SPACE SHIFT
What the owner had in mind was a modern New York loft with the capability of an extreme explorer – one that could go slow over long distances and outrun bad weather
MICHAEL VOGELSANG, THE CAPTAIN OF MAGNET, HAS SEEN A THING OR TWO IN HIS CAREER AND IS NOT EASILY IMPRESSED.
BUT WHEN HE GOT A FIRST GLIMPSE OF HIS NEW CHARGE AT THE METAL SHARK YARD IN FRANKLIN, LOUISIANA, AT THE END OF CRISP AND SUNNY WINTER DAY,
HE WAS BLOWN AWAY.
“We flew into Lafayette, took a nice car ride and got in at dusk into Franklin; [Magnet] was silhouetted by the sun, and I just kind of went, Wow!” recalls Captain Vogelsang.
It’s easy to see why. During a rare stint at a dock in Miami Beach, as the crew prepare for a Bahamas trip, I go to look at the catamaran I have chased for a couple of years after hearing rumours of its construction. A catamaran of this magnitude, coming out of a shipyard in rural Louisiana known for its speedy, reliable navy craft – this I had to see. And Magnet does not disappoint.
The spaces on board are unrivalled for a sub-50 metre yacht, with its beam of 12 metres, 3.6-metre clearance over the water thanks to a deep tunnel between
