"Black Maggy": Transformation from Open 32 to Open 40 for the Silverrudder
Matthias Beilken
· 10.09.2023
Before we can start sailing, the "hoover" first has to be taken out of the "bike cellar". This is done in the lock harbour of Hooksiel.
Quite simply. The "hoover" is an oversized Code Zero, which got its nickname because it supposedly sucks every breath of wind from the North Sea when it is set in light winds. It comes from the old version of the "Black Maggy". Now the same boat still exists, but new. But how can a new boat be old?
This explains the "bicycle cellar", which is actually what we are talking about here. This is the nickname for the interior of the newly created, extended bow section of the well-known "Black Maggy", which has always been a kind of wolf in sheep's clothing among yachts. Camouflaged in the look of a pimped wooden dinghy cruiser, it is a high-tech projectile that was already unrivalled in its original version and often proved its speed potential. But it was not long enough for the largest class in a particular regatta: the Silverrudder single-handed race in Denmark. The old "Black Maggy" had won the middle class in outstanding fashion. So that the same boat could perhaps repeat its success in the large class in the same regatta, half of the boat had to be rebuilt and lengthened. Quite simply.
Nose extension:
A children's playground has become a men's playground
The new "old boat" floating in the outer harbour looks as if you should be afraid of it or treat it with due respect. In the wide cockpit, however, it still looks much the same as before. Which is not surprising, as it is located behind the centre, in the "old boat". Things look different on the foredeck. There is much more space here, and what was once a children's playground has become a men's playground.
The traveller rail is extremely wide, overlaps both side decks and de facto divides the open-air working area: benches at the front and an open hull with footrests over three metres aft. The tiller swings in the aft area, and in normal operation, when the helmsman is perched on the edge of the cockpit, "Black Maggy" is virtually impossible to steer sensibly without a long telescopic boom, but what modern boat is?
The mainsail is more like an A-cat, where the sheet only controls the leech tension. The more important instrument for angle of attack and ultimately lift is the traveller. There are optional clamps in the cockpit coaming for both lines, as there is hardly any chance of quickly grabbing them by leaning over if the helmsman has not prepared his working area.
The same sails have remained
Most of the lines end at the front of the cockpit. The genoa winches are positioned aft and inwards on massive carbon platforms so that even a single-handed sailor can easily reach. All he has to do to operate the two pairs of backstays is turn round.
The trim devices for the foils are also located on the cabin roof. They used to be "only" three metres long, but now they have been modified and still have outwardly jagged bottles at the lower end, like winglets on jets. Some hole points are now positioned differently than before. Which is not surprising, after all, they are the same sails that we use. The only difference is that some of them are tilted slightly due to the new geometry. So there are now almost unemployed genoa or code-zero centreboards that earn their bread of mercy as deflection points for the jib.
As the same rig now has to absorb more power and due to the larger foresail triangle, a second, inner forestay has been added. By means of a clever mimic involving two curry cleats connected in series and a tackle hidden below deck, a lot of tension can be generated individually. Some halyards are now also sheared one-to-two.
Rarely less than 10 knots speed
It also looks different behind the cockpit. There used to be retractable rudders in carbon fibre cassettes. Now there is a carbon skirt in which Imoca-style folding rudders hang from carbon fibre folding tubes. Let's make a long story short: a performance bomb is now floating under the same rig. "Now I can take on the challenge of the Open 40s," says the boss on board.
And that's how she feels. Although there is very little wind, we rarely sail across the Jade with a gennaker, genoa or code zero at less than ten knots. Just like six years ago, the current doesn't really play a role now. What does matter is the boat: the tiller jib flatters the ball of the hand and can be pushed out of its neutral position with only very slight movements. Not bad for a self-build.
Heibeck is designer, builder and owner in one person
It was sailed, built, designed and constructed by master boat builder Wolfram Heibeck from Hooksiel - all by himself. For his shipyard "Spezialbootsbau", the original version already served as a showcase platform for many products, all of which originate from his workshop: Foils, rudder mechanisms, carbon fibre masts - in addition, the keel mechanism of "Black Maggy" is probably unique in the world: the keel can be folded AND swivelled, the "Open 32" - the boat's working title - meaning it can virtually fall dry with its canting keel.
With a precise vision of an extended boat that was to be more like a smaller Open 40 than a drilled-out dinghy cruiser, Heibeck set the saw to work at Easter 2018: Rickeracke, with a crackle it went. And half the boat was gone and the whole season. Because that's how long it was going to take to rebuild half of the old "Black Maggy". The almost five metre long old bow section is now on its way as a rollable counter.
The new "Black Maggy" looks more aggressive
"The surfaces took the most time," says Heibeck in autumn 2018, when the modified boat finally floats again after around 1,000 hours of work. And indeed, "Black Maggy" looks more like a masterpiece of traditional woodwork than the camouflaged racer and one of the fastest yachts in Germany that she is. The uniformly stained surface now shimmers a little brighter than that of the "old" hull. The new "Black Maggy" looks more aggressive. And is also in keeping with the trend of the times. In order for everything to fit, Heibeck had to give the new half-boat a new strake - two and a half centimetres were missing. These are now in a wedge near the pontoons. And "Black Maggy" now has chines.
It was by no means a wooden boat with a carbon mast and bowsprit, but it looked like one. Only the wafer-thin outer layer of mahogany veneer merely concealed a carbon fibre-aramid sandwich mix according to all the rules of the art. There is even more carbon fibre in the new bow section, Heibeck has changed the matrix according to the latest findings. That's why it looks so gloomy below deck. Hence the connotation with the cellar.
From the outside, on the other hand, the new extended bow section looks anything but gloomy or lacking in contours; this is due to a boatbuilding phenomenon known as the "beam cove": the narrower the deck becomes, the more it feels flatter towards the sides. And it looks very narrow, almost beaky. In addition: the bowsprit is gone, virtually incorporated. Heibeck has "simply" built a hull under the sprit.
Huge leaps in performance
The look of the "sloping foreship lines" is en vogue. As with many new Imoca 60s, "Black Maggy's" new nose is more bulbous at waterline level than at deck level. And the keel bends slightly upwards about a metre behind the stem, so that it almost looks as if the bow is lying on the water in front of a "knuckle". The vertical stem above it also never dips spectacularly; the "new" boat sails much faster, but drier.
Which proves it: These interventions have absolutely nothing to do with fashion, even if it seems as if Master Heibeck has given his ship a nose job for purely visual reasons. The end result is better ships. It's a bizarre thought that huge leaps in performance are possible by building half boats.
The idea of reassembling a boat is not new
Unfortunately, they are almost always maxis, which are either modified at a cost of millions or built according to the new laws of the time. The sailing giants "Wild Oats XI" (Australia), "Comanche" (USA) and "CQS" (South Africa/New Zealand) are prominent examples of how boats can be sawn up and glued back together again. In some cases, innovative foil systems were also installed, such as the DSS "planks", which are pushed horizontally to leeward out of the hull to create a huge righting moment.
And such massive conversions, thought Heibeck, don't always have to happen in Australia or New Zealand, they can also be done in Hooksiel. And it doesn't always have to be about the Vendée Globe; the iron rules of the single-handed classic Silverrudder in Denmark were the main obstacle for "Black Maggy".
But Heibeck studied a black boat, Alex Thompson's "Hugo Boss", for hours in France, ahead of all the famous boats. It felt like he walked up and down in front of the boat a million times in Les Sables-d'Olonne. Shortly before the start of the Vendée Globe, on the jetty. Until he thought he had grasped every line trick, knew every shape and had studied the black single-handed boat with maximum fascination from every angle. The new "Black Maggy" was probably already in his head, he just had to build it.
Little on, little in
Later, as we motored through the reedy Hooksmeer with the lock astern and stowed the hoover back in the bike cellar, we realised that little had changed below deck either, apart from the black cave at the front. As a ship like this requires a lot of deck work, the time spent below deck is rather limited. But the interior was also brilliant in the past.
There is still no water tank and no movable floor boards. These are still classed as "what's the point" and have proved themselves by their absence. After all, "Black Maggy" is now a well-travelled fast ocean racer that is oriented towards similar yachts. And water tanks are rarely found there. Or fridges, although "Black Maggy" has a lovingly minimalist galley with a carbon fibre sink.
The only thing that has changed is the panelling over the keel mechanism. There used to be a huge hatch over the wet-running part of the keel, but now there are only two hand-sized screw caps in the right places. This is only worth mentioning because the panelling is de facto a horizontal room divider, analogous to a keel box, only rotated by 90 degrees. It separates the living area from the working area in a highly physical way: if you want to go forwards, you have to crawl over it. This is practical in nautical terms. All hell can break loose in the working area under the sliding hatch, wet lines or sail bags can splash in puddles, and everything is fine at the front. Practical experience has shown that Heibeck mainly loiters around here in oilskins when he sails "Black Maggy" single-handed.
Extreme boat building with new technologies
And because "Black Maggy" has always been about pushing the boundaries and realising the latest ideas in extreme boat building, it virtually dictates new technologies such as a fuel cell. The new energy source now feeds the two circuits, one with twelve and one with 230 volts. From the carbon fibre skirt at the stern to the Code Zero padeye on the stem, the boat is floating proof that Heibeck can hear the grass grow.
Next up are the new carbon fibre shrouds. The builder once spooled them himself in his workshop for the first version of "Black Maggy" by stretching and fixing carbon fibre yarns between two pins separated by the length of the shrouds. Heibeck also made the terminals that connect the fibres himself from carbon fibre and subjected them to a professional tear test.
But that was a few years ago, and the high-tech stationary goods have already clocked up a few miles. And so that his own stuff doesn't fly around his ears now, the second set is already available. Of course, it will remain with textile shrouds and stays. But the technology carousel has moved on, and the new miracle fibres on the modified "Black Maggy" will come from the Dyneema family.
When we were on board for the first time, we spontaneously set off on the 35 nautical miles to Helgoland after work. It took us a good three hours and was relatively quick. And because the boat was usually travelling at double-digit speeds anyway, the tide in the Jade didn't really matter - we didn't have to deal with it for long anyway.
We won't repeat this at the moment, but we will report on the new record: Hooksiel - Roter Felsen: two and a half hours. Good prospects for Heibeck's participation in the Silverrudder.
Heibeck was disqualified from the 2019 Silverrudder, but finally won the Keelboats Large group in 2021 with the new "Black Maggy". He has also entered again for the Silverrudder 2023.
Technical data of the "Black Maggy"
- Torso length:12,14 m
- Waterline length:11,80 m
- Width:3,93 m
- Weight:3,2 t
- Ballast/proportion:0,7 t/22 %
- Sail area on the wind:72,5 m2
- Sail carrying capacity:5,8
- Gennaker/Code Zero (max. each):158/84 m2
This article first appeared in YACHT 20/2018 and has been updated for this online version.
