What has got to be one of the coolest, if not the coolest race of the year is set to kickoff this weekend—on Halloween no less. Known as the Globe 5.80 Transat, the race is the brainchild of veteran adventurer and creator of the 2018 Golden Globe Race, Don McIntyre.
The race will feature a half-dozen solo-sailors—including McIntyre—all sailing a fleet of plywood Class Globe 5.80 meter amateur-built ocean racers. The race will consist of two legs: a 600-mile leg from southern Portugal to Lanzarote, in the Canaries; and a 3,000-mile leg, set to start Nov. 18, from Lanzarote to Antigua. The entire race is also serving as a kind of warmup/proof of concept exercise in anticipation of an upcoming solo race around the globe. At press time dozens of other Class Globe 5.80 boats were reportedly already in-build in anticipation of the latter event.
“The beauty of the 5.80 lies in its simplicity. Easy to build and sail, even under windvane. It is not meant to be the fastest 5.80-meter yacht, but she sails well, can be driven hard and being a one-design, we are all in the same boat,” McIntyre says. “We have world’s best practices for all safety and security issues and have restricted some equipment to keep it affordable. We allow satellite phones for media interviews and up to four daily tweets from entrants, so with the live tracker and regular social media updates followers will have fun!”
For additional background on the race and class, click here.
To hear SAIL Principal Editor Adam Cort’s recent conversation with McIntyre as part of SAIL’s “Point of SAIL” podcast series, click here.
Good luck to McIntyre and the rest of the fleet. If a race like this ain’t livin’ large, we don’t know what is!
October 2021
