a racing yacht that performed to the highest level, and matched the quality of the elegant interior that has been a key element of the previous three Magic Carpet yachts. Obviously one of the central challenges


was the weight, with the goal to build a 37-tonne boat – more than 10 tonnes lighter than Magic Carpet 3. An incredible achievement dictating a forensically strict breakdown on weight distribution. The interior had an allocation of two


tonnes. One big assist is that the interior designer Axel de Beaufort is also a naval architect. Working with designer Guillaume Verdier, they looked at form and function, a key example being any penetration of the structural bulkheads. All doors are of an oval shape – this means reduced capping or extra reinforcement when cutting holes in big carbon bulkheads, the veneered carbon still delivering a traditional touch. Match- ing veneered carbon panels are used throughout, the carbon thermo-moulded over light Nomex cores. Even so, it took three attempts to arrive at acceptable ceiling panels, but the result is stunning. The ceiling/deckhead area is a huge area


that was targeted as hard to save weight, and the result is a carbon framework


trimmed with lightweight leather, and an ultra-light fabric stretched tight on the frame as you would for a painting. Such beautiful detailing is everywhere,


including the bed in the master cabin, util- ising monolithic carbon by bespoke furni- ture specialists Hermès Atelier Horizons. Using the same advanced techniques that built Luna Rossa’s AC75 Cup yachts, Persico have created a fine stateroom bed that weighs in at just 11kg. Stepping aft out of the owner’s cabin


into the corridor, in race mode there is a large operating space below the huge sail hatch where a removable cabin slots in for summer cruising. As well as mass, throughout the build


process, designer Guillaume Verdier was insistent that every decision had to consider vertical centre of gravity, to drive it down as low as possible. Magic Carpet e has a huge sailplan, but


powerful maxi sails are now outrageously heavy so the decision was made not to race with them stowed on deck, but for them to be kept down below. To facilitate this is a vast curved-edge hatch, allowing the large furled A2 and A Zero to be fed down to live in the corridor, saloon and galley when not in use. A permanently rigged lifting system raises each furled sail up to the deck-head to allow a sail below to be moved rapidly in and out. The port side of this storage area is designed to contain the inventory of Magic


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