MAGIC REVOLUTION

A CANTING, LIFTING KEEL AND REVOLUTIONARY ELECTRIC POWER HELP MAKE THIS ONE OF THE LIGHTEST, MOST ADVANCED MAXIS YET. MATTHEW SHEAHAN SPENT TWO DAYS ABOARD THE VERDIER-DESIGNED MAGIC CARPET-E

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Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones didn’t want a new boat, yet today not only has he a shiny new state of the art 100-footer, but a machine described by some as the most advanced Maxi to be launched in more than a decade. And at the new boat’s first competitive outing on the first day of racing at this year’s PalmaVela regatta Magic Carpet-e won the first two races.

To say that her build happened by accident would be an exaggeration, yet the genesis of what has turned out to be such an advanced and promising new Maxi didn’t start with a set of clear objectives and well-defined goals.

Having been built pretty much in secret by Persico Marine in Italy and pre-launched discretely last autumn, (before being taken back into the shed to be completed for a re-launch this spring), the new Carpet is in flight and the details of this new design are now being revealed.

On the face of it, while she may look like a sleeker, leaner version of others in her class, the basic data has her standing out from the off.

Here the displacement is the headline figure. At 37 tonnes she’s a staggering 10 tonnes lighter than the previous Magic Carpet, a Wally Cento Maxi that herself was never considered to be overweight.

The new Carpet also sets an impressive amount of sail on a rig that looks more IMOCA than Maxi, while below the waterline she sports what must surely be the most sophisticated appendage package of any current Maxi.