Some describe the new Magic Carpet-e as the most advanced Maxi to be built in more than a decade, others say that she will change not just the Maxi racing scene, but the use of electric power on board a yacht. And some simply point to a 100 footer that is a staggering 10 tonnes lighter than the previous Magic Carpet and is set to be a light weather weapon.
There. is no doubt that she's a complex machine.
She has a canting keel with nine and half tonne bulb that also acts like a centreboard. She has a retractable canard...that can change its angle of attack and also cants from side to side, plus she has twin lifting rudders.
Her 46m carbon mast supports a giant sail plan that looks like a scaled up IMOC…..and yet there are just six winches on deck.
But the biggest difference between this boat and the rest of the Maxi fleet is that Magic Carpet-e is fully electric.
All the eveindence we needed to know that we had to go and see her for real.
Matt Sheahan and videographer Richard Langdon were invited aboard Magic Carpet-e for a couple of days in her home port of St Tropez.
In the first of three reports Matt speaks to owner Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, skipper Danny Gallichan and project manager Ed Bell about the concept behind this sophisticated and slippery Maxi.
Chapters & Quick links
01:33 First look
03:24 Why build a new boat? Owner Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones explains
04:57 The hard facts - Magic Carpet-e key features
05:41 How the project started - Danny Gallichan and Ed Bell explain
11:41 Why she’s a cruiser too
14:53 Onboard underway - First taste
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